Cost Accountant

NextPlay Jobs; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

NextPlay Jobs is seeking an experienced Cost Accountant to own product costing and inventory accounting across manufacturing operations. You’ll maintain standard costs, set labor/overhead rates, keep BOMs and routings accurate, and run job costing for custom work to inform pricing and operations decisions.

The role partners with production, engineering, purchasing, and operations leaders. Strong Excel skills, BOM/routing knowledge, and hands-on costing experience are essential for success in

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance.
• 5+ years of cost accounting experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Hands-on job costing experience.
• Proven experience developing labor and overhead rates, including machine-hour or activity-based allocation.
• Working knowledge of BOMs, routings, and standard cost rolls.
• Experience with manufacturing variance analysis and inventory valuation under US GAAP.
• Advanced Excel skills, including costing models, large data sets, pivot tables, and lookups.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain standard costs for materials, labor, and overhead.
• Calculate labor, overhead, and burden rates using machine hours, labor hours, and other activity drivers.
• Lead the annual standard cost roll and analyze its impact on inventory and margins.
• Review capacity and activity levels so overhead absorption reflects actual plant operations.
• Partner with engineering and production to keep bills of materials and routings accurate in the ERP system.
• Audit BOMs and routings against actual material usage and labor time, and drive corrections.
• Cost new products and engineering changes.
• Set up, track, and close jobs for custom and special-order work.
• Compare actual costs to estimates and report job margins.
• Provide feedback to sales and estimating to improve future quotes.
• Analyze and explain monthly purchase price, material usage, labor, and overhead absorption variances.
• Own inventory valuation across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods.
• Prepare cost-related month-end entries and reconciliations, including capitalized variances, inventory reserves, and absorption.
• Support physical and cycle counts and reconcile results to the general ledger.
• Review excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory and recommend reserves.
• Prepare product and customer profitability analysis.
• Support make-vs-buy, pricing, capital investment, and cost reduction decisions.
• Provide production cost and rate assumptions for the annual budget.
• Prepare cost schedules for the annual audit.

Skills

Analytical

Detail oriented

Excel modeling

Costing models

Shop floor

Cross functional

Variance analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance

Tools

ERP system

Job description

Our client is an established manufacturer and distributor of industrial and consumer products, with multiple production facilities across the U.S. The company has a long track record in its market, a growing footprint, and a collaborative culture focused on operational excellence and career growth.

About the Role

Our client is seeking an experienced Cost Accountant to own product costing and inventory accounting across their manufacturing operations. Reporting to the Director of FP&A, this role works closely with production, engineering, purchasing, and operations leaders. You’ll maintain standard costs, set labor and overhead rates, keep bills of materials and routings accurate, explain monthly manufacturing variances, and run job costing for custom and special-order work, giving management the margin analysis it relies on for pricing and operating decisions.

Responsibilities

Standard Costing and Rates

• Develop and maintain standard costs for materials, labor, and overhead.
• Calculate and update labor, overhead, and burden rates using machine hours, labor hours, and other activity drivers.
• Lead the annual standard cost roll and analyze its impact on inventory and margins.
• Review capacity and activity levels so overhead absorption reflects actual plant operations.

BOMs and Routings

• Partner with engineering and production to keep bills of materials and routings accurate in the ERP system.
• Audit BOMs and routings against actual material usage and labor time, and drive corrections.
• Cost new products and engineering changes.

Job Costing

• Set up, track, and close jobs for custom and special-order work.
• Compare actual costs to estimates and report job margins.
• Provide feedback to sales and estimating to improve future quotes.

Variance Analysis and Inventory

• Analyze and explain monthly purchase price, material usage, labor, and overhead absorption variances.
• Own inventory valuation across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods.
• Prepare cost-related month-end entries and reconciliations, including capitalized variances, inventory reserves, and absorption.
• Support physical and cycle counts and reconcile results to the general ledger.
• Review excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory and recommend reserves.

Analysis and Support

• Prepare product and customer profitability analysis.
• Support make-vs-buy, pricing, capital investment, and cost reduction decisions.
• Provide production cost and rate assumptions for the annual budget.
• Prepare cost schedules for the annual audit.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance.
• 5+ years of cost accounting experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Hands-on job costing experience.
• Proven experience developing labor and overhead rates, including machine-hour or activity-based allocation.
• Working knowledge of BOMs, routings, and standard cost rolls.
• Experience with manufacturing variance analysis and inventory valuation under US GAAP.
• Advanced Excel skills, including costing models, large data sets, pivot tables, and lookups.

Preferred Qualifications

• CMA or CPA.
• Experience with manufacturing ERP costing modules.
• Background in discrete or high-volume manufacturing.
• Experience with activity-based costing or a standard cost system implementation.
• Experience across multiple plants or cost centers.

Skills and Attributes

• Comfortable on the shop floor and eager to understand how products are actually built.
• Builds credibility with plant managers, engineers, and supervisors by explaining costs in operational terms.
• Analytical, focused on why a variance happened, not just its size.
• Detail-oriented, with the judgment to know which details move the numbers.