Senior Cost Accountant

Lewis Bakeries • Laporte, MN

7d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Cost Accountant is responsible for product costing, inventory valuation, and manufacturing variance analysis for Lewis Bakeries’ LaPorte and Fort Wayne bakery manufacturing plants. Based at the LaPorte, Indiana plant, the role turns plant activity into accurate, timely financial information to support operating decisions, cost control, and plant performance. The position reports to the Director of Cost Accounting within Finance / Accounting and partners with plant leadership and Corporate Accounting. It has no direct reports, but provides guidance and support to bakery personnel responsible for work order reconciliation through a dotted-line relationship.

Lewis Bakeries is a family-owned and operated company founded in 1925. It produces loaf bread, buns, and rolls under brands including Bunny Bread, Lewis Bake Shop, and Healthy Life, and operates facilities in Indiana and Tennessee.

The position is full-time, exempt, and on-site. It is based at the LaPorte plant and requires regular travel to Fort Wayne. Work takes place in office and production environments and requires compliance with food safety standards, plant procedures, and personal protective equipment requirements. Additional hours may be required during month-end and year-end close, physical inventories, and audits. Physical activities include walking the production floor, climbing stairs, and standing for extended periods during inventory counts.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance.
• At least three years of manufacturing accounting or finance experience.
• Experience with ERP costing and inventory modules.
• Advanced Excel skills, including lookups and pivot tables.
• Ability to explain cost results clearly to non-finance plant staff.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to meet deadlines across two locations.
• Ability to work independently with a remote reporting relationship, learn proactively, and seek guidance when needed.
• Ability to comply with food safety standards, plant procedures, and personal protective equipment requirements.
• Ability to walk the production floor, climb stairs, and stand for extended periods during inventory counts.
• Ability to work additional hours during month-end and year-end close, physical inventories, and audits.

Nice To Haves

• CPA or CMA certification.
• Experience in food, bakery, or consumer packaged goods manufacturing.
• Experience supporting multiple manufacturing locations.
• Familiarity with Power BI or similar reporting tools.
• ERP implementation experience.
• Experience presenting to senior leadership.
• Experience leading process improvements and standardizing practices across plants.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain standard costs for finished goods and intermediates at assigned plants, including materials, packaging, labor, and overhead.
• Maintain bills of material, routings, work centers, and labor and overhead rates in the ERP so costs roll up correctly.
• Lead the annual standard cost update and mid-year revaluations for significant ingredient, packaging, or wage changes.
• Prepare cost estimates for new products and assist with corporate cost analysis and reporting.
• Support daily work order reconciliation, investigate variances, identify root causes, and work with bakery leadership on corrective actions.
• Support Corporate Accounting with the monthly close process following ERP implementation.
• Oversee physical inventory and cycle counts, investigate and resolve count adjustments, and maintain inventory reserves for discontinued products.
• Analyze and explain usage and yield, labor efficiency, overhead absorption, and scrap and waste variances.
• Track bakery KPIs, including waste, scale weights against target weights, bakery stales, line downtime, and throughput per hour.
• Publish monthly plant P&L results versus standard with commentary for plant and corporate leadership.
• Support annual plant spending budgets and standard volume, labor, and overhead assumptions with plant leadership and Corporate Accounting.
• Provide cost updates for product, customer, and channel margin analysis to support pricing and mix decisions.
• Model the financial results of continuous improvement activities and track results against expectations.
• Maintain internal controls over inventory, costing, and production reporting.
• Support external audits and tax requests related to inventory and cost of sales.
• Improve cost data quality in ERP and reporting tools, and lead costing components of system projects.
• Train plant staff on production reporting and inventory practices.
• Travel regularly to the Fort Wayne plant, including participation in physical inventory counts.

Benefits

• Medical coverage with weekly premiums as low as $10 and a low-deductible plan design.
• Comprehensive dental coverage, including orthodontic benefits for dependent children.
• Company-funded pension plan.
• 401(k) with company matching contributions.
• Company-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Paid vacation time and paid holidays.
• Relocation assistance for qualified candidates.
• Professional development opportunities and long-term career growth.

What This Job Offers

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