Cost Accountant

Essential Responsibilities

• Maintain and update standard costs for raw materials, WIP, and finished goods
• Perform monthly inventory valuation, reconciliation, and physical inventory/cycle count analysis
• Investigate and resolve inventory discrepancies and cost variances
• Prepare monthly cost variance analysis: PPV, material usage, labor & overhead
• Analyze manufacturing costs and gross margins by product line, SKU, and location
• Support month-end close: journal entries, accruals, and account reconciliations related to COGS and inventory
• Develop and maintain KPI dashboards for cost performance
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to develop annual standard costs and budgets
• Provide cost projections for new products, promotions, and capital projects
• Ensure compliance with GAAP and internal controls related to inventory and costing
• Identify and implement process improvements to streamline costing procedures and improve accuracy
• Support annual audits and provide documentation for external auditors
• Work closely with Procurement, Manufacturing, and Sales to understand cost drivers and pricing strategies
• Educate plant and operations teams on cost concepts and variance impacts

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
• 5+ years of cost accounting experience, preferably in manufacturing, distribution, or agribusiness
• Strong understanding of standard costing, variance analysis, and inventory accounting
• Advanced Excel skills: pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, SUMIFS
• Experience with ERP systems

Preferred Qualifications

• CPA, CMA, or progress toward certification
• Experience with BOMs and routings
• Knowledge of job costing or process costing
• Power BI, Tableau, or other data visualization tools