Accountant Aide Trainee 1

*Salary
$37,265
$35,652 (Thruway)
$39,825 (Teachers? Retirement)

Due to the size of the candidate population for this test date, you may be assigned to either Saturday, February 11; Sunday, February 12; Saturday, February 18; or Sunday, February 19 to take your test. Your admission notice will tell you where and when you are scheduled to appear. You cannot request or change your scheduled day.

You must review important information on the New York State Department of Civil Service COVID-19 policy that applies to all candidates sitting for in-person Civil Service examinations being administered at a New York State test center. You can access our full policy on the Department of Civil Service website.

Due to current testing space limitations, candidates may need to travel to a test site to take this examination. Candidates will be notified of their test site location on their admission notice.

If you previously applied for this examination scheduled for March 28, 2020, which was postponed, you do NOT need to reapply. Your application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the qualifications to take the examination. Additional information will be sent to previous applicants via email.

Appointees who work in the five boroughs of New York City or in Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, or Westchester Counties will receive an additional $3,026 annual downstate adjustment. Appointees who work in Dutchess, Orange, or Putnam Counties will receive an additional $1,513 annual mid-Hudson adjustment.

The Positions: These positions exist in various agencies statewide.

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Minimum Qualifications

**On or before February 11, 2023, you must have six semester credit hours of accounting, auditing, or taxation courses* AND

Either 1. one year of full-time experience gathering, preparing and updating financial data, financial reports, and records;

Or 2. one year of full-time experience reconciling accounts and data, reviewing accounting and auditing reports, and verifying accuracy of calculations, balances, and supporting documentation;

Or 3. one year of full-time experience assisting accountants or auditors conducting financial and program audits by counting, verifying, and reconciling inventory and cash on hand, determining and verifying the accuracy and propriety of transactions, records, reports, and statements.

*You must submit a list of qualifying coursework which includes: the name of the accounting, auditing or taxation courses completed or pending completion, the number of semester credit hours received and the name of the college/university. Failure to do so will result in the disapproval of your application.

**If you expect to meet the educational requirements by September 30, 2023, you can be admitted to the written test, but you cannot be considered for appointment until you submit proof of successful completion of the educational requirement to the Appointing Authority at the time of the employment interview. Failure to meet the educational requirements by September 30, 2023, may result in your removal from the eligible list.

Traineeships: The eligible list resulting from this open-competitive examination will be used to fill two -year traineeships leading to Accountant Aide G-13.

Upon successful completion of the 12-month training as an Accountant Aide Trainee 1, you will automatically advance to Accountant Aide Trainee 2 at a salary of $41,634 ($39,076 Thruway and $44,646 Teachers? Retirement). Upon satisfactory completion of the 12-month training as an Accountant Aide Trainee 2, you will be advanced to the full title of Accountant Aide, without further examination, at a salary of $46,529 ($42,852 Thruway and $50,017 Teachers? Retirement).

An appointee?s performance in the trainee position and in prescribed training and development programs will be observed and evaluated. The prescribed training and development program will include extensive on the job training and carefully designed and monitored work experience. In addition to the six credit hours required to be admitted to this examination, you MUST have an additional six credit hours in accounting, auditing, or taxation (for a total of 12 credit hours) in order to complete this traineeship. An appointee not meeting required standards can be terminated at any time after the initial eight weeks and before completion of the traineeship.

Advanced Placement: Appointees to these positions will serve a two-year traineeship. However, if you have 18 months of full-time experience as described above AND nine semester credit hours of accounting, auditing, or taxation courses, you may be appointed directly to the Trainee 2 Level, reducing the length of the traineeship by one year. If you have two years of full-time experience as described above AND 12 semester credit hours of accounting, auditing, or taxation courses, you may be appointed directly to the journey level. You must inform the Appointing Authority of this experience and education at time of interview. Advanced Placement appointments are at the discretion of the hiring agency.

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Duties

As an Account Aide Trainee 1, under the direct supervision of a professional accountant or auditor, you would draft segments of audit reports and/or correspondence, assist in analyzing and evaluating financial reports and documents, verify accounting records, and review and evaluate accounting procedures.

Notes:

1. It is essential that you describe your education and experience as completely as possible on your on-line or paper application form. The information you provide in your application will be the only basis for determining your eligibility for meeting the minimum qualifications for this examination. Ambiguity, vagueness or omissions will not be decided in your favor.
2. Your college credit must have been awarded by a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education/U.S. Secretary of Education. If your college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to the Examination Information Desk of the NYS Department of Civil Service for a list of acceptable companies who provide this service. This information can also be found on the Internet at http://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/degrees.cfm. You must pay the required evaluation fee. If you are applying on the Internet, you must mail the independent verification of equivalency to the New York State Department of Civil Service, Albany, New York 12239. Attention: S3SER.
3. A transition examination is also being held for these positions. New York State agencies have the option of making appointments from either the transition list or the open-competitive list. If you meet the requirements for both examination, you may file for both following application processing instructions.
4. Although a transition examination is being held, it is expected that appointments will be made as the result of this examination open to the public.
5. Qualifying part-time and volunteer experience, which can be verified, will be accepted on a prorated basis.
6. New York State residence is not required.

