Senior Cost Accountant

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Location: Thomasville, GA

Reports to: Thomasville Plant Controller

Basic Function:

The Senior Cost Accountant plays a key role in supporting the financial performance of the Thomasville facility by providing advanced cost accounting expertise, analysis, and financial insight. This position leads critical costing activities, including standard costing, variance analysis, cost controls, journal entries, account reconciliations, and internal financial reporting, while serving as a subject matter expert on complex costing matters. 

Working closely with the Thomasville Plant Controller and operational partners, the Senior Cost Accountant translates financial data into meaningful insights, identifies opportunities to improve processes and cost performance, and supports a strong internal control environment. The role also provides guidance to less experienced accounting team members as needed. Success in this position requires a highly experienced, detail-oriented accounting professional with strong analytical skills, sound judgment, and the ability to effectively partner across the business.

Essential Duties:

• Provide proper level of customer service to the rest of the organization.
• Take ownership of costing processes and standard cost systems, ensuring accuracy, understanding, consistency with Company policy, consistency of application and compliance with GAAP; serve as the plant's subject matter expert on costing methodology.
• Establish and build effective and productive relationships with operations, finance and other departments, and act as a key liaison between the plant and Corporate Finance on costing and accounting matters.
• Lead month, quarter and year end close processes, meeting deadlines. Book and review journal entries and provide appropriate detail level review and analysis.  Verify appropriate reporting is correct and accurate, and review the work of less experienced accounting staff as needed.
• Prepare and review monthly account reconciliations as assigned, including more complex or higher-risk accounts. Identify and validate reconciliation balance drivers, and resolve discrepancies independently.
• Consolidates and analyzes all cost accounting procedures together with other internal reports; identifies opportunities to strengthen or streamline costing procedures and internal controls.
• Perform monthly financial variance analysis, including research, documentation and communication of account fluctuations.
• Partner with the Plant Controller to ensure audit requests are provided timely, quarterly and annual statements are accurate and timely, and proposed adjustments are minimalized; may lead portions of the audit process directly.
• Analyze product margin and profitability performance in depth and present recommendations to plant and finance leadership for future consideration.
• Lead development and analysis of key components of forecasts and budgets as required, providing insight into cost drivers and trends.
• Ensure company projects are accomplished in efficient and cost-effective manners.
• Leads preparation of capital requests and ROI analysis, including more complex or higher-dollar projects.
• May mentor, train and provide day-to-day guidance to Cost Accountants and other accounting staff on costing processes and best practices.
• Other duties as directed.

Education Required:     Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting is required; CMA, CPA or MBA a plus.

Experience Required:     5+ years of progressive accounting experience required, with manufacturing and standard cost accounting strongly preferred. Demonstrated experience performing account reconciliations, booking journal entries, and leading month-end close required. Prior experience mentoring or reviewing the work of other accounting staff preferred.

Key Skills & Competencies: 

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and demonstrated experience with ERP systems; IFS experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve complex accounting and operational issues using sound judgment and analytical thinking.
• Flexibility to work on special projects and unexpected events while completing routine tasks on a timely basis.
• Demonstrated capability to interface and maintain effective relationships with all departments and employees in a team-oriented environment.
• Demonstrated ability to find better and more efficient ways of doing things.
• Responsive to operational and department needs.
• Flexible/adaptive to change.
• Demonstrated proficiency and understanding balance sheet reconciliations.
• Ability to synthesize complex or diverse information.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment on complex issues, and lead projects with minimal oversight.
• Inspires and motivates others to perform well, provides guidance and constructive feedback to less experienced staff, and accepts feedback from others.
• Well organized, dependable, punctual, strong work ethic.
• Strong analytical skill set - ability to analyze problem and develop meaningful solutions.

Internal Contacts:  Regular (16-35%)  Make contacts that involve controversy where practices and procedures and/or methods do not provide precise direction as to desired outcomes.

External Contacts:  Regular (16-35%)  Make contacts that involve controversy where practices and procedures and/or methods do not provide precise direction as to desired outcomes.

Physical Skill and Effort:  Work requires a few simple, but rapid hand operations. Work requires simple, easy muscular movements.

Working Conditions and Hazards:  Normal plant, shop, field or office conditions. From time to time, slightly disagreeable features. Negligible/little or no exposure to hazardous conditions.    

Benefits of Being a Cleaver-Brooks Employee:

We offer a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, flexible spending account, wellness benefits, life insurance, short term and long term disability, cash matching 401(k) plan, tuition reimbursement, generous vacation and 11 paid holidays.

Who is Cleaver-Brooks:
Cleaver-Brooks is the market leader in providing fully integrated boiler and burner systems. We lead the boiler/burner industry due to our unmatched distribution network’s ability to deliver the knowledge, service, training and support that are essential to long-term performance. Our customers will tell you that we’re the only equipment provider that manufactures boilers, burners, controls, and a full array of ancillary and aftermarket products. They’ll also mention that our unique single-source capability means that we can deliver fully integrated boiler room solutions that reduce overall costs and optimize space. It is our focus on products that deliver the most efficient, reliable, safe and environmentally sustainable solutions that differentiate us in the marketplace. Cleaver-Brooks continues an 90+ year legacy of providing the customers we serve with extraordinary products designed to deliver unsurpassed performance through the power of commitment.

This description indicates the general nature of the tasks and responsibilities required of positions given this classification. It is not intended as a complete list of specific duties and responsibilities. Nor is it intended to limit or modify the right of management to assign, direct, and control the specific duties of individuals performing this function. The Company reserves the right to change, modify, amend, add to or delete from any section of this document as it deems, in its judgement, to be proper.