Cost Accounting Specialist

STRABAG; Mississauga; On-site; CAD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

STRABAG Canada in Mississauga is hiring a Cost Accounting Specialist to own AP/AR, cost accounting, and monthly accruals across active project cost centers using Microsoft Dynamics. You’ll monitor head office non-project costs and manage internal invoicing between cost centers.

You’ll also assist with procurement, insurance, bonding, and tender input while receiving in-house training and reporting to the Commercial Business Unit Director. This role shapes financial decisions.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in AP/AR, cost accounting, or project accounting, preferably in construction.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, or Economics.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics is strongly preferred.
• Fluent in English, written and verbal.

Responsibilities

• Maintain cost centers, recording and allocating costs, revenues, accruals for active projects.
• Process AP/AR invoices and prepare client invoicing; validate vendor payments.
• Lead cost accounting and month-end close across project and head office centers.
• Generate monthly reports; track costs vs. budget and assist cash flow forecasting.
• Support procurement, insurance, bonding, and tender input; handle internal invoicing between cost centers.

Skills

Cost accounting

AP/AR

MS Dynamics

Excel

Intercompany costing

Vendor management

Multi-currency handling

Cost center management

English fluency

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration or Accounting

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics

AS4U system

Job description

STRABAG Canada is hiring a Cost Accounting Specialist to work from our head office in Mississauga and run the financial engine across our growing project portfolio. You’ll own AP/AR, cost accounting, and monthly accruals across all active project cost centers in Microsoft Dynamics, backed by cost control and monthly reporting against each project’s work estimate. You’ll also monitor the head office’s non-project cost centers, where staff costs and company overhead are booked, and handle the internal invoicing that allocates costs between head office and project cost centers.

On the commercial side, you’ll assist and coordinate on procurement, insurance and bonding, claims input, and tender support across the portfolio, but as an additional set of hands, not the owner. Moreover, you’ll receive all the necessary in-house training that will enable you to work independently. You report directly to the Commercial Business Unit Director.

If you want to be the financial backbone of a newly established department and see your numbers drive real decisions, this is the job for you.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Maintain the financial integrity of all active project cost centers by ensuring the accurate, complete, and timely recording and allocation of costs, revenues, accruals, and related project transactions.
• Monitor head office (non-project) cost centers where staff costs and company overhead are recorded.
• Prepare and process internal invoicing to allocate costs between head office and project cost centers, and between project cost centers where required.

Accounts Payable & Receivable

• Verify and process accounts payable invoices across active projects, with a strong focus on subcontractors and suppliers
• Verify and process accounts receivable invoices and prepare outgoing client invoicing
• Review and validate vendor invoices and payment allocations, ensuring all amounts are accurately recorded against the correct vendor accounts before payments are approved and released.
• Validating and preparing invoices for payment according to contract and PO terms and monitor available payment discounts.
• Reviewing foreign-currency group costs and allocating them correctly.
• Reconcile vendor accounts by verifying monthly statements and related transactions.
• Monitor aged accounts payable and accounts receivable balances across all cost centers.
• Resolve purchase order, invoice, and payment discrepancies.
• Process staff expense claims, including corporate credit card expenses; prepare and verify complete backup documentation and expense reports for reconciliation and approval.
• Maintain transaction backups, financial files, and accounting records in the system.

Cost Accounting & Accruals

• Perform all aspects of cost accounting, including monthly accruals, within Microsoft Dynamics, across all active project and head office cost centers.
• Maintain accurate records in Microsoft Dynamics and ensure data reconciles with the group’s AS4U system.
• Lead monthly closing of project and head office cost centers.
• Execute month-end close activities including reconciliations, variance analysis, and forecasting support.

Cost Control & Reporting

• Generate monthly performance reports in cooperation with the project management team for each active project.
• Track project costs and revenue against budget across the portfolio and flag variances early.
• Assist in managing short- and mid-term cash flow forecasts across active projects.
• Synchronize financial data with project teams to keep reporting consistent.
• Support development of financial targets and budgets and monitor compliance.

Additional Coordination & Support

• Assist with project procurement schedules and coordinate with internal teams on timely procurement of materials, equipment, and services.
• Contribute commercial input to subcontract and supply agreement negotiations, as appropriate based on experience and level of responsibility.
• Support monthly inventory checks, where needed.
• Coordinate with Head Office on insurance policy procurement and claims notification.
• Coordinate with Head Office on project-related bank guarantees and letters of credit.
• Assist the bid team with commercial input during RFQ/RFP phases.
• Coordinate personnel, resourcing, and IT needs with Head Office.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Experience with cost centers, cost accounting, invoicing, and monthly accruals.
• Strong full-cycle accounting background: AP/AR, journal entries, reconciliations, multi-currency and intercompany transactions.
• Comfortable managing multiple concurrent cost centers of varying duration and experienced with internal/intercompany cost allocation and invoicing.
• Hands-on proficiency in Microsoft Dynamics, including invoice processing, payment runs, and vendor management.
• Intermediate to advanced Excel skills, including data manipulation and reporting.
• Background in financial or cost accounting, preferably within the construction industry.
• Fluent in English, written and verbal.
• Sharp attention to detail with the organizational skills to manage multiple priorities under deadline pressure.
• Comfortable making sound decisions independently while coordinating with multiple project teams.
• Trustworthy with confidential financial information.
• Results-focused, with a bias toward resolving issues rather than escalating them.

Qualifications:

• 3-5 years of relevant experience in accounts payable/receivable, cost accounting, or project accounting, with construction industry experience considered a strong asset.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, or Economics, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics would be strongly considered an asset.