[Anonymous]

Hello Fellow CPAs and CPA Candidates,

I am an accounting manager for Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal is the world’s largest credit union with around $85B in assets and annual revenue close to $5B. We have been on the Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for list for the past 7 years. We are looking to add an Accountant I to our Operational Accounting team in Pensacola, FL. The individual in this position would perform general accounting duties such as journal entries, account reconciliation, and will be a part of our our month end close team (financial statement review, variance analysis, month end entries, etc.).

With Jeff’s permission, I wanted to post this opportunity on Another71. Our goal is to reach a broader audience with targeted qualifications, plus I think it would be cool to give an opportunity for a fellow Another71’er.

Job Qualifications:

-Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting
-CPA license or working on licensure (studying for the exam, earning credit hours, etc.)
-3-5 years public and/or general ledger accounting experience (may be flexible on the number of years of experience if experience is with a big 4 firm. Internships count toward the experience requirement.)
-Intermediate Excel skills (vLookup, pivot tables, etc.)

Salary/Benefit Information:

Base Pay: Individuals are placed on a point in the range based on qualifications (degrees, experience, etc.). The bottom of the range for this position is approx. $48k, annually. Many candidates would be placed higher on the range. Also, this is an non-exempt/hourly position, meaning that an individual would be paid 1.5 times their hourly rate for any hours worked over 40 in a week. However, overtime for this role is typically limited to the month end close period, which is the 1st – 3rd business days of the month.
Bonus Pay: Bonus pay is a percentage of the individuals salary and is a function of the individual’s performance as well as company performance.
Insurance: Medical/Dental/Vision coverage offered. Life and AD&D insurance coverage of 2x base salary paid for by the company. Supplemental coverage is available
Time Off: Individuals start with 13 vacation days, 10 sick days, and 10 paid holidays each year. Vacation days increase with years of service (up to 26 days).
Retirement: 7% 401K match + company sponsered defined contribution pension
Other benefits: Tuition reimbursement, CPA exam reimbursement (study materials, exams, license fees, etc.), on-site gym/cafeteria/wellness center, parental leave (fathers and mothers, etc.)

Unfortunately, relocation assistance isn’t offered at this time. However, we think this could be a good opportunity for a CPA or CPA candidate who is looking for an opportunity with a large and growing organization and who wouldn’t mind living in a beach town with a low cost of living.

Below are links to the job posting and additional information about Navy Federal Credit Union. We anticipate this position will be open for applicants until Tuesday, August 15th. Please feel free to reply to this post with any questions.

https://nfcucareers.ttcportals.com/jobs/1997479-accountant
https://www.navyfederal.org/about/careers/benefits.php
https://fortune.com/best-companies/navy-federal-credit-union/

[Radez]

Hi Benboy12,

I've been an NFCU customer since I was a child. I have a lot of affection for your organization. I doubt that this position would be right for me, but had a few questions that might be relevant for others, and about which I'm curious myself.

The corporate headquarters are in Vienna and I had assumed that accounting was predominantly a corporate activity, so I'm curious what the scope of the Pensacola office is and what level of interaction there is with corporate?

How large is the operational accounting team? I see that NFCU provides professional development training, but does it also provide opportunities for internal movement? What is the average tenure of a position in the accounting department?

I'm in the midst of fantasizing about a better life, and the thought of working in a bank that I actually like has filled me with a kind of plaintive yearning.

Best of luck filling the role.

With regard,
CPA Candidate

[Anonymous]

Hi Radez,

Those are great questions.

While our HQ is in Virgnia, Pensacola has become our operations hub. NFCU originally started with a small 100 call center in Pensacola for business continuity purposes, as we wouldn't be in danger of getting hit by a snow storm. However, because of density of military population in the Florida panhandle (our core members) and favorable tax incentives, the Pensacola location has grown substantially. As of last month, we had nearly 6,000 employees in Pensacola, compared to approx. 4,000 employees in our headquarters location. NFCU is committed to bringing another 4,000 jobs to Pensacola in the next 7 years, so our growing here isn't done.

NFCU started putting accounting personnel in Pensacola roughly 5 years ago. While our HQ accounting team is bigger at around 100 individuals, Pensacola's accounting team is growing. We started with 8 people, and are now up to 25 people. These 25 individuals represent 4 different accounting teams: Operational Accounting, Funds Accounting, Accounts Payable, and Internal Risk & Controls. We currently have employees starting at the accounting technician level all the way up to manager. However, there are plans to bring an Accounting AVP to Pensacola in the next few years. We have counterparts in HQ for all teams. The level of interaction is different by team. Some teams will have daily interaction, while others will only need to interact a few times a month. Both locations have conference rooms with equipment for video conferencing.

There are other accounting departments that are not represented in Pensacola at this time: Technical Accounting, Financial Reporting, and Fixed Assets. However, we have been told by our VP that if someone with the right qualifications was employed in Pensacola, and a position in one of these areas came up, they would consider moving the position to Pensacola for a qualified and interested employee.

This position will be the Operational Accounting's 5th team member in Pensacola, and there is another 12 in HQ. There will be opportunities for promotion within the Operational Accounting group, but there is also opportunities for an individual to transition between teams either permanently (if there is a position available) or temporarily (if someone from another accounting team agrees to temporary swap).

It's really hard to say how long the average person stay's in a position. I started as an Accounting Technician III about 5 years ago and I have been promoted 3 times since then. I say that is somewhat out of the norm because many individuals here do not have any interest in pursuing their CPA license, and its required of anyone who is interested in moving above the Accountant II level. We have had three people leave the accounting department to pursue other opportunities. Two were promoted into other areas of the company (Financial Risk Management and Mortgage), while someone else decided to go into real estate full time.

If someone stays for a while and decides they want to venture outside of accounting, there are opportunities to step into roles as business or financial analysts. Because Navy Federal encourages career advancement and finding the right fit, we have a job shadow program. Employees have the opportunity to sit down with individuals from other business units to get an understanding of what they may do on a day-to-day basis to determine if its something they may be interested in. Also, we have internal career fairs once or twice a year where employees can talk to representatives from other business units about what they do, learn about upcoming positions in their business unit, etc.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Author]

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