FP&A Manager

About the role

This full-time, exempt position owns the preparation, accuracy, and distribution of the company’s financial reporting and leads the mechanics of the annual budget, capital budget, and multi-year forecast submitted to Graham Holdings. The role oversees financial reporting, cost accounting, and payroll functions, with two direct reports. It provides oversight of weekly payroll review and payroll-related accruals, supports statutory and parent-company reporting obligations, and reports weekly to the CFO and Controller on the state of the Finance department. This position reports to the Controller.

Responsibilities

• Financial Reporting & Month-End Close
  • Prepare all versions of the monthly financial reporting package; ensure FP&A files are updated, accurate, and internally consistent.
  • Perform initial review of financial reporting and flux analysis, identifying and explaining significant variances prior to Controller and CFO review.
  • Prepare the monthly flash estimate.
  • Maintain balance between Google financial statements and FP&A.
  • Propose enhancements to FP&A reporting for continuous improvement and identify opportunities to optimize financial statements for improved financial literacy.
  • Complete the monthly FCCS load to Graham Holdings and resolve validation exceptions.
  • Distribute internal financial statements to management on the published close calendar.
  • Review system journal entry activity posted by the CFO and report results to the President.
• Budgeting & Forecasting
  • Prepare all budget files and work with Human Resources to support the workforce budget as needed.
  • Prepare the Operating Budget and Capital Budget reports in Graham Holdings format for submission at the end of October.
  • Prepare all files supporting the three-year forecast submitted to Graham Holdings in August.
  • Coordinate input from department managers, consolidate submissions, and reconcile results back to the reporting package.
  • Update forecast and budget values throughout multiple iterations at the discretion of the Controller, CFO, and Executive Team.
• Cost, Rate & Absorption Analysis
  • Prepare and propose burden-rate adjustments applied to inventory for Controller and CFO approval.
  • Prepare and propose burden-rate adjustments applied to labor for Controller and CFO approval.
  • Prepare and propose employee labor rates and resource-group labor rates.
  • Review and analyze burden absorption at least quarterly and present findings to the Controller and CFO.
  • Perform periodic labor-rate reviews comparing actual to estimate (not limited to year-end) and report results to the Controller and CFO.
  • Develop a warranty-lag analysis.
  • Perform the warranty-accrual review, listing specific exposures and updating the general reserve based on lag-analysis data.
• Accruals & Payroll Oversight
  • Take responsibility for all non-confidential accrual accounts not otherwise delegated within the Finance department, including preparation, support, and reconciliation.
  • Review weekly payroll prior to processing by the Payroll Administrator.
  • Perform accruals for payroll-related special items such as severance, retention, and special-bonus programs.
• Statutory & Compliance Reporting
  • Prepare payroll apportionment data supporting state and local tax filings.
  • Complete the U.S. Census Bureau annual surveys.
  • Ensure compliance with company policies within areas of responsibility and escalate exceptions as needed.
  • Prepare requested schedules and explanations in support of the annual audit and parent-company reviews.
• Department Leadership & Continuous Improvement
  • Directly supervise the Cost Accountant and the Payroll Administrator, including day-to-day direction, goal setting, coaching, cross-training, and performance management.
  • Review the work of direct reports, including cost-accounting reconciliations, reserves, and payroll output, ensuring review evidence is documented to audit and parent-company standards.
  • Provide a weekly state-of-the-department update to the CFO and Controller, including metrics on Finance activities and progress against key deliverables.
  • Continuously identify efficiency improvements across all areas of the Finance department and implement approved changes.
  • Identify and implement automation opportunities across close, reporting, and analysis, including appropriate use of company-approved artificial-intelligence tools.
  • Maintain documentation of reporting logic and data sources so that analysis is repeatable and audit-ready.
  • Provide back-up functions to the team as necessary.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Accounting, Finance, or Business Analytics.
• 4+ years of accounting, financial analysis, or cost accounting experience, preferably in a manufacturing environment.
• Working knowledge of average costing, including overhead absorption, labor and burden rates, and inventory valuation.
• Advanced Excel skills, including the ability to build, document, and audit a multi-driver financial model.
• 1 year of prior supervisory experience required.
• CPA or CMA preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to extract and analyze data from an ERP system rather than relying on standard reports; Epicor Kinetic experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with a business-intelligence or reporting tool such as Qlik Sense, Power BI, or Tableau preferred.
• Exposure to payroll processing, payroll tax, or benefits accounting preferred.

Skills

• Trustworthiness: earn trust through honesty, integrity, and reliability.
• Adaptable: maintain effectiveness in a changing environment.
• Approachable: open-minded, friendly, engaging, understanding, and empathetic; comfortable engaging in challenging conversations.
• Curious: improve the organization by seeking information and knowledge to continually grow and learn and reduce moments of uncertainty and ambiguity.
• Meticulous attention to detail; self-motivated; maintains a high standard of confidentiality.
• Ability to explain financial results to non-financial audiences in plain language, both in writing and in person.
• Excellent organizational skills; adapts and responds to changes in priorities; displays a sense of ownership.
• Works effectively with others as part of a team, as well as working well independently.
• Strong software skills including Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Excel.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Occasional presence on the plant floor, including the Clayton, OH and Portland, IN facilities.
• Must be able to lift up to 20 pounds at times.