Cost & Management Accountant

Recruitpartners; KwaZulu-Natal; On-site; ZAR 700,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Recruitpartners in Durban is seeking a seasoned Cost & Management Accountant who loves costing, systems, BI and turning data into insights to protect profitability. You’ll transform operational data into meaningful actions and help the business avoid profitability leakage.

You will build costing tools, maintain standard costs, analyse variances, and work with production, procurement and IT to improve data quality and reporting automation.

Qualifications

• Degree in Accounting, Finance or Management Accounting.
• CA(SA), CIMA or equivalent qualification advantageous.
• Experience in cost and management accounting in manufacturing/inventory environments.
• Strong Excel and MS Office skills; Power BI and SQL experience a plus.
• Ability to build reliable models and reconcile data sources.
• Independently deliver reporting and system improvements.
• Business acumen and customer-focused approach.

Responsibilities

• Build and improve costing tools, dashboards, and controls.
• Develop costing models for materials, labour, overheads, yields and wastage.
• Analyse standard vs actual variances and validate assumptions.
• Analyse gross profit by SKU, customer, channel and production run.
• Investigate margin erosion, input cost changes, yield losses and stock allocation issues, and recommend actions.
• Ensure valuation of raw materials, WIP and finished goods.
• Support stock counts and reconcile ERP records with warehouse data.
• Collaborate with ERP, IT and ops to improve data quality and reporting automation.
• Partner with managers to translate data into business actions.
• Support budgets, forecasts and scenario modelling.
• Provide insights for pricing, promotions, and supplier negotiations.
• Identify risks and opportunities for informed decisions.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Power BI

Power Query

SQL

Reporting automation

Costing

Data reconciliation

Inventory valuation

ERP systems

Business acumen

Problem solving

Education

Degree in Accounting/Finance

CA(SA) / CIMA advantageous

Tools

Meat Matrix

Job description

Cost & Management Accountant | Durban

IfExcel is your happy placeand messy numbers feel more like a challenge than a crisis… we should talk. Our client is looking for a seasoned, hands‑onCost & Management Accountantwho lovescosting, systems, BI and figuring out where the money is actually going. You’ll play a key role in turning operational data into meaningful insights, helping the business make smarter decisions and ensuring that profitability doesn’t quietly disappear into the variances!

Key Responsibilities:

• Build and improve costing tools, dashboards, reconciliation workflows and controls that turn data into actionable insights.




• Develop and maintain costing models covering materials, labour, overheads, yields and wastage.




• Maintain standard costs and analyse standard vs actual variances, working closely with production and procurement to validate assumptions.




• Analyse gross profit by SKU, customer, channel and production run.




• Investigate margin erosion, input cost changes, yield losses and stock allocation issues, and recommend practical corrective action.




• Ensure accurate valuation of raw materials, work in progress and finished goods.




• Support stock counts, reconcile ERP records with warehouse and production data, and investigate discrepancies down to root cause.




• Work with ERP, IT and operational teams to improve data quality and reporting automation.




• Partner with department managers to understand processes, challenge the numbers and translate findings into clear business actions.




• Support budgets, forecasts and scenario modelling.




• Provide financial insight to support pricing, promotions, supplier negotiations and production planning.




• Identify risks and opportunities early and help the business make informed, commercially sound decisions.

Key Requirements:

• Degree in Accounting, Finance or Management Accounting.




• CA(SA), CIMA or an equivalent professional qualification would be advantageous, alongside strong relevant experience.




• Proven experience in cost and management accounting within manufacturing, food processing, FMCG or another inventory-intensive environment.




• Strong practical understanding of:

  
  
  
  

  • Product costing

  
  

  • Standard vs actual variances

  
  

  • Production yields

  
  

  • Inventory valuation

  
  

  • Stock reconciliations

  
  
  
  



• Strong Advanced Excel skills and proficiency in Microsoft Office.




• Experience with Power BI, Power Query, SQL and reporting automation.




• Experience with Meat Matrix or a comparable ERP system would be advantageous.




• Ability to build reliable models, reconcile multiple data sources and present clear, useful management information.




• A track record of independently delivering reporting, control or systems improvements.




• Strong business acumen and the ability to contribute beyond the traditional finance function.




• A service-driven, customer-focused approach.




• A genuine passion for building and improving systems, with an eye for accuracy, simplicity and making tools easier for colleagues to use.




• A curious, explorative and solutions-driven mindset.

This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys more than simply reporting the numbers. Our client need s adoer and problem-solverwho wants to improve things — not just produce another spreadsheet.