Cost Accounting Manager - Champlin, MN in CHAMPLIN, Minnesota at States Manufacturing LLC

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.

Key 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

Qualifications:

• 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

• CPA, CMA, or CPIM certification preferred

• Assist internal and external auditors with various inquiries and schedules ensuring audit-ready

documentation. Experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics,

Epicor, or similar) required; experience with cost module configuration a plus

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, financial

modeling)

• Experience supporting SOX compliance and internal/external audits

• Demonstrated experience analyzing manufacturing variances and standard costing

Disclaimer

The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, or skills required. Forgent Power reserves the right to modify, interpret, or apply this job description as needed.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Forgent Power is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected class.

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