Cost Accounting Manager
Cherry Bekaert • Arlington, VA • Full Time • $140,000–$160,000 / year
Posted on Sat, Sep 19, 2026
Publicly Traded Aerospace & Defense Technology Company
Cost Accounting Manager
$140k-$160k + Bonus
Location – Arlington, VA – Hybrid (2-3x)
The Role
Our client, is hiring a Cost Accounting Manager to own project cost accounting and independent financial analysis across active government programs. You'll report to the Director of Finance and Accounting, and be trusted to run your book of projects independently after ramp-up.
What You'll Do
- Maintain project cost-accounting structures and financial master data across multiple concurrent government programs
- Reconcile project ledgers to the general ledger; investigate and resolve labor, AP, procurement, and billing discrepancies
- Prepare journal entries, accruals, and cost transfers as part of month-end close
- Build and maintain Estimate at Completion (EAC) / Estimate to Complete (ETC) forecasts, integrating actual costs, commitments, staffing plans, and risk
- Analyze cost trends against budget; flag margin risk and cost-to-complete pressure before it shows up in final results
- Support milestone-based billing and revenue recognition (ASC 606) by validating that billing support ties to documented project progress
- Present financial results and recommendations to Finance leadership, Program Managers, and Program Controls
What You'll Need
- Bachelor's in Accounting, Finance, or a related field
- 4+ years in cost accounting, project accounting, or program finance
- Hands-on month-end close experience: journal entries, accruals, reconciliations
- Experience building EAC/ETC forecasts and identifying project margin risk
- Familiarity with milestone/deliverable-based billing and ASC 606
- Advanced Excel (PivotTables, XLOOKUP, SUMIFS); ERP experience a plus (Unanet, Deltek Costpoint/Vantagepoint, SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite)
- Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance
- CPA or CMA a plus
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What the data says about this job
- Advertised pay for Cost Accounting Manager: a median of $141,500 across 89 priced postings. This posting advertises $140,000 to $160,000, 6% above that median. Explore the market
- Cherry Bekaert is private-equity backed: Parthenon Capital. Who owns the CPA firms
- Cherry Bekaert's roles typically close in 33 days; the market median is 14 days. Time to close
- 1% of Cherry Bekaert's 116 tracked postings are more than six months old. Posting hygiene
- Cherry Bekaert has 96 internships, co-ops and new-grad roles open. Campus profile
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