Cost Accountant

Designation: Cost Accountant

Location : Harrington Road,Chetpet, Chennai, India

Qualification: Qualified CMA

Years of experience: 10+ Years of relevant experience in Cost Accounting and Manufacturing Finance

Employment type: Full-Time | Work From Office

Overview / Job Purpose / About the Company:
A leading global specialty chemical company is looking for an experienced Cost Accountant to support its North America manufacturing operations. The role is responsible for accurate product costing, inventory valuation, manufacturing variance analysis, cost reporting, month-end close, budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis. The position will work closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement, FP&A, and Finance leadership to strengthen cost controls, improve profitability, and support informed business decisions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Perform product costing, standard costing, inventory accounting, manufacturing cost analysis, and month-end close activities.
  
• Maintain and update standard costs for raw materials, labor, and overhead components.
  
• Validate BOMs, routings, and cost structures and perform cost rollups.
  
• Monitor inventory transactions, inventory valuation, and reconcile inventory accounts with the General Ledger.
  
• Support cycle counts and physical inventory programs and resolve inventory discrepancies.
  
• Analyse Purchase Price Variance (PPV), material usage, labour, overhead, efficiency, price, and volume variances.
  
• Prepare monthly cost, margin, inventory, and variance analysis reports for management.
  
• Conduct root-cause analysis and provide actionable recommendations for cost and margin improvement.
  
• Support profitability improvement initiatives and provide financial insights to Operations and Supply Chain teams.
  
• Support annual budgeting and forecasting processes.
  
• Review inventory and margin reports and analyse cost movements and profitability.
  
• Manage sales incentive calculations and accruals in coordination with HR and Finance.
  
• Support FP&A and Finance leadership on finance projects, reporting applications, implementation, and training initiatives.
  
• Ensure compliance with accounting policies, internal controls, audit requirements, and reporting standards.
  
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional and international teams.
  

Mandatory Skills:

• 10+ years of Cost Accounting / Manufacturing Finance experience
  
• Manufacturing industry experience
  
• Strong Standard Costing & Inventory Accounting experience
  
• SAP FICO – Mandatory
  
• Strong Cost & Variance Analysis / PPV experience
  
• Advanced MS Excel skills
  
• Experience in budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting
  
• ERP experience in a manufacturing environment
  
• Power BI / QlikView / Qlik Sense experience is an advantage