Accounting Certificate
(Federal Accounting Job Series 510, 511, 512*)

This certificate is aligned with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management individual occupational minimum educational standard for the 510, 511, and 512* Accounting and Budget Series positions above the GS-5 grade, which require a four-year bachelor’s in accounting; OR, a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours in accounting, which may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law (in this standard the term “accounting” means “accounting and/or auditing”); OR a combination of education and experience – at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. These standards and additional background requirements may be found here.

*Requires 30 semester hours. See OPM Guidelines.

Contracting Certificate
(Federal Contracting Job Series 1102)

This certificate is aligned with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management GS-5 through GS-12 individual occupational minimum educational standard for the 1102 Contracting Series, which requires a four-year bachelor’s degree in any subject, OR, at least 24 semester hours in any combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. For positions above the GS-12 grade the 24 semester hour requirement must be included or taken to supplement the bachelor’s degree. This standard does not apply to Department of Defense positions. These standards and additional background requirements may be found here.

Program Features and Benefits

The Certificate options equip graduates to perform all steps in the accounting cycle; prepare appropriate production reports; analyze public policy issues in federal congressional budgets; and evaluate agency financial statements.

• Completion of the Accounting Certificate qualifies participants for Federal Accounting 510, 511, and 512 series positions above the GS-5 grade.
• Completion of the Contracting Certificate qualifies participants to meet standards for federal contracting positions.

Recommended Course Sequence

Accounting Certificate
(Federal Accounting Job Series 510, 511, 512)

Federal Accounting Job Series
510 Accounting and 511 Auditing (Requires 24 Hours)

• Financial Accounting (3)
• Managerial Accounting (3)
• Intermediate Accounting I (3)
• Intermediate Accounting II (3)
• Cost Accounting (3)
• Federal Income Tax Accounting (3)
• Accounting Computer Applications (3)
• Federal Accountancy (3)

Federal Accounting Job Series
512 Internal Revenue Agent (Requires 30 Hours)

(6 hours in addition to courses listed above)

• Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting (3)
• Principles of Macroeconomics (3)

Contracting Certificate
(Federal Contracting Job Series 1102)

Federal Contracting Job Series 1102 (Requires 24 Hours)

This requirement may be satisfied by any combination of 24 hours taken in accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. This standard does not apply to Department of Defense positions.