Cost Accountant

Requirements:

• Minimum BCom Accounting / Cost and Management Accounting (NQF6).
• Studying towards CIMA is preferred.
• 3–7 years' experience in a manufacturing or factory finance environment.
• Proven experience in cost accounting, inventory valuation, and variance analysis.
• Experience with ERP systems in a manufacturing setting.
• Strong knowledge of cost accounting principles.
• IFRS knowledge, specifically IAS 2 (Inventories).
• Advanced Excel skills.
• ERP systems proficiency (SAP FI and MM).
• Understanding of manufacturing processes.

Product Costing and Inventory Control

• Assist with maintaining standard costing information for raw materials, labour, and overheads.
• Prepare costing schedules and reports for review.
• Assist with inventory valuation activities.
• Support quarterly inventory cost roll-ups.
• Support annual and interim stock counts and reconciliations.
• Verify Bills of Material (BOMs) and routing accuracy in ERP systems.
• Prepare Import cost files and submit summary to Plant Controller for update to SAP.
• Review and report monthly on stock count completeness across all sites.
• Coordinate and assist Planning with factory stock counts.
• Investigate stock variances and resolve issues.
• Conduct reporting on stock counts for management.

Cost Control and Variance Analysis

• Assist with the preparation of material, labour and overhead variance reports.
• Investigate routine cost variances and escalate significant or unresolved issues to the Plant Controller.
• Collect, validate and analyse production data to support variance analysis.
• Monitor scrap, rework and yield losses and report trends.
• Maintain records of cost-saving initiatives and update tracking schedules.
• Compile and prepare daily production scrap reports and attend daily scrap meetings.
• Compile monthly lead balancing reports, including scrap sent to Frys.
• Identify potential cost-saving opportunities and communicate these to the Plant Controller.
• Support production and engineering teams by providing accurate costing information when required.

Budgeting and Forecasting Support

• Assist with preparation of manufacturing cost budgets and forecasts.
• Analyse budget vs actual results and explain deviations.
• Update cost assumptions based on operational changes.
• Assist with scenario and sensitivity analysis.

ERP and Data Integrity Management

• Assist with maintaining costing master data, Bills of Material (BOMs), routings and overhead rates under the guidance of the Plant Controller.
• Validate production and inventory transactions to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Identify and report data discrepancies for investigation and correction.
• Assist with the correction and maintenance of Material Master information relating to transaction processing.
• Support ERP system enhancements, upgrades and user acceptance testing.
• Assist in documenting costing-related system processes and procedures.
• Provide first-line support to operational users on basic costing and SAP transaction queries.
• Escalate system-related issues and unresolved data discrepancies to the Plant Controller or relevant system support teams.
• Ensure costing documentation and supporting records are maintained accurately and are readily available for audit purposes.

Operational and Cross-Functional Support

• Provide supporting costing information for operational decision-making.
• Assist with preparing cost impact analyses for process changes and operational improvements.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives (Lean, Six Sigma and other operational improvement projects).
• Prepare and present basic costing and operational reports to support decision-making.
• Assist with scanning and other finance or factory-related projects as required.
• Monitor the performance of the scanning process, liaise with Factory System Roles and report issues requiring corrective action.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with internal departments and external stakeholders to ensure efficient service delivery.
• Attend operational meetings and provide finance support where required.
• Identify routine operational issues and escalate improvement opportunities to the Plant Controller.
• Perform ad hoc finance and costing duties as assigned by management.
• Demonstrate professionalism, integrity and compliance with policies, procedures and core values in all activities.
• Support all APDP related audit queries.