Cost Accountant/Analyst

The Cost Accountant / Analyst is responsible for monitoring, analyzing, and reporting manufacturing costs to support accurate financial reporting and informed business decisions. This position works closely with Finance, Operations, Production, Purchasing, and Inventory teams to maintain accurate product costs, analyze manufacturing variances, evaluate inventory, and identify opportunities for improved cost control and operational efficiency.

The Cost Accountant plays an important role in understanding the true cost of production within a tobacco manufacturing environment, including raw materials, direct labor, overhead, scrap, waste, and other manufacturing-related expenses.

Job Duties

• Maintain and analyze standard costs for raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods.
• Review and maintain product costing information, including bills of materials (BOMs), labor rates, overhead rates, and manufacturing assumptions.
• Analyze actual manufacturing costs compared with standards, budgets, and prior periods.
• Investigate and report material, bulk labor, overhead, usage, yield, purchase price, and production variances.
• Partner with Production and Operations leadership to identify the causes of unfavorable cost variances and recommend corrective actions.
• Partner with Purchasing and build in cost tracking for supplies and finished goods inventory
• Support accurate inventory valuation and reconciliation between inventory systems and the general ledger.
• Participate in physical inventories and cycle counts, and research significant inventory discrepancies.
• Monitor production scrap, waste, rework, yield, and material usage and evaluate their financial impact.
• Assist with year-end closing activities, including journal entries, accruals, account reconciliations, inventory adjustments, and cost-of-goods-sold analysis.
• Track costs and determine the reasons for significant trends or variances to Finance and Operations.
• Assist in developing annual budgets, forecasts, and manufacturing cost projections.
• Analyze production volumes, capacity utilization, labor efficiency, and overhead absorption.
• Support costing for new products, product changes, packaging changes, and manufacturing process improvements.
• Partner with Capital Assets Manager and purchase to evaluate the financial impact of proposed equipment purchases, process improvements, sourcing changes, and other operational initiatives.
• Maintain accurate cost accounting records and supporting documentation in accordance with company procedures and applicable accounting standards.
• Assist with internal and external audits by preparing cost, inventory, and manufacturing documentation.
• Develop and maintain reports and key performance indicators related to manufacturing costs and operational performance.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen cost accounting processes, internal controls, reporting accuracy, and data integrity.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure financial data accurately reflects manufacturing activity.
• Perform other accounting and financial analysis duties as assigned.

Education:

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field required.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 – 10 years of accounting experience preferred, with manufacturing cost accounting experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with standard costing, inventory accounting, manufacturing variances, and cost-of-goods-sold analysis preferred.
• Experience working in a regulated manufacturing environment is a plus.

Skills:

• Strong understanding of cost accounting principles and manufacturing accounting.
• Knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify trends and investigate discrepancies.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including formulas, pivot tables, lookups, and data analysis.
• Experience working with ERP, accounting, and inventory management systems such as Enterprise, Oracle, SAP.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy.
• Ability to interpret production and financial data and translate findings into meaningful business information.
• Ability to communicate effectively with employees and leaders across Finance, Production, Operations, Purchasing, and other departments.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality when working with financial and proprietary business information.
• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within a cross-functional team environment.