Cost & Inventory Accounting Consultant

Our client, a growing manufacturer in a high-mix, low-volume environment, is hiring a Cost Accountant to build their cost accounting function from the ground up. This is a build role, not a maintenance role — there's no established standard cost system in place today, and this person will design it, stand it up, and own it.

Their MES and ERP don't currently talk to each other, so this role sits between the two: reconciling production activity against the financial record, calculating variances, and giving operations and finance leadership a clear picture of what things actually cost. If you like walking the production floor, asking engineers hard questions, and building the workbook that finally makes the numbers make sense, this is that role.

What you'll do

• Partner with engineering and production to establish accurate BOMs for each assembly and sub-assembly — material content, quantities, routings — and put a process in place to keep them current as designs change
• Develop standard labor rates by work center and function, including run times and burden/overhead absorption, and set the cadence for reviewing them
• Assess the current costing approach and recommend the right methodology going forward, including whether standard or actual costing better fits the business
• Build the production variance workbook covering purchase price variance, material usage, labor efficiency, and overhead absorption — and explain the drivers to leadership monthly
• Own the monthly ERP-to-MES reconciliation: raw materials on hand and three-way match of invoice, PO, and receipt timing
• Track raw material into WIP, distinguish WIP flowing to production units versus development builds, help codify work orders as dev vs. non-dev, and define the point where WIP becomes finished goods
• Build out the cycle count process and validate BOM accuracy against actuals from a finance lens
• Support a recurring cost model for major sub-assemblies, and partner with engineering on class and project codes to track R&D and pre-contract efforts
• Review how labor has been expensed versus capitalized and how equity compensation has been treated, then build templates accordingly

What they're looking for

• Cost accounting background in manufacturing, with standard costing experience
• Exposure to manufacturing done multiple ways — you've worked across more than one environment and can walk in, assess the current flow, and recommend the best methodology rather than replicating what you saw last
• Strong command of BOM costing and the ability to validate accuracy against actuals
• Advanced Excel, with a track record of building workbooks and templates from scratch
• Comfort working cross-functionally with engineers and supply chain — this role only works if you build those relationships
• Willingness to be on-site frequently, especially early on: walking the floor, learning the work centers, meeting the team