Cost Accountant

Gap Personnel; Wrexham; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

Annual leave entitlement plus holidays

Additional company benefits

Job summary

Gap Personnel is hiring a Cost Accountant in Wrexham to partner with Operations and Supply Chain, delivering accurate product costing and financial insight. The role involves standard costing, variance analysis, and cost control in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Key responsibilities include budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting; collaborating with Engineering and Production to improve profitability and drive cost reductions.

Qualifications

• Qualified or working towards professional accounting qualification.
• Experience in cost accounting within manufacturing or engineering.
• Proven ability to produce budgets, forecasts and cost reports.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain standard costing models and analyze manufacturing costs.
• Provide financial insight to improve cost performance across manufacturing operations.
• Prepare monthly cost reports and KPI dashboards for senior management.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and CAPEX planning.
• Assist with inventory valuation and cost variance analysis.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives from a financial perspective.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Commercial awareness

Communication & stakeholder management

Influencing with financial data

Organised & prioritisation

Self-motivated & proactive

Problem solving

Manufacturing environment familiarity

Communicating financial information

Excel skills

Lean manufacturing knowledge

Power BI/advanced reporting

Education

AAT qualification or equivalent

Degree in Accounting/Finance/Business or equivalent

CIMA/ACCA/ACA or equivalent (studying/qualified)

Tools

ERP/MRP systems (SAP, EFACS, MS Dynamics)

Power BI

Microsoft Excel advanced

Job description

Cost Accountant

£45k-£50k per annum

Monday – Friday / General Office Hours

Wrexham

Our client based in the Wrexham area is currently recruiting a Cost Accountant on a permanent basis.This is a key business partnering role responsible for delivering accurate product costing, analysing manufacturing performance and providing financial insight to support operational decision-making. Working closely with Finance, Operations, Engineering and Supply Chain, the successful candidate will ensure robust cost control, improve financial reporting, identify cost‑saving opportunities and support continuous improvement across our manufacturing operations.This role is ideally suited to someone who enjoys working within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Performance Objectives

Cost Accounting

• Develop and maintain accurate standard costing models.
• Analyse manufacturing costs including labour, material and overhead absorption.
• Review product costing and profitability.
• Support the costing of new products and engineering changes.
• Monitor inventory valuation and cost accuracy.
• Investigate manufacturing variances and recommend corrective actions.
• Ensure accurate allocation of manufacturing overheads.

Manufacturing Finance

• Partner with Operations to improve manufacturing efficiency and cost performance.
• Produce daily, weekly and monthly manufacturing cost reports.
• Analyse labour utilisation, machine utilisation and production efficiencies.
• Support inventory control and stock valuation processes.
• Monitor scrap, rework and waste costs.
• Work closely with Production, Engineering and Supply Chain to improve manufacturing profitability.

Financial Reporting

• Prepare monthly cost reports and KPI dashboards.
• Analyse manufacturing variances against budget.
• Support month-end and year-end reporting.
• Assist with budgeting and forecasting activities.
• Provide financial analysis to support business decisions.
• Produce reports for senior management.

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Support annual budgeting process.
• Assist with forecasting future manufacturing costs.
• Support capital expenditure planning (CAPEX).

Continuous Improvement

• Identify cost reduction opportunities across manufacturing.
• Support Lean Manufacturing initiatives from a financial perspective.
• Develop improved financial reporting tools and dashboards.
• Assist with ERP improvements and reporting enhancements.
• Improve costing accuracy through process improvements.

Compliance & Audit

• Ensure compliance with company financial controls.
• Support internal and external audits.
• Ensure compliance with accounting standards and company procedures.
• Assist with inventory audits and stock counts.
• Maintain accurate financial records.

Person Specification

• Highly analytical with excellent attention to detail.
• Strong commercial awareness.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to influence operational teams using financial data.
• Organised with the ability to prioritise multiple deadlines.
• Self-motivated with a proactive approach.
• Strong problem-solving capability.
• Comfortable working within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Able to communicate financial information to non-finance colleagues.
• AAT Qualified, Part Qualified or Qualified (CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent).
• Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business or equivalent experience.
• Previous Cost Accountant or Manufacturing Accountant experience.
• Experience within a manufacturing or engineering environment.
• Strong knowledge of standard costing and variance analysis.
• Experience producing budgets and forecasts.
• Strong Excel skills.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems.
• Experience supporting month-end reporting.
• Inventory accounting experience.
• Manufacturing KPI reporting.
• Cost analysis and financial modelling.
• Experience working cross-functionally with Operations and Production teams.
• SAP, EFACS, Microsoft Dynamics or similar ERP systems.
• Power BI or advanced reporting tools.
• Lean Manufacturing knowledge.
• CIMA Qualified or studying towards qualification.
• Experience supporting continuous improvement projects.
• Standard costing within a multi-process manufacturing environment

Benefits

• Pension scheme.
• Annual leave entitlement plus public holidays.
• Additional company benefits available.