Manufacturing Cost Accountant – Optimize Profit & Operations

Sa Metal Group (Pty) Ltd; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 550,000 - 900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health insurance and a/p

Pension fund benefits

Professional development opportunities

Supportive team environment

Employee wellness programs

Cape Town-based role

Job summary

Sa Metal Group (Pty) Ltd is seeking an experienced Cost Accountant to optimise production costs and profitability. The role focuses on building robust costing systems, performing variance analyses, and delivering critical financial insights to manufacturing operations.

The position requires developing costing methodologies, maintaining BOM accuracy, and collaborating with production and engineering to drive cost reductions in a busy Cape Town facility.

Qualifications

• Completed qualification in Accounting or Finance.
• Experience in cost accounting and inventory accounting within manufacturing.
• Knowledge of BOMs, standard costing, production costs and stock reconciliations.
• Strong Excel skills, especially for reconciliations and numerical analysis.
• Experience with ERP/stock management or manufacturing systems.
• Analytical, detail-oriented and able to investigate discrepancies.
• Comfortable collaborating with finance and production teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain cost accounting systems and methodologies.
• Analyze manufacturing costs: direct materials, direct labour, overhead.
• Perform variance analysis with explanations for deviations.
• Prepare cost and profitability reports including inventory valuation.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities with production/engineering teams.
• Support budgeting/forecasting for manufacturing operations.
• Maintain BOM and routing accuracy in ERP.
• Evaluate financial impact of new product introductions and process changes.
• Assist audits related to cost accounting and ensure costing standards compliance.
• Collaborate with departments to improve costing accuracy and stock controls.

Skills

Cost accounting

Inventory accounting

Manufacturing finance

BOMs knowledge

Excel skills

ERP systems

Analytical thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Accounting/Finance qualification

CIMA certification (advantage)

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Job description

Sa Metal Group (Pty) Ltd is seeking an experienced Cost Accountant to optimise production costs and profitability. The role focuses on building robust costing systems, performing variance analyses, and delivering critical financial insights to manufacturing operations.

The position requires developing costing methodologies, maintaining BOM accuracy, and collaborating with production and engineering to drive cost reductions in a busy Cape Town facility.