Yes, usually the neckline is shaped as you knit the body of the sweater and then the ribbed band is knit afterwards by picking up stitches.
You could try checking out a few free patterns that use a V-neck design in order to get an idea of how to do it when you go about creating your own pattern. A few you could check out are:
http://thepaperbackfortress.wordpres...tion-pullover/
http://www.naturallycaron.com/projec.../london_1.html
http://www.patonsyarns.com/newslette...=patonsJan2010