Cost Accountant I/II
About The Position
The Cost Accountant supports accurate product costing, inventory valuation, manufacturing reporting, and operational financial performance. The position partners with Operations, Engineering, Purchasing, Supply Chain, and Plant Leadership to improve cost visibility, inventory integrity, and decision support. At Level I, the role maintains cost-accounting data, reviews inventory activity, supports period-end close, and analyzes manufacturing variances with guidance from experienced finance leaders. At Level II, the role owns core cost-accounting processes, leads annual cost rolls, interprets complex variances, strengthens inventory controls, and works with plant and executive leadership to improve margin, capacity, productivity, and working capital. The position is based at an office in Antigo, Wisconsin; Wausau, Wisconsin; or Idaho Falls, Idaho. Employees based in Wausau must travel to Antigo one day per week. The work is typically performed in an office, although some duties or projects may take place in a manufacturing environment. Occasional overnight and within-workday travel is required for training, audits, inventory observations, business meetings, company-location support, or strategic initiatives. Personal protective equipment is required in manufacturing environments. Driving a company or personal vehicle on company business may be required, subject to the company’s driver qualification requirements. The employer describes its culture through commitments to serving customers and communities, humility and kindness, expertise, personal growth, hard work, high expectations, and workplace safety.
Requirements
- Working knowledge of GAAP and ability to apply established accounting policies and procedures.
- Ability to understand and maintain standard costs, bills of materials, routings, labor rates, and overhead allocations.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to research transactions, identify variances, and summarize findings.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including PivotTables, lookup functions, formulas, and data analysis.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage recurring deadlines and multiple priorities.
- Excellent attention to detail and commitment to accuracy, consistency, and data integrity.
- Clear written and verbal communication skills and ability to explain financial information to financial and non-financial stakeholders.
- Ability to work independently within established procedures and collaborate effectively across departments and locations.
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related discipline and/or equivalent work experience.
- For Level I, foundational knowledge of cost accounting, inventory accounting, manufacturing operations, financial statements, and internal controls.
- For Level II, advanced knowledge of manufacturing cost accounting, standard costing, inventory accounting, absorption costing, variance analysis, and internal controls.
Nice To Haves
- For Level I, one or more years of experience in cost accounting, inventory accounting, general accounting, manufacturing finance, or a related role.
- For Level I, experience supporting month-end close, journal entries, account reconciliations, inventory reporting, or variance analysis.
- For Level I, experience with ERP systems, preferably Microsoft Dynamics 365, SyteLine, or similar.
- For Level II, five or more years of progressive accounting, cost accounting, manufacturing finance, or related experience.
- For Level II, proven experience leading annual cost rolls, period-end close, budgeting, forecasting, and operational reporting in a manufacturing environment.
- For Level II, experience developing financial models and using business intelligence tools such as Power BI or similar.
- For Level II, experience leading ERP, reporting, automation, or process-improvement initiatives.
- CPA, CMA, or active progress toward professional certification.
Responsibilities
- Develop, maintain, and review standard product costs, bills of materials, routings, labor rates, and manufacturing-overhead allocations in the ERP system.
- Monitor inventory transactions, production activity, cycle counts, and physical inventory results; research discrepancies and support timely corrections.
- Prepare inventory and manufacturing-cost journal entries, account reconciliations, accruals, schedules, and supporting workpapers for month-end and year-end close.
- Analyze material usage, labor efficiency, overhead absorption, purchase-price, scrap, production, and inventory-adjustment variances; summarize causes and emerging trends.
- Support inventory valuation, reserve, aging, excess-and-obsolete, and working-capital analyses in accordance with company policy and GAAP.
- Assist with annual standard-cost updates and cost rolls by gathering inputs, validating cost components, testing results, and documenting changes.
- Prepare recurring manufacturing-cost, inventory, margin, and operational reports using established definitions and review procedures.
- Investigate cost drivers and support budgets, forecasts, pricing analyses, capital analyses, and other business decisions with accurate financial information.
- Partner with Finance, Operations, Engineering, Purchasing, Supply Chain, and Plant Leadership to improve cost visibility, inventory integrity, and manufacturing performance.
- Support internal controls, financial-statement preparation, audit requests, and compliance with company policies and GAAP.
- Assist with continuous-improvement initiatives, ERP enhancements, data validation, and reporting improvements related to product costing and inventory.
- Perform ad hoc cost and manufacturing analysis and special projects as assigned.
- At Level II, own standard-cost methodology and lead annual cost rolls across cross-functional teams.
- At Level II, analyze complex yield, throughput, utilization, and productivity variances, and lead profitability analysis by product, customer, business segment, manufacturing cell, or facility to support pricing and product-mix decisions.
- At Level II, develop financial models for new products, engineering changes, make-vs.-buy decisions, capital investments, automation, and capacity planning.
- At Level II, lead assumptions and manufacturing drivers for annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, rolling forecasts, and long-range plans.
- At Level II, present results, cost trends, and scorecards to executive leadership; provide technical guidance and training to junior team members; and lead cross-functional workstreams.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
