Cost Accountant

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Cost Accounting subject matter expert (SME) for the manufacturing facility located in Middleville, MI.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Engineering to develop, review, and maintain standard direct material costs in support of budgets and forecasts.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering to develop and maintain standard direct labor costs; ensure process changes are implemented, and routings are updated in the ERP system.
• Understand and apply overhead allocations by product and production category; monitor drivers and recommend improvements.
• Validate supplier quotes against prior costs; prepare cost rollups; update cost records; and enter final costs in the ERP system.
• Review production output and validate actual vs. expected product costs; support Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) and approval of final costing.
• Support financial reporting, including month-end close, recurring management reporting, and ad hoc requests; define data requirements, sources, and reporting formats.
• Lead or support standard cost updates and periodic cost rolls; ensure BOMs/routings, labor standards, and overhead rates align to current operations.
• Analyze manufacturing variances (material, labor, and overhead), including purchase price variance (PPV) and manufacturing absorption; communicate drivers and corrective actions.
• Identify and implement process improvements in costing, reporting, and controls; document procedures and train stakeholders as needed.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• At least 3+ years of accounting experience, including exposure to inventory and manufacturing environments required
• 5+ years of cost accounting experience in heavy manufacturing (metal fabrication, foundry, machining, stamping, chemical, paper, etc.) preferred
• Working knowledge of standard costing, variance analysis, and month-end close
• ERP experience (Oracle, SAP, JD Edwards, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar) required
• Ability to communicate findings clearly to both finance and operations partners.
• Experience partnering with Operations on continuous improvement, lean initiatives, or scrap/yield reduction
• CMA, or progress toward certification preferred
• On-site role in a heavy manufacturing environment (plant floor and office)
• May require periodic time on the production floor to observe processes and support inventory counts
• Ability to wear required PPE and follow all safety and environmental policies

Equal Opportunity Employer
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