Cost Accountant/Financial Analyst

About the role

Responsible for job costing, financial analysis, and reporting in a CNC machining and gear‑cutting job‑shop environment. This role owns job‑level cost tracking from quote to close—analyzing actual vs. estimated costs on machined and gear‑cut parts, maintaining machine and labor rates, and partnering with shop‑floor leadership to protect margins on every job.

Location: Willoughby, Ohio | Salary: Competitive | Employment Type: Full‑time, Hybrid | Role Level: Intermediate | Education: Bachelor’s Degree | Certifications: CGMA, CISA (preferred)

Responsibilities

• Maintain job cost records for each work order, capturing material, direct labor, machine time, tooling, and outside processing (heat treat, plating, grinding, gear inspection).
• Analyze actual vs. quoted/estimated costs at job close‑out; report margin erosion and root causes (setup overruns, cycle‑time variances, scrap, rework).
• Develop and maintain machine‑hour rates by work center (CNC lathes, mills, hobbing, shaping, gear grinding), including depreciation, tooling, and overhead.
• Support estimating/quoting with cost data on setup times, run times, material yield, and outside service costs; perform quote‑vs‑actual analysis to improve future quoting accuracy.
• Track and analyze setup vs. run time by job and machine; identify low‑margin part numbers and customers.
• Reconcile work‑in‑process (WIP) by job and perform monthly WIP valuation, including percent‑complete assessment on long‑running jobs.
• Monitor scrap, rework, and first‑pass yield by job, machine, and operator; quantify cost impact.
• Track perishable tooling costs (inserts, hobs, cutters, grinding wheels) and allocate to jobs/work centers.
• Cost and reconcile raw material (bar stock, forgings, castings).
• Analyze capital requests for new machines (ROI, payback, capacity impact on machine rates).
• Support month‑end close: WIP‑to‑finished‑goods transfers, COGS, inventory reserves (slow‑moving, obsolete), and job‑cost journal entries.
• Assist with physical inventory and cycle counts of raw material, WIP, tooling, and finished goods.
• Partner with operations and purchasing on cost‑reduction and pricing decisions.
• Provide backup and support to Division Controller on critical job functions (banking, payroll, financial close, KPI & scorecard reporting, special projects & initiatives).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• 2–5 years of cost accounting experience in a job shop, machine shop, or manufacturing environment.
• Working knowledge of job costing, machine‑hour rate development, and WIP accounting.
• Familiarity with routings, work orders, and shop‑floor data collection (labor/machine time reporting).
• ERP experience with job‑shop systems (e.g., JobBOSS, E2/ProShop, Global Shop, Epicor, Infor, or similar).
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups, cost models).
• Solid understanding of GAAP as applied to inventory and cost of sales.
• CPA, CMA, or progress toward certification a plus.
• Ability to walk the shop floor and communicate effectively with machinists and supervisors.
• Preferred: Exposure to gear manufacturing processes (hobbing, shaping, gear grinding, heat treatment) and their cost drivers.
• Preferred: Experience supporting quoting/estimating in a make‑to‑order environment.