COST Accountant

COST ACCOUNTANT For an Engineering Components Manufacturing Company in Hyderabad.

As a cost accountant for a mid-sized engineering and manufacturing company in Hyderabad, you would be responsible for tracking, analysing, and optimizing the company's expenses related to production. Your work supports strategic business decisions, from pricing products to managing budgets and maximizing profitability.

Key duties and responsibilities:

• Cost analysis and reporting: You would collect and analyse cost data related to raw materials, labour, and factory overhead. This includes preparing reports that compare standard costs to actual production costs to identify inefficiencies.
• Budgeting and forecasting: You would work with department heads and management to create and monitor budgets for operational costs. A mid-sized company needs this forecasting to plan future purchases and control expenses.
• Inventory valuation: This is particularly important for manufacturing. You would be responsible for tracking raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP), and finished goods. This involves accurately valuing inventory using methods like weighted average cost, FIFO, or LIFO to affect the cost of goods sold (COGS).
• Product costing: You would estimate the costs for new products and analyse the profitability of existing ones at the item-specific level. This detailed analysis is crucial for making informed pricing decisions.
• Overhead allocation: Accurately allocating indirect costs like rent, utilities, and maintenance to individual products or jobs can be complex. You would need to use appropriate methods, such as activity-based costing, to ensure accurate cost per unit.
• Variance analysis: You would investigate and report on variances between budgeted and actual costs, pinpointing the root causes of financial deviations to help management take corrective action.
• Process improvement: By analysing cost data, you would recommend changes to processes and policies to reduce costs and increase overall efficiency.
• Auditing and compliance: You would assist with internal and external audits, providing detailed reports and ensuring the company's financial practices adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and regulatory standards.

Common challenges at our old Company in the Indian manufacturing sector that you will face will be:

• Siloed data: Disconnected data between production, purchasing, and finance departments can lead to inconsistencies and errors. Our mid-sized companies still rely on manual spreadsheets instead of integrated ERP systems.
• Outdated technology: Relying on legacy systems or manual data entry for tracking labour, materials, and production can lead to inaccuracies and delays in reporting.
• Inventory management complexity: Managing raw materials, WIP, and finished goods from multiple suppliers and across different production stages requires a robust system to avoid inventory mismatches.
• Managing cash flow gaps: Due to long production cycles and high upfront costs for materials, a company may face cash flow issues even with a profitable order.
• Old Legacy Working Architecture needs patience and updating to current as a challenge.

Essential skills:

• Technical accounting skills: Strong knowledge of cost accounting principles and methodologies, including standard costing, activity-based costing (ABC), and variance analysis.
• Software proficiency: Expertise with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle), advanced Excel skills (including pivot tables, VLOOKUPs), and potentially data visualization tools like Power BI.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills: The ability to analyse financial data, identify trends, and provide actionable insights for cost reduction and efficiency improvements.
• Communication skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills to clearly explain complex financial information to both finance and non-finance stakeholders, such as engineering and operations teams.
• Detail-oriented: Meticulous attention to detail to ensure accuracy in financial data and reports.
• Cross-functional collaboration: The ability to work effectively with various departments across the organization to collect data, understand processes, and implement cost control measures.

Qualifications and experience:

• Educational background: A bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a related field is typically required. A master's degree in accounting or an MBA can be beneficial for career advancement.
• Professional certification: If qualified from The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI, previously known as ICWAI) as A Certified Management Accountant (CMA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification is highly valued and can improve career prospects and earning potential.
• Relevant experience: At least 35 years of experience in cost accounting within a manufacturing, engineering, or industrial setting is generally required for a mid-level position. Experience in project-based or contract manufacturing costing is particularly relevant for an engineering firm.

Salary:

The salary will vary depending on experience. For a mid-level professional for our mid-sized company, you can expect the following:

• Mid-Level (37 years): Range from INR 6 to 12