About The Role
The Cost & Inventory Accountant will play a key role in the reporting of Cost of Goods Sold (“COGS”) and all internally and externally held Inventories. This role will focus on delivering clear, actionable financial insights to support decision-making while helping to shape and refine developing processes. As processes evolve, this role will be instrumental in driving improvements to cost and inventory reporting, ensuring alignment with the company’s financial and operational objectives.
Duties and Responsibilities
COGS and Inventory Reporting
* Ensure accurate and timely reporting of COGS and inventory positions, including detailed reconciliations and variance analysis.
* Analyse, report and provide insight into the monthly COGS figure.
* Analyse, report and provide insight on inventory balances, reconciliations, movements, valuations and provisions.
* Support the overall preparation of the monthly P&L focusing on COGS and overheads (where applicable) including variance analysis and commentary.
* Work closely with supply chain and procurement/logistics teams to support accurate costings and valuations.
* Provide financial insights into supply chain and logistics costs to support decision-making.
Process Documentation, Development and Improvements
* Take the initiative to understand existing processes and systems from the ground up, building a thorough knowledge base.
* Document your understanding of these processes as you develop them, creating a resource that supports knowledge sharing and continuity.
* Identify opportunities to improve processes related to COGS and inventory reporting, contributing to greater efficiency and accuracy as practices and potentially systems develop, with a focus on automation and data integrity.
* Assist in building a formalised approach to stock and cost management, supporting long-term operational and financial objectives.
Financial Controls and Reconciliations
* Reconcile key balance sheet accounts, including inventory, creditors control account and accruals/prepayments, ensuring timely resolution of reconciling items.
* Maintain the integrity of financial records by adhering to established controls and processes.
Cross Functional Collaboration and Support
* Work