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Subject of Examination

To be considered for appointment to this title, you must pass the written test. The written test evaluates your knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in the following areas:

1. Fundamentals of account keeping and bookkeeping - These questions test for a knowledge of basic principles and practices of account keeping and bookkeeping. The questions test for recognizing account keeping and bookkeeping terms, concepts and relationships; recording financial transactions; and solving elementary problems in account keeping and bookkeeping.
2. Arithmetic reasoning - These questions test your ability to solve an arithmetic problem presented in sentence or short paragraphs form. You must read the problem, understand the situation presented, decide what must be done to solve it, and apply the appropriate arithmetic operation(s) in the appropriate order, in order to determine the correct answer. Knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division will be necessary. Questions may also involve the use of percents, decimals, and fractions. You should bring with you a hand held battery- or solar powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.
3. Preparing written material - These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.
4. Understanding and interpreting tabular material - These questions test your ability to understand, analyze, and use the internal logic of data presented in tabular form. You may be asked to perform tasks such as completing tables, drawing conclusions from them, analyzing data trends or interrelationships, and revising or combining data sets. The concepts of rate, ratio, and proportion are tested. Mathematical operations are simple, and computational speed is not a major factor in the test. You should bring with you a hand - held battery- or solar powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.
5. Understanding and interpreting written material - These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.

Your final score must be 70 or higher in order to pass. Your final score on the eligible list will be determined after adding any wartime Veterans' and Civil Service Law Section 85-a credits.

Note: The Department of Civil Service may administer tests either online or with paper booklets and answer sheets.

Admission To The Test: If approved for a written test, you will receive an admission notice which will indicate your assigned test date and the way your test will be administered. Your test may be administered with paper and pencil or online at a state test site using a state-provided Chromebook. You cannot request to change your scheduled day or request a specific type of test administration.

Applicants are required to have a Personal NY.gov account and keep their email address up to date. The Department of Civil Service and other state agencies will communicate with you through email correspondence. This may include the notification of your test arrangements, examination results, and canvassing you for interest in appointment. It will be important for you to keep your email address, phone number, and mailing address current by logging into https://www.cs.ny.gov/home/myaccount.

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How To Apply

Important: Unless waived, you must pay the non-refundable processing fee. For information on fee waivers, visit https://www.cs.ny.gov/examannouncements/types/oc/appinfo.cfm##Fee. Any past due application processing fees must be paid in full prior to submitting an application. Please email FeeUnitMail@cs.ny.gov regarding inquiries about any past due fee. It is important that you verify that you entered the correct examination number and title on your online or paper application prior to submitting. If you apply online, you should immediately review your email confirmation notice to verify that you applied for the correct examination.

Additional Information

New York State is an Equal Opportunity Employer

It is the policy of the State of New York to provide for and promote equal opportunity employment, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment without unlawful discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, religion, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran or military service member status, marital status, domestic violence victim status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, arrest and/or criminal conviction record, or any other category protected by law, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification or other exception.

Appointment to many positions in State government require candidates to undergo an investigative screening. This may include a thorough character investigation, a Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Record History Check, a Child Abuse Registry clearance, or other similar procedures. Candidates may be fingerprinted and may be required to pay any necessary fees for that procedure. Depending on the nature of the job, the criminal convictions discovered, or any falsified or omitted information revealed, the investigative findings may bar appointment or result in removal after appointment.

Eligibility for Employment

You must be legally eligible to work in the United States at the time of appointment and throughout your employment with New York State. If appointed, you must produce documents that establish your identity and eligibility to work in the United States, as required by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Religious Accommodation

Most written tests are held on Saturdays. If you cannot take the test on the announced test date, due to a conflict with a religious observance or practice, check the box under “Religious Accommodation.” We will make arrangements for you to take the test on a different date (usually the following day).

Reasonable Accommodations in Testing

It is the policy of the Department of Civil Service, in accordance with the New York State Human Rights Law and the Americans with Disabilities Act, to provide qualified persons with disabilities equal employment opportunity and equal opportunity to participate in and receive the benefits, services, programs, and activities of the Department. It is the policy of the Department to provide such persons reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications as are necessary to provide equal opportunity. Persons with disabilities who require an accommodation to participate in an examination must note this on their application. Further information is available from the Test Administration Unit of the Department of Civil Service. In the Albany area, call 518-457-2487. Outside of the Albany area, call toll free at 1-877-697-5627. For TDD services, call NY Relay at 711 (requires a fee) or 1-800-662-1220.

Admission to Examination

Notice to appear for the test may be conditional as review of applications may not be made until after the test. If you have not received your notice to appear for the written test three days before the date of the test, email us at AdmissionNotices@cs.ny.gov. Please provide your first and last name, address, and the last four digits of your social security number, and we will provide you with the information you need to attend your written test. If you have an issue other than not receiving your admission notice, please contact our office at (518) 474-6470 in the Albany area or toll free at 1-877-697-5627. Please leave a clear concise message and provide your first and last name, last four digits of your social security number and a daytime phone number.

Taking State and Local Examinations Scheduled for the Same Day

If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two weeks before the test date to make arrangements for taking all tests at one test site. All tests will be held at the state examination center. For your convenience, contact information for all local civil service agencies is available on our website at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/local.cfm.

Eligibility for Examination

To be considered a qualified employee eligible to compete in this examination, you must be employed in, or on leave from, the specified department or agency on a permanent or contingent permanent basis in the competitive class, or in the non-competitive class or labor class if specifically noted on this announcement (or be on an appropriate preferred list), and have the specified time in the specified title or salary grade. You may not compete in a test for a title if you are permanently employed in that title (unless you are still on probation) or in a higher direct line of promotion.

Cell Phones or Electronic/Communication Devices at the Test Site

The use of cell phones, beepers, headphones, or any electronic or other communication devices at your personal testing site or in the test room, hallways, restrooms, building, grounds, or other areas, except as expressly authorized by the Department of Civil Service, could result in your disqualification.

S3/TB1
Reissued: 12/14/22
**Revised Material 12/14/22

This announcement is subject to amendment or cancellation without notice. Do not copy it, or post it to any other site, but link to it instead.

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