Inventory Cost Accounting Manager - Champlin, MN

Forgent•Champlin, MN

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, Inventory Cost Accountant is responsible for managing and analyzing the company's inventory costing processes, ensuring accurate valuation of inventory, and providing insight into manufacturing and production costs. This role partners closely with Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and FP&A teams to maintain accurate standard costs, analyze variances, support month-end close, and ensure compliance with GAAP and internal control requirements. The ideal candidate combines strong technical accounting expertise with the ability to translate cost data into actionable business insights.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field required
5+ years of progressive accounting experience with a strong focus on cost accounting/inventory accounting, preferably in a manufacturing environment
Experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Epicor, or similar) required
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, financial modeling)
Experience supporting SOX compliance and internal/external audits

Nice To Haves

CPA, CMA, or CPIM certification preferred
experience with cost module configuration a plus

Responsibilities

Oversee the accounting for raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods, unbilled inventory, intercompany inventory profit elimination.
Prepare and analyze financial reports, with a specific focus on inventory performance, valuation, and cost of goods sold (COGS).
Lead and support the closing activities ensuring completeness and accuracy in reporting. This includes preparing and/or reviewing reconciliations, journal entries, and account roll-forwards related to various general ledger accounts.
Maintain and analyze standard costs for raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods, including periodic updates and cost rollups to assist with variance analysis and supporting of standard vs. actual cost updates.
Perform monthly inventory valuation, reconciliation, and reporting, ensuring accuracy across all inventory sub-ledgers and the general ledger.
Analyze and explain purchase price variances (PPV), manufacturing variances, labor and overhead absorption, and scrap/yield variances.
Lead or support monthly, quarterly, and annual physical inventory counts and cycle counts; investigate and resolve discrepancies.
Lead 3rd party warehouse inventory reconciliation procedures to align inventory balances with internal reporting.
Prepare journal entries related to inventory, COGS, and cost accruals as part of the month-end close process.
Manage the process of identifying, reporting, and disposing of excess, obsolete, or slow-moving inventory, including calculating and recording reserves.
Partner with Supply Chain and Manufacturing to evaluate cost drivers, identify process improvement opportunities, and support cost reduction initiatives.
Assist with the development and maintenance of overhead allocation rates and burden rate calculations.
Support annual budgeting and forecasting processes related to inventory and cost of goods sold.
Ensure compliance with internal controls (SOX) related to inventory and cost accounting; support internal and external audit requests.
Identify and implement process and system improvements to enhance operational efficiency and reporting accuracy.
Support ERP system maintenance related to costing (item masters, BOMs, routings) and participate in system enhancement or implementation projects.
Prepare ad hoc analysis and reporting for finance leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Assist internal and external auditors with various inquiries and schedules ensuring audit-ready documentation.
Mentor and provide guidance to junior accounting staff as needed.