Cost Accountant

Job Description

Job Description

Cost Accountant:

Job Duties:

• Standard cost system analysis and management including the following activities:
• Develop standard costs to be used for our products.
• Maintain cost database that includes performing monthly cost updates and reviewing bills of material.
• Cost all machine shipments and forecasted cost of goods sold to be used for monthly forecasts.
• Analyze and record monthly Purchase Price Variance, Scrap expense and other inventory entries.
• Review monthly manufacturing variances for reasonableness and resolve any reporting errors discovered.
• Analyze product warranty expenses and calculate monthly provision.
• Work with Operations to evaluate, develop and implement reports to be used by management for product line analysis.
• Provide support and assistance in the development of lean manufacturing processes.
• Provide support and assistance on special cost projects and teams.
• Inventory analysis and reporting including the following activities:
• Review cycle counting results.
• Review monthly book inventory to the perpetual records and explain any differences.
• Review obsolescence accrual.
• Develop year-end LIFO information.
• Assist in the monthly closing/forecasting activities and in the development of the Annual Operating Plan and labor rate calculations.
• Be available to assist other divisions on temporary assignment as required.
• Perform other duties, assignments, and special projects that may be required from time to time.

This description should not be construed to contain every function/responsibility that may be required to be performed by an incumbent in this job. Incumbents are required to perform other related functions as assigned.  

Competencies:

Customer Focus -

Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.

Ethics and Values -

Adheres to an appropriate (for the setting) and effective set of core values and beliefs during both good and bad times; acts in line with those values; rewards the right values and disapproves of others; practices what he/she preaches.

Interpersonal Savvy -

Relates well to all kinds of people-up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.

Personal Learning -

Picks up on the need to change personal, interpersonal, and managerial behavior quickly; watches others for their reactions to his/her attempts to influence and perform and adjusts; seeks feedback; is sensitive to changing personal demands and requirements and changes accordingly.

Action Oriented -

Enjoys working hard; is action oriented and full of energy for the things he/she sees as challenging; not fearful of acting with a minimum of planning; seizes more opportunities than others.

Creativity -

  Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.

Functional/Technical Skills -

Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level of accomplishments.

Informing -

  Provides the information people need to know to do their jobs and to feel about being a member of the team, unit, and/or the organization; provides individuals information so that they can make accurate decisions; is timely with information.

Learning on the fly -

Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyses both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Planning -

  Accurately scopes out length and difficulty of tasks and projects; sets objectives and goals; breaks down work into the process steps; develops schedules and task/people assignments; anticipates and adjusts for problems and roadblocks; measures performance against goals; evaluates results.

Problem Solving -

Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; is excellent at honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at the first answers.

Timely Decision Making -

Makes decisions in a timely manner, sometimes with incomplete information and under tight deadlines and pressure; able to make a quick decision.

Conflict Management -

Steps up to conflicts, seeing them as opportunities; reads situations quickly; good at focused listening; can hammer out tough agreements and settle disputes equitably; can find common ground and get cooperation with minimum noise.

Priority Setting -

Spends his/her time and the time of others on what’s important; quickly zeroes in on the critical few and puts the trivial many aside; can quickly sense what will help or hinder accomplishing a goal; eliminates roadblocks; creates focus.

Minimum Qualifications (Education and/or Background)

Bachelor’s degree in accounting

Three to five years of cost accounting experience in a manufacturing environment

MBA, CMA or CPA recognition is a plus

Experience in financial and SOX audits, budgeting and year end closings

MS Office skills, particularly Excel

MRP system experience

Strong written and verbal communications skills