Cost Accountant

Position Summary

The Cost Accountant will support the plants and be responsible for preparing accurate and timely cost estimates to support internal and external inquiries. The role will assist in the preparation of budgets, forecasts, and month‑end close. They will control finished goods and raw material inventories and assist with reporting, continuous improvement, and special projects as needed. All financial information will be processed in accordance with JSOX compliance.

The accountant will prepare reports timely and accurately and must be willing to work overtime or weekends to meet deadlines.

• Provide new product cost estimates to support marketing initiatives.
• Identify process improvements for accurate and timely cost information.
• Enter new product costing in the ERP system, create and maintain bill of materials/routings, and review cost setup for current products.
• Complete daily work order closures in the ERP system, working with Inventory Control to ensure transaction accuracy.
• Review cost transactions, prepare variance reports, and provide root cause analysis.
• Assist with month‑end closing entries and monthly reporting, communicating financial results to plant operations.
• Assist with the preparation of weekly forecasts and annual budget.
• Assist with inventory reconciliation and obsolete inventory reserve.
• Prepare plant KPI and environmental reports.
• Provide various analyses to support plant operations and improve production efficiency, increase inventory accuracy, and other ad hoc projects.
• Manage capital projects and coordinate with Plant Engineer to close CIP projects timely, keeping up‑to‑date records of CIP spending.
• Work with Maintenance Manager to keep Fixed Assets up‑to‑date and submit new asset requests to Corporate.
• Perform Fixed Asset inventories and submit asset disposal documentation as needed.
• Support internal control reviews.
• Update job knowledge by participating in educational and/or training opportunities.
• Backup for the Staff Accountant for Accounts Payable processing as needed.
• Other duties as assigned to support plant and corporate needs.

Education

• 4‑year bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field.

Experience

• 2 to 4 years of experience in cost accounting or related experience in a food manufacturing environment.
• Experience working with budgeting and/or forecasting.

Knowledge,

Skills and Abilities

• Excellent Microsoft Office Suite skills.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel, especially Pivot Tables.
• Strong ERP software experience, preferably JDE.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to analyze data and provide recommendations.