Senior Cost Accountant

Kruger Family Industries • Portage, WI

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

At Kruger Family Industries, parent company of Penda Corporation and TriEnda Holdings, our passion is to bring great products to life through an exceptional area of thermoformed solutions. We are the North America leader in heavy gauge thermoformed plastics. We are committed to delivering highly engineered, high quality material handling products and automotive accessories that reduce the weight and cost of traditional composite, fiberglass, wood and metal products, making this an opportunity to work in an innovative environment during an exciting growth phase.
SUMMARY
The Senior Cost Accountant is responsible for maintaining and improving KFI’s standard costing processes, supporting manufacturing performance analysis, and ensuring the integrity of cost and inventory data within KFI’s cloud-based ERP system (NetSuite). This role works closely with Operations, Finance, and Engineering to enhance visibility into product costs, improve costing accuracy, and support data-driven decision-making across the business. KFI operates in a modern, cloud-based, and increasingly automated finance environment; the ideal candidate pairs a strong foundation in cost accounting and GAAP with genuine curiosity about technology — someone who has used AI and automation tools, is comfortable with business intelligence and reporting platforms, and is eager to grow as the finance function continues to automate. The successful candidate is a self-starter with strong Excel skills, a solid command of accounting principles and standard costing, experience in a manufacturing environment, and openness to a changing technological landscape.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in accounting, with at least 3 years in cost accounting
• Prior experience in a manufacturing or product-based environment required
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (e.g., XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, INDEX/MATCH, pivot tables, conditional formatting)
• Strong knowledge of GAAP and standard costing methodology
• Ability to interpret and analyze large data sets and translate them into actionable insights
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across departments
• High attention to detail and a continuous improvement mindset
• Comfortable working in a hybrid financial/operational role

Nice To Haves

• Experience with NetSuite ERP and/or NetSuite Planning and Budgeting highly preferred
• CPA or CMA certification is a plus, but not required
• Exposure to modern finance technology — business intelligence/reporting tools, data automation, and AI tools — with a demonstrated willingness to learn and adopt new systems
• Experience building reports and dashboards in Power BI (DAX knowledge a plus) — strongly preferred
• Comfort with data-automation tools such as Excel Power Query; familiarity with scripting (e.g., Python) is a plus but not required
• AI fluency — has used AI tools in a work setting and is genuinely open to a rapidly evolving, automation-forward finance environment. No coding or terminal expertise required; curiosity, adaptability, and sound accounting judgment are what matter

Responsibilities

• Maintain and enhance the Company’s standard cost structure, including machine rates, labor, and material costs
• Analyze and report manufacturing cost variances (e.g., purchase price, labor, overhead, and usage variances)
• Review and update bills of material (BOMs) and routings in collaboration with operations and engineering
• Perform cost roll-ups, cost copy procedures, and support product re-costing initiatives
• Assist in month-end close processes including journal entries, cost of goods sold adjustments, and inventory reconciliations
• Prepare and analyze overhead spending compared to budget and support root-cause analysis of variances
• Lead efforts to improve cost visibility and transparency, including building dashboards (e.g., Power BI) and automating recurring cost and variance reporting
• Support annual budgeting and forecasting activities, including standard cost updates and projected variance modeling
• Provide auditors and internal stakeholders with inventory and cost-related data as requested
• Partner with the Finance and cross-functional teams, on COGS variance analysis, financial reporting, and system process improvements
• Leverage Excel, Power Query, and NetSuite Planning & Budgeting to build costing models and streamline reporting efficiency
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives in cost accounting practices and ERP usage
• Identify opportunities to automate manual, repetitive accounting tasks and apply AI-assisted tools to accelerate the month-end close and improve data accuracy
• Champion the adoption of modern finance technology — automation, dashboarding, and AI-assisted workflows — to continually raise the efficiency and reliability of cost accounting processes

Benefits

• KFI is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
• This is a direct-hire opportunity with KFI.
• KFI is interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas.

What This Job Offers

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