Hempler's Foods Group - Cost Accountant

Overview

We’re Hiring:
Cost Accountant – Manufacturing Operations!

WHERE: Hempler’s Foods Group

LOCATION: 5470 Nielson Ave, Ferndale, WA –
Must currently live in the greater Bellingham area.

Our quality products have a heritage dating back to the early 1800s at the Hempler’s family sausage kitchen in Borken, Germany. Hans Hempler worked in the family sausage business in Germany as a youngster. He served as an apprentice sausage maker and learned first-hand the family’s old secret recipes becoming a master sausage maker before moving to the United States. Hans came to the United States in 1928 and, in those early years, worked hard and saved his money.

It is our mission, and passion, to produce and distribute the highest quality products, while operating with the highest integrity and standards for personalized service to our customers. We strive to achieve these results by purchasing high quality ingredients and by employing passionate people, training them well, and developing an extended “family” of employees dedicated to accomplishing our mission.

Position: The Cost Accountant is responsible for managing and analyzing the full spectrum of product costing activities for a meat manufacturing facility. This includes recipe cost build-ups, input validation, yield analysis, labor cost assessments, and selling cost structures such as billbacks and off-invoice allowances. The role plays a critical part in ensuring accurate financial representation of production costs, providing insight for operational improvements, and supporting key decision-making through performance comparisons against budgets, historical data, and forecasts.

Are you a detail-oriented Cost Accountant who thrives in a fast-paced manufacturing environment?

Join our team and play a key role in understanding, analyzing, and improving production costs within our meat manufacturing facility.

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, or a related field
• Experience in manufacturing cost accounting (food or meat processing strongly preferred)
• Strong understanding of yields, labor costing, and inventory valuation
• Advanced Excel skills; ERP system experience a plus
• Analytical mindset with the ability to clearly explain financial results to non-finance partners
• High attention to detail with a continuous-improvement approach

SCHEDULE: 6:30AM – 6:00PM – Flexibility with hours.

Wage: $85,000.00 - $95,000.00 annually DOE, subject to all required taxes and with holdings.

Product Costing & Recipe Accuracy

• Build up and maintain standard cost models for meat product recipes.
• Validate the accuracy of raw material quantities, ingredient pricing, packaging, and overhead allocations used in recipes.
• Collaborate with operations and procurement teams to ensure recipe data integrity.
• Monitor variances between standard and actual costs and provide analysis to explain discrepancies.

Yield & Labor Analysis

• Conduct yield studies across various product categories and manufacturing lines to ensure efficiency targets are met.
• Analyze labor requirements and actual usage against standards; highlight opportunities for process improvements or labor optimization.
• Partner with plant operations to reconcile production outputs and identify cost drivers.

Selling Cost & Allowance Validation

• Monitor customer billbacks, off-invoice allowances, trade promotions, and other deductions that impact gross margin.
• Ensure appropriate accounting treatment and accurate financial representation of these costs.
• Reconcile deductions taken by customers to agreed-upon promotional programs or contractual terms.

Financial Planning & Bridge Analysis

• Provide bridge reports comparing actual performance to budgets, prior year’s actuals, and latest quarterly estimates.
• Highlight key drivers behind fluctuations in cost and margin performance.
• Support quarterly and annual financial forecast updates with cost and yield insights.

Reporting & Compliance

• Generate regular cost reports for internal use, ensuring they are timely, accurate, and insightful.
• Assist with month-end closing processes related to inventory valuation and cost of goods sold.
• Maintain compliance with GAAP, internal…