Cost Accountant supports the cost accounting team with day-to-day manufacturing finance activities, including inventory and cost-of-goods analysis , variance reporting , and month-end close support . Duties & Responsibilities Assist with month-end close activities for cost accounting, including support for journal entries and account reconciliations.
Numbers & Facts
Location
Irvine, CA
Salary
$40–$50
Description
Jr. Cost Accounting Analyst Location: Irvine, CA (On-site) Type: Contract (approx. 34 months), 40 hrs/week Department: Accounting / Manufacturing Finance Job Summary
The Jr. Cost Accountant supports the cost accounting team with day-to-day manufacturing finance activities, including inventory and cost-of-goods analysis, variance reporting, and month-end close support. This role has an emphasis on job costing, labor/overhead support, standard cost maintenance assistance, and inventory reconciliations, while helping ensure key inventory/manufacturing controls are completed accurately and on time.
Duties & Responsibilities
Assist with month-end close activities for cost accounting, including support for journal entries and account reconciliations.
Help prepare and analyze product costs, manufacturing variances, and other COGS-related reporting.
Support standard cost updates and maintain cost data (BOM/routings and related cost inputs) in partnership with operations/manufacturing teams.
Assist with labor and overhead rate support (basic calculations, data pulls, trend reporting).
Support inventory reconciliations (including intercompany inventory/profit where applicable).
Assist with cycle counts and physical inventories (coordination support, variance research, documentation).
Support warranty and E&O (excess & obsolete) analysis and reporting.
Pull and analyze data from the ERP/accounting system to support cost-of-goods reporting and ad hoc requests.
Help maintain documentation for inventory/manufacturing SOX controls and support audit requests as needed.
Participate in process improvement efforts to streamline close and reporting activities.
Perform other projects as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
2+ years of accounting experience with exposure to cost accounting (manufacturing environment strongly preferred).
Strong Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups; comfort working with large data sets).
Working knowledge of inventory, COGS, and basic variance analysis concepts.
High attention to detail; ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
Strong written and verbal communication; comfortable partnering with operations/manufacturing stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in a high-volume manufacturing environment.
Exposure to standard costing, BOM/routings, or labor/overhead concepts.
Experience with ERP systems (any major ERP is fineSAP/Oracle/NetSuite/etc.).
Experience in a medical device / regulated / lot-controlled environment.
Spanish (written/spoken) a plus.
Education
Bachelors degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business (or equivalent experience).