Cost Accountant - 2 days a week in Dublin

DB Recruitment; Dublin; On-site; EUR 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

DB Recruitment is seeking an experienced Cost Accountant to join a growing finance team in Ireland. The role focuses on analysing and controlling costs across the business, partnering with operations to identify margin improvement opportunities and strengthen financial performance.

The successful candidate will maintain standard costing models, analyse variances, support month-end activities and provide ad-hoc financial analysis to management. Manufacturing/production experience is preferred.

Qualifications

• Qualified or part-qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA or CPA).
• 2+ years of relevant accounting experience, ideally in manufacturing/production environments.
• Experience in cost accounting, management accounting or financial analysis.

Responsibilities

• Prepare, analyse and report on product, manufacturing and operational costs.
• Maintain and review standard costing models (material, labour, overhead).
• Analyse actual costs vs standard costs and investigate variances.

Skills

Excel

Variance analysis

Data analysis

Power BI

Communication to non-finance

Education

ACA/ACCA/CIMA/CPA

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Cost Accountant to join a growing finance team. The successful candidate will be responsible for analysing and controlling costs across the business, providing accurate financial information and partnering with operational teams to identify opportunities to improve margins, efficiencies and overall financial performance.

This role would suit a commercially minded accountant who enjoys working closely with operations and using financial data to influence business decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare, analyse and report on product, manufacturing and operational costs.
• Maintain and review standard costing models, including material, labour and overhead costs.
• Analyse actual costs against standard costs and investigate significant variances.
• Complete detailed cost, margin and profitability analysis across products, customers and business units.
• Support monthly management accounts and month-end closing activities.
• Prepare and post cost-related journals, accruals and adjustments.
• Monitor inventory valuation, stock movements, provisions and write-offs.
• Work closely with operations, procurement and supply chain teams to understand cost drivers.
• Analyse purchase price, labour, production and overhead variances.
• Support annual budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Develop financial models to support pricing, investment and operational decisions.
• Identify opportunities for cost reduction and process improvement.
• Produce regular KPI and management reports for senior stakeholders.
• Support internal and external audit requirements.
• Ensure appropriate financial controls and procedures are maintained.
• Assist with ERP and finance-system improvements where required.
• Provide ad-hoc financial and commercial analysis to management.

Experience & Qualifications

• Qualified or part-qualified accountant — ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CPA.
• Approximately 2+ years' relevant accounting experience, ideally within manufacturing, engineering, pharmaceutical, food, FMCG or another operational environment.
• Previous experience in cost accounting, management accounting or financial analysis.
• Strong understanding of standard costing, variance analysis and inventory accounting.
• Experience preparing management accounts and supporting month-end processes.
• Strong Excel skills and confidence working with large datasets.
• ERP experience such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics or similar would be advantageous.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to communicate financial information effectively to non-finance stakeholders.
• Commercial mindset with the ability to identify opportunities to improve profitability.
• Experience within a manufacturing or production environment.
• Knowledge of BOMs, standard costing and inventory valuation.
• Experience working closely with production, supply chain and procurement teams.
• Power BI or other data visualisation/reporting experience.
• Previous involvement in ERP implementation or finance transformation projects.