Sr. Cost Accountant

Description We are looking for an experienced Sr. Cost Accountant to support a premium furniture manufacturer in Comstock Park, Michigan through a Long-term Contract engagement. This role will help maintain continuity across core accounting operations while bringing stronger visibility to product costing, inventory accuracy, and margin performance in a mixed-model manufacturing environment. The position will also provide practical insight into costing methods, forecasting opportunities, and process improvements that can strengthen financial decision-making across the business.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee product and job costing activities for custom and standard manufacturing work, ensuring cost data supports accurate pricing and profitability analysis.

• Perform period-end inventory review activities, including count validation, reconciliation, and follow-up on discrepancies that affect financial results.

• Lead annual cost updates for existing and newly introduced products, refining assumptions for labor, materials, and machine-related inputs.

• Analyze manufacturing and inventory variances to identify unusual cost patterns, margin leakage, and areas where standards may no longer reflect actual operations.

• Partner with finance, operations, sales, and product teams to improve cost visibility for new products, commodity-driven inputs, and customer-specific work.

• Evaluate current costing practices and recommend practical enhancements that simplify workflows while improving reliability and consistency.

• Support month-end close and recurring forecasting cycles by delivering accurate cost-related reporting and financial insights.

• Provide informed guidance on business system usage and cost accounting controls, including support for process changes or future platform-related adjustments when needed.

• Document key cost accounting procedures and highlight operational or reporting gaps to reduce dependency on individual knowledge and strengthen business continuity. Requirements • Proven experience in cost accounting within a manufacturing environment, including job costing and inventory-related analysis.

• Strong understanding of month-end close processes, standard costing concepts, and variance investigation.

• Ability to work with financial reporting, business systems, and data analysis tools to interpret operational and cost information.

• Experience supporting inventory controls, cost roll updates, and reconciliation activities in a production setting.

• Demonstrated skill in partnering with cross-functional teams to improve costing accuracy and business decision support.

• Knowledge of forecasting, cash flow analysis, and capital-related financial considerations is preferred.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to assess current processes, document findings, and recommend improvements clearly.

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