Manufacturing & Inventory Accountant

Milton Industries Inc • Chicago, IL

5d

About The Position

Milton Industries is seeking a Manufacturing & Inventory Accountant to monitor and account for manufacturing and inventory costs across its locations. The company manufactures pneumatic components, specialty tools, and fluid power products and uses the Plex ERP. This full-time, hands-on accounting role maintains standard costs, analyzes manufacturing variances, ensures freight and tariff costs are correctly reflected in inventory, and handles inventory and manufacturing activities during month-end close. The role works closely with operations and purchasing and supports reliable product-cost information for pricing and sourcing decisions.

Success in the role means keeping standard costs current in Plex; identifying and correcting incomplete or outdated standards; delivering timely monthly variance reports with clear explanations; aligning freight and tariff costs in inventory with actual invoices; reconciling inventory and variance accounts to the general ledger each month; issuing monthly inventory reserve, aging, and turns reports; and providing trusted product-cost information to operations and leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance.
• At least 3 years of accounting experience, including some cost, inventory, or manufacturing accounting.
• Understanding of standard costing, manufacturing variances, and inventory valuation.
• Experience with a manufacturing ERP system.
• Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and handling large data sets.
• Detail-oriented and organized.
• Strong reconciliation and month-end close skills.
• Takes ownership and follows through.
• Works well with operations and purchasing.
• Clear communication skills.
• Comfortable working independently.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Plex ERP.
• Experience at a manufacturing company with multiple locations.
• Familiarity with freight, tariffs, or imported products.
• CPA or CMA certification.

Responsibilities

• Monitor and account for manufacturing costs, including material, labor, overhead, freight-in, tariffs, and duty.
• Maintain standard costs in Plex, run regular standard-cost updates, and flag incomplete or outdated standards.
• Prepare monthly manufacturing variance analyses and explain key drivers, including purchase price variance (PPV) and over- or under-absorption by location.
• Work with purchasing to identify vendor price changes and update standard costs accordingly.
• Compare freight, tariff, and duty amounts in standard costs with actual invoices, and update landed costs when they diverge.
• Review purchase orders and receipts for costing issues that could misstate inventory, including tooling charges and items purchased from multiple sources.
• Prepare month-end inventory and manufacturing journal entries, and reconcile inventory and variance accounts to the general ledger.
• Prepare inventory reserve and slow-moving or obsolete inventory analyses, along with inventory aging and turns reports.
• Support product and SKU margin analysis for pricing and sourcing decisions.
• Assist with cost allocations, budget inputs, and year-end inventory audit requests.
• Help maintain consistent inventory and cost accounting practices across Milton's locations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level