Cost Accountant

SUMMARY:

The Cost Accountant is responsible for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of product costs, providing margin and profitability visibility across business units, and partnering with Supply Chain, Operations, and Finance to drive cost transparency and informed decision-making. This role owns the standard costing process and requires a very strong command of absorption accounting, leading monthly absorption and variance analysis and supporting inventory valuation and business-unit-level P&L reporting (Caseworks, Spaces, IMH, and Education). The Cost Accountant is a key analytical partner to the business, translating operational activity into financial insight.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Product Costing

• Update and maintain labor and overhead rates, ensuring they reflect current operational realities.
• Perform monthly absorption review and report on over/under absorption with supporting commentary.
• Conduct monthly standard routing reviews to validate routing steps, run times, and resource assignments.
• Execute cost roll-ups and ensure costs are accurately reflected at the item and assembly level.
• Review orders and production activity to confirm proper cost capture and identify anomalies.
• Manage inventory revaluation and reconciliation, cost adjustments, RMA (return) costing, and landed cost application.
• Own and govern product costing methodology, including the application of average vs. standard costing and the rationale for each.
• Perform variance analysis across materials, labor, overhead, and purchase price variance (PPV); investigate root causes and recommend corrective action.
• Lead cost deep dives into specific products, processes, or cost drivers as needed.
• Maintain bill of materials (BOM) accuracy and cost master data within the ERP system.
• Set and refresh annual standard costs, coordinating the cost change process across functions.
• Support new product introduction (NPI) costing and provide cost estimates for quoting and pricing decisions.

Inventory & Supply Chain

• Manage inventory valuation and costing, ensuring inventory is stated accurately on the balance sheet.
• Analyze slow-moving, excess, and obsolete (E&O) inventory and maintain appropriate reserves.
• Support cycle counts and physical inventories.

Finance & Reporting

• Provide product margin visibility and analysis to support pricing, mix, and profitability decisions.
• Prepare and analyze business-unit-level P&L for Caseworks, Spaces, IMH, and Education.
• Support month-end and quarter-end close for cost of goods sold, inventory, and related accounts, including journal entries and accruals.
• Perform balance sheet account reconciliations for inventory and cost-related accounts.
• Deliver ad hoc analysis and reporting to operations and leadership, partnering across functions to answer business questions.

Controls & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain and adhere to internal controls over inventory and costing processes.
• Identify and support cost reduction and margin improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to make-vs-buy analyses and capital project / spending tracking.
• Recommend and implement improvements to costing processes, reporting, and system configuration.

OBJECTIVES:

• Develop and maintain accurate costing processes by establishing consistent methodologies and workflows within the first year of the role.
• Provide reliable financial insights by delivering regular cost, margin, and variance analysis to support business decision-making on an ongoing basis.
• Improve inventory costing and financial accuracy by implementing review and reconciliation practices that enhance data integrity within 12 months.
• Collaborate cross-functionally by building effective partnerships with Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance to support alignment on cost drivers and business performance throughout the year.

COMPETENCIES:

• Communicates Effectively: Communicates respectfully and effectively with customers, fellow workers, and management, including communicating proactively when encountering issues or challenges that may affect the timely completion of tasks or projects.
• Customer Focus: Continuously pays attention to customer (internal and/or external) needs and adapts as relationships evolve. A customer focus means being open minded, responsive, agile, and driving innovation.
• Collaborates: Works cooperatively with others across the organization to achieve shared objectives; Represents own interests while being fair to others and their areas; Partners with others to get work done; Credits others for their contributions and accomplishments; Gains trust and support of others.
• Job Knowledge: Has understanding and proficiency in job responsibilities, performs tasks efficiently, solves problems quickly, and makes informed decisions in addition to staying current with new technologies or developments within their field by seeking out training opportunities or continuing education courses.
• Safety: The ability to identify hazards and risks in your work environment. Leadership in safety compliance of all rules and procedures that are designed to protect you and others from harm. The ability to communicate and cooperate safely with your colleagues, managers, and other stakeholders. Demonstrated learning with a focus to improve safety by acquiring new knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enhance your safety performance and culture. The ability to exhibit safety leadership by influencing and inspiring others to adopt safe behaviors and attitudes.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.

Experience and/or Training:

• At least 5 years of cost accounting experience; manufacturing experience is a plus.
• Strong working knowledge of standard costing, absorption costing, and variance analysis.
• Very strong understanding of absorption accounting, including the calculation and analysis of over/under absorption.
• Hands-on experience with an ERP system (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar); Sage Intacct experience a plus.
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with BI/reporting tools is a plus.
• CMA certification is a plus (not required).

Technology/Tools: 

• Hands-on experience with an ERP system (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar); Sage Intacct experience a plus.
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with BI/reporting tools is a plus.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEMANDS:

Sitting for long periods of time, 6-8 hours per day. Walking, speaking, hearing seeing. Listen and observe the environment for hazard prevention. Use hands for tools and typing. Semi-frequently lift up to 15 lbs. Some tasks may require the employee to bend, stoop, twist, and turn.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

Indoor office working environment. Office environments are temperature-controlled. Minimal hazards identified.

EMPLOYER EXPECTATION

An individual in this position must be able to successfully perform the essential duties and responsibilities listed above. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions. This job description reflects typical requirements and conditions encountered while performing the role.

EMPLOYEE RESPONIBILITY:

Employees are expected to proactively perform the work described above and invest in their own growth, making themselves an asset to the organization.