Senior Cost Accountant

Lewis Bakeries • Evansville, IN

9d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Cost Accountant is responsible for product costing, inventory valuation, and manufacturing variance analysis for the Evansville and Vincennes bakery manufacturing plants. Based at the Evansville, Indiana plant, the role translates plant activity into accurate, timely financial information that supports operating decisions, cost control, and improved plant performance. The position reports to the Director of Cost Accounting within Finance / Accounting and partners closely with plant leadership and Corporate Accounting to maintain reliable cost data and strengthen work order reconciliation, inventory counting, finished goods reporting, and production metrics. The position has no direct reports but provides guidance and support to bakery personnel responsible for work order reconciliation through a dotted-line relationship.

The role works in both office and production environments and requires regular travel to the Vincennes plant. Work must comply 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.
• Ability to meet deadlines across two locations.
• Ability to work independently with a remote reporting relationship, learn proactively, and seek guidance when needed.

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, including materials, packaging, labor, and overhead.
• Maintain bills of material, routings, work centers, and labor and overhead rates in the ERP.
• 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 counts and cycle counts; investigate and resolve count adjustments.
• 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 margin analysis by product, customer, and channel 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 relating to inventory and cost of sales.
• Improve cost data quality in the ERP and reporting tools, and lead costing components of system projects.
• Train plant staff on production reporting and inventory practices.

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.
• Paid holidays.
• Relocation assistance available for qualified candidates.
• Professional development opportunities and long-term career growth.

What This Job Offers

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