Senior Cost Accountant

CFS; Zeeland (MI); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Onsite fitness center

Onsite childcare

Onsite medical clinic

Tuition reimbursement

Long-term career growth opportunities

Collaborative, team-oriented culture

Exposure to operations and leadership

Job summary

CFS in Holland, MI is seeking a Senior Cost Accountant to partner with Operations, Industrial Engineering, and Finance to ensure accurate product costing and provide actionable insights for profitability and performance.

You will lead standard cost processes, analyze labor and overhead variances, and support budgeting and forecasting with a focus on operational improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• 3+ years of manufacturing cost accounting experience.
• Experience developing rates and working in a standard-cost environment.
• Strong understanding of inventory accounting and manufacturing variance analysis.
• Experience developing labor and overhead rates.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and update standard costs for manufactured products.
• Lead annual and interim standard cost roll processes.
• Analyze the financial impact of changes to labor standards, material costs, routings, manufacturing methods, and overhead allocations.
• Support new product costing, margin analysis, and profitability evaluations.
• Calculate and maintain direct labor rates, burdened labor rates, and overhead absorption rates.
• Analyze actual versus standard labor and overhead spending and identify key cost drivers.
• Partner with Operations and Industrial Engineering teams to evaluate labor content, machine utilization, cycle times, and staffing assumptions.
• Review and validate manufacturing routings, BOMs, and work center data.
• Support inventory valuation, month-end close activities, cycle counts, and physical inventory processes.
• Analyze manufacturing variances including: Labor, Material, Purchase price, Scrap, Yield, Overhead absorption.
• Ensure compliance with GAAP inventory costing requirements.
• Prepare monthly manufacturing performance reporting and financial analysis.
• Support budgeting, forecasting, and annual operating planning processes.
• Identify cost reduction opportunities and operational improvement initiatives.
• Evaluate product and customer profitability to support strategic decision-making.

Skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Advanced Excel

GAAP knowledge

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance

Tools

Oracle

SAP

JDE

QAD

Epicor

Job description

Position: Senior Cost Accountant

Salary: $70,000-$95,000, plus bonus

Location: Holland, MI | Onsite

Are you a manufacturing cost accounting professional who enjoys partnering with operations and influencing business decisions? Our client, a well‑established and growing manufacturing organization in West Michigan, is seeking a Cost Accountant to join their team. This role offers more than traditional cost accounting. You'll serve as a key business partner, helping drive operational decisions and profitability within a growing manufacturing organization that invests heavily in its employees.

This is an opportunity to work for a financially stable company with an outstanding employee‑focused culture and benefits package, including:

• Onsite fitness center
• Onsite childcare
• Onsite medical clinic
• Tuition reimbursement
• Long‑term career growth opportunities
• Collaborative, team‑oriented environment
• Exposure to operations and leadership teams

In this highly visible role, you'll partner closely with Operations, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, and Finance leaders to ensure accurate product costing, provide meaningful manufacturing analysis, and support key business decisions.

As the Cost Accountant, you will play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of product costing and inventory valuation while providing actionable insights to improve profitability and operational performance.

Cost Accountant Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and update standard costs for manufactured products
• Lead annual and interim standard cost roll processes
• Analyze the financial impact of changes to labor standards, material costs, routings, manufacturing methods, and overhead allocations
• Support new product costing, margin analysis, and profitability evaluations
• Calculate and maintain direct labor rates, burdened labor rates, and overhead absorption rates
• Analyze actual versus standard labor and overhead spending and identify key cost drivers
• Partner with Operations and Industrial Engineering teams to evaluate labor content, machine utilization, cycle times, and staffing assumptions
• Review and validate manufacturing routings, BOMs, and work center data
• Support inventory valuation, month‑end close activities, cycle counts, and physical inventory processes
• Analyze manufacturing variances including:
  • Labor
  • Material
  • Purchase price
  • Scrap
  • Yield
  • Overhead absorption
• Ensure compliance with GAAP inventory costing requirements
• Prepare monthly manufacturing performance reporting and financial analysis
• Support budgeting, forecasting, and annual operating planning processes
• Identify cost reduction opportunities and operational improvement initiatives
• Evaluate product and customer profitability to support strategic decision‑making

Cost Accountant Education & Desired Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
• 3+ years of manufacturing cost accounting experience
• Experience developing rates
• Experience working in a standard-cost environment
• Strong understanding of inventory accounting and manufacturing variance analysis
• Experience developing labor and overhead rates
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills
• Ability to work cross-functionally with finance and operations teams
• Current authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship
• ERP experience such as Oracle, SAP, JDE, QAD, Epicor, or similar systems
• Experience working with routings, work centers, and bills of materials (BOMs)
• Strong partnership experience with Operations and Industrial Engineering teams