The Staff Accountant plays a critical role in ensuring the financial integrity of our manufacturing bakery operations. This position oversees day-to-day transaction processing for Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivables (AR), balances the ledgers, and provides vital support during period-end and year-end financial closings. The ideal candidate will blend strong technical accounting skills with data analysis to help monitor production costs, ingredient inventory variances, and revenue trends in a fast-paced food manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Accounts Payable (AP) & Procurement Support

• Manage the full-cycle AP process, ensuring accurate coding and matching of inventory receipts, ingredient bills of lading, and vendor invoices (3-way matching).
• Reconcile vendor statements and research any discrepancies in pricing, quantities, or freight charges.
• Coordinate with the Purchasing and Inventory/Receiving departments to resolve raw material or packaging invoice holds.
• Prepare and process weekly check runs and electronic payments (ACH/Wires).

2. Accounts Receivable (AR) & Revenue Accounting

• Process daily customer invoices and billing adjustments for retail, wholesale, or distributor accounts.
• Monitor distributor portals and handle deductions, chargebacks, and trade promotion reconciliations common in food manufacturing.
• Post daily cash receipts, remote deposits, and electronic payments to customer accounts.
• Monitor aging reports, manage collections, and partner with the sales team to resolve outstanding payment issues.

3. Period-End and Year-End Closing Support

• Prepare and post journal entries, including accruals, prepaid expenses, and payroll allocations.
• Reconcile balance sheet accounts monthly, including bank statements, AP/AR sub-ledgers, and sales tax.
• Assist in maintaining the fixed asset register, tracking capital expenditures (CapEx) for bakery equipment, and calculating depreciation.
• Provide necessary documentation and schedules for annual external audits and tax filings.

4. Manufacturing Analysis & Cost Control

• Analyze monthly expenditure data, focusing on utility costs, ingredients, packaging, and direct labor variances.
• Support inventory management by reconciling physical counts of raw materials and finished goods with the ERP system; assist in tracking scrap, waste, and yield metrics.
• Analyze customer and product margin profitability, highlighting trends or irregularities to management.

5. Other duties as assigned, including but not limited to,

• ad-hoc reporting
• special projects
• support of executive and departmental initiatives

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related business field required.
• Experience: 2–4 years of progressive accounting experience preferred. Experience in manufacturing, food production, or standard costing environment is highly preferred.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency with ERP systems (e.g., NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or specialized food-ERP software).
  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (VLOOKUPs, Pivot Tables, data formulas).
• Core Competencies:
  • Strong understanding of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).
  • Excellent analytical skills with a sharp eye for variance detection.
  • Ability to work collaboratively across departments (Production, Logistics, Sales).
  • High attention to detail and strong organizational skills to meet tight monthly deadlines.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Primarily an office-based role, but requires occasional time spent on the manufacturing facility floor to assist with physical inventory counts or consult with plant operations.
• Exposure to typical bakery manufacturing environment elements (e.g., flour dust, varying temperatures, machine noise) during floor visits.