Senior Cost Accountant

The Senior Cost Accountant & Financial Analyst is responsible for the Company’s cost accounting, inventory accounting, management reporting, profitability analysis, and budgeting support activities. This role serves as a key business partner to manufacturing operations by providing accurate product costing, variance analysis, operational reporting, and financial insights that support effective decision-making.

The position works closely with the Vice President of Finance to support the annual budgeting process, periodic forecasting activities, and monthly management reporting requirements.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Cost Accounting & Inventory Management
• Maintain standard costs for manufactured products and support periodic cost updates and cost rolls.
• Review bills of material (BOMs), routings, labor standards, and overhead allocation methodologies for accuracy and reasonableness.
• Analyze and explain material price, material usage, labor rate, labor efficiency, overhead spending, and overhead absorption variances.
• Monitor inventory valuation and support compliance with U.S. GAAP.
• Assist with the evaluation and documentation of reserves for excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory.
• Reconcile inventory subsidiary records to the general ledger.
• Prepare month-end journal entries and account reconciliations related to inventory and cost of goods sold.
• Support annual physical inventories and ongoing cycle count programs.
• Prepare inventory and cost accounting documentation requested by external auditors.

Financial Analysis & Reporting

• Prepare and maintain components of the monthly management reporting package.
• Perform budget-to-actual, forecast-to-actual, and prior-year variance analysis.
• Analyze sales, gross margin, customer, product line, and manufacturing performance.
• Develop and maintain financial and operational key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Prepare recurring and ad hoc reports that identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Communicate financial findings in a clear and actionable manner to finance and operational leadership.

Budgeting & Forecasting Support

• Assist the Vice President of Finance with the annual budget and periodic forecast processes.
• Gather and validate operational assumptions and supporting information from department leaders.
• Maintain budget and forecast models, schedules, and supporting documentation.
• Analyze trends and variances that may affect projected financial performance.
• Provide supporting analysis for revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, inventory, and capital expenditures.

Operations Finance & Business Partnership

• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, and Sales to improve cost visibility and operational performance.
• Analyze labor utilization, production efficiency, machine utilization, scrap, and manufacturing throughput.
• Provide cost and margin analysis to support pricing and customer profitability reviews.
• Identify opportunities for cost reduction, process improvement, inventory optimization, and margin enhancement.
• Provide ad hoc financial analysis and decision support as requested by the Vice President of Finance.

Systems & Process Improvement

• Maintain costing structures and related financial reporting within the ERP system.
• Support ERP and reporting improvements related to manufacturing finance, inventory, and costing.
• Develop and improve reports, dashboards, and data analysis tools.
• Assist in strengthening internal controls related to inventory, costing, and financial reporting.
• Document and maintain applicable finance and accounting procedures.

Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required.
• CPA, CMA, or MBA preferred but not required.

Experience

• Three to five years of progressive accounting or finance experience.
• Minimum of two years of manufacturing cost accounting experience.
• Experience with standard costing, inventory accounting, and manufacturing variance analysis.
• Experience supporting budgeting, forecasting, or monthly management reporting preferred.
• Experience in a discrete manufacturing environment preferred.

Technical Skills

• Working knowledge of U.S. GAAP as it relates to inventory and cost accounting.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills required.
• Experience with Infor CSI (SyteLine) preferred but not required.
• Experience with Power BI, SQL, or other business intelligence tools preferred.