Construction Cost Accountant

Construction Cost Accountant

MCS is hiring for a Construction Cost Accountant in Tampa, FL. This is a full-time, on-site, permanent position with benefits.

The Construction Cost Accountant is responsible for improving the financial performance and cash flow of our construction operations. This position will work closely with Accounting, Project Management, and Operations to ensure project costs are accurately captured, work is billed timely, receivables are collected, and financial risks are identified before they impact working capital.

The Construction Cost Accountant must understand the complete financial lifecycle of a construction project—from budget and cost tracking through WIP, billing, collections, and closeout. This position requires strong communication skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work directly with operational leaders to turn project activity into predictable financial results.

Typical duties include:

• Managing and analyzing project costs, including labor, material, subcontractor, equipment, and other direct and indirect costs.
• Maintaining accurate project budgets, cost codes, commitments, forecasts, and cost-to-complete projections.
• Preparing, reviewing, and analyzing Work-in-Progress (WIP) schedules and identifying project cost, billing, margin, and cash-flow risks.
• Working closely with Project Managers to ensure completed work, change orders, stored materials, and other billable activity are captured and invoiced accurately and timely.
• Monitoring under billings, overbillings, unbilled revenue, retainage, and accounts receivable and proactively resolving issues that delay cash collection.
• Reviewing project billing schedules and contract requirements to identify opportunities to accelerate billing and improve cash conversion.
• Tracking project receivables and coordinating with Project Managers, customers, and Accounting to resolve outstanding invoices and collection issues.
• Identifying projects where costs are being incurred faster than revenue is being billed or cash is being collected and escalating concerns to leadership.
• Performing project margin analysis and investigating variances between budgeted, committed, actual, and forecasted costs.
• Reviewing purchase orders, subcontractor commitments, invoices, and project expenditures for proper coding and alignment with project budgets.
• Supporting monthly project financial reviews with Accounting, Operations, and Project Management.
• Assisting Project Managers with financial forecasting, cost-to-complete estimates, billing projections, and project closeout.
• Reconciling project accounting information with the General Ledger and ensuring project financial data is accurate and complete.
• Developing reporting and financial analysis that gives leadership visibility into project profitability, working capital, billing performance, collections, and cash-flow exposure.
• Supporting month-end and year-end close, audits, and other accounting activities as required.

Educational Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field preferred.

Experience Requirements:

• 5+ years of accounting experience, preferably within construction, specialty contracting, engineering, or another project-based environment.
• Strong knowledge of construction cost accounting and Work-in-Progress (WIP) reporting.
• Experience with project budgeting, forecasting, cost-to-complete analysis, billing, and accounts receivable.
• Understanding of percentage-of-completion accounting and construction revenue recognition.
• Ability to analyze project financial information and identify cost, margin, billing, and cash-flow risks.
• Construction and federal contracting experience highly desired.
• Experience with Trimble Viewpoint/Vista, Timberline, or similar construction accounting/ERP systems preferred.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and the ability to analyze large amounts of financial and project data.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to communicate financial information effectively with Project Managers and operational leadership.
• High level of integrity, accountability, urgency, and ownership.