Cost Accounting Manager

Aston Carter•Austin, TX

5d•$100,000 - $155,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Cost Accounting Manager leads cost accounting, inventory accounting, manufacturing financial controls, and inventory working capital initiatives for a rapidly growing manufacturing organization with operations in the United States and Mexico. This hands-on role owns the product costing framework, including costed bills of materials, standard costs, inventory valuation, manufacturing variances, and related month-end close activities. The role supports inventory efficiency, reduction of Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO), and improved visibility into inventory drivers while maintaining customer service and manufacturing continuity. The position directly manages the Senior Plant Accountant for the Mexico manufacturing operation and travels to the Mexico plant at least once per quarter. It is based onsite in north Austin and requires onsite work Tuesday through Thursday each week. The role works closely with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement, FP&A, and Finance, using manufacturing ERP systems including NetSuite, Excel, and other analytical tools. It is a permanent position based in Austin, Texas.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
7+ years of progressive accounting experience with significant manufacturing and cost accounting responsibility.
Cost accounting and accounting management experience in a manufacturing environment.
Hands-on experience developing, maintaining, and reviewing costed bills of materials.
Experience with standard costing, inventory valuation, work in process accounting, routings, labor standards, overhead absorption, and manufacturing variance analysis.
Experience partnering with Engineering and Operations on bill of materials and routing accuracy.
Experience with manufacturing ERP systems, including at least 2+ years of deep NetSuite experience.
Strong Excel and analytical skills, including the ability to interpret complex data and present clear insights.
Experience managing month-end close processes and balance sheet reconciliations related to manufacturing and inventory.
Experience supervising and developing accounting professionals.
Strong communication skills and ability to build effective cross-functional partnerships.
Ability to identify process gaps and design and implement new processes.
Comfort working in a fast-paced, rapidly scaling manufacturing environment.
Ability and willingness to work onsite in Austin Tuesday through Thursday each week.
Ability and willingness to travel to the Mexico manufacturing facility at least once per quarter and more frequently when business needs require.

Nice To Haves

Experience in hardware manufacturing and inventory-intensive environments.
Experience supporting international manufacturing operations.
Experience working with Mexico manufacturing operations or in a maquiladora environment.
Spanish language proficiency.
Familiarity with inventory working capital management, including Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO) and inventory turns.

Responsibilities

Own the creation, maintenance, review, and approval of costed bills of materials, ensuring they reflect current materials, quantities, labor, routings, outside processing, and manufacturing overhead.
Partner with Engineering to translate engineering and manufacturing bills of materials into accurate financial product costs and establish processes to review and update bills for new products and changes.
Reconcile bill of material costs to ERP standard costs, investigate discrepancies, drive corrective actions, and maintain documentation and controls over product cost changes.
Develop preliminary and final product costs for new product introductions and explain how design, sourcing, and manufacturing changes affect product cost and margin.
Own accounting and financial analysis for raw materials, work in process, and finished goods inventory, and partner with relevant teams on initiatives to reduce DIO.
Develop inventory reporting by category, product, location, and operational driver; identify excess, obsolete, slow-moving, and aged inventory; and drive cross-functional action plans.
Analyze purchasing patterns, production schedules, safety stock, lead times, and demand assumptions to identify working capital opportunities and inventory levels where cash is unnecessarily tied up.
Monitor inventory turns and DIO, explain key drivers to Finance and Operations leadership, and quantify the cash flow impact of inventory reduction opportunities.
Partner with Procurement and Operations on order quantities, purchasing cadence, supplier terms, lead times, production scheduling, batch sizes, WIP, scrap, and yield improvements.
Support inventory targets and working capital KPIs while maintaining controls over customer service, production continuity, and financial reporting accuracy.
Establish excess and obsolete inventory reserve and net realizable value assessment processes; oversee cycle counts and physical inventory accounting; and ensure inventory subledgers reconcile to the general ledger.
Own standard costing methodology and standard cost rolls, including standard material, labor, subcontract, freight, and manufacturing overhead costs.
Review labor and machine routings and develop and maintain labor and overhead rates with Operations and Finance.
Validate standard costs before ERP loading, review standard versus actual costs, recommend updates when assumptions materially change, and maintain controls over standard cost changes and approvals.
Analyze material usage, labor efficiency, manufacturing overhead, scrap, yield, purchase price, and other production variances; investigate significant variances with Operations and explain their impact on gross margin.
Develop reporting that helps management identify cost trends and manufacturing inefficiencies.
Own manufacturing and inventory portions of the monthly close, including manufacturing journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, and supporting schedules.
Review inventory and cost-related balance sheet accounts, ensure manufacturing variances are recorded and explained, and partner with Accounting leadership to improve close speed, accuracy, and scalability.
Provide gross margin, inventory, DIO, and product cost analysis to Finance leadership.
Manage and develop the Senior Plant Accountant supporting the Mexico manufacturing facility, including performance guidance and professional development.
Travel to the Mexico plant at least once per quarter to review manufacturing activity, accounting processes, inventory controls, and operational performance, and establish plant accounting procedures and controls.
Review inventory, WIP, production, scrap, and manufacturing activity associated with the Mexico facility; oversee reconciliation of activity managed through the maquiladora service provider; and review significant provider charges and pass-through expenses.
Ensure consistent accounting policies and costing methodologies across U.S. and Mexico operations and work with plant leadership to identify accounting, costing, inventory, and working capital improvements.
Partner with Engineering, Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain, and FP&A on bills of materials, routings, material costs, inventory accuracy, demand assumptions, gross margin forecasting, working capital forecasting, product profitability, pricing, sourcing, make-versus-buy, and operational decisions.
Establish scalable cost accounting processes and own cost accounting data integrity within the ERP system.
Develop controls around bills of material, cost changes, item setup, routings, and inventory transactions; identify manufacturing accounting process gaps and implement corrective actions.
Create written procedures for costing, inventory, physical counts, and manufacturing close activities; identify automation opportunities and improve reporting.
Support internal and external audits related to inventory and cost accounting and ensure compliance with established policies and controls.