Cost Accountant

Cost Accountant
Location: East Sussex
Reporting to: Finance Manager

The Opportunity
Recruitment South East is delighted to be supporting a well-established and growing manufacturing business in the search for a talented Cost Accountant.
This is an excellent opportunity for an analytical and commercially minded finance professional who enjoys getting under the skin of the numbers.

Working closely with the Finance Manager and wider operational teams, you'll play a key role in ensuring the accuracy of costing data, providing meaningful financial insight and helping to drive profitability and efficiency across the business.

The successful candidate will thrive in a manufacturing environment and be confident working with large volumes of data, ERP systems and stakeholders across multiple departments.

Key Responsibilities

Costing & Inventory Management

• Carry out quarterly cost roll-ups and review Bills of Materials (BOMs).
• Analyse manufacturing variances, including material, labour and overhead costs.
• Monitor inventory valuation and reconcile inventory accounts.
• Coordinate and oversee stocktakes and cycle counts to ensure inventory accuracy.
• Investigate and resolve inventory discrepancies in a timely manner.

Financial Analysis & Reporting

• Produce margin analysis by both product and customer.
• Prepare month-end journals relating to inventory and cost of sales, including:
• Obsolescence provisions
• Labour and overhead reallocations
• Absorption adjustments
• Produce daily and weekly labour efficiency reports.
• Complete balance sheet reconciliations.
• Maintain the fixed asset register and process monthly depreciation journals.
• Prepare monthly board reporting relating to inventory ageing and inventory segmentation.

Systems & Data Management

• Maintain and manage costing information within the ERP system.
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of cost data across financial systems.
• Develop and improve reporting tools, including Excel models and business intelligence dashboards.
• Support system upgrades, automation projects and process improvements.
• Drive continuous improvement and standardisation initiatives across costing processes.

Compliance & Controls

• Ensure compliance with relevant accounting standards, including UK GAAP and IFRS.
• Maintain robust internal controls surrounding inventory and costing activities.
• Prepare year-end schedules and support external audit processes.
• Document procedures and ensure adherence to internal policies and best practice.

General Finance Support

• Undertake additional accounting duties as required by the Finance Manager or Financial Controller.

About You
To be successful in this role, you'll have previous experience within cost or management accounting and a strong understanding of manufacturing environments.
You'll also bring:

• Proven experience within a Cost Accountant or Management Accountant role.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations and inventory processes.
• Experience using ERP systems such as Dynamics, SAP, Oracle or similar.
• Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, modelling and data analysis.
• Knowledge of standard costing and absorption costing methodologies.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• The ability to interpret data and communicate findings clearly.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to work accurately to deadlines.

Desirable Experience

• Experience using Microsoft Dynamics AX.
• Previous exposure to Sage Payroll and Sage HR.
• Knowledge of lean manufacturing principles or process improvement methodologies.
• Experience transitioning from accountancy practice into a manufacturing environment would be advantageous.

Qualifications

• Professionally qualified or part-qualified (CIMA, ACA or equivalent).

What's on Offer?
This is a fantastic opportunity to join a successful manufacturing business where you'll have genuine visibility across the organisation and the chance to influence decision-making through meaningful financial insight.

If you're someone who enjoys combining technical accounting expertise with commercial thinking and a passion for continuous improvement, we'd love to hear from you.

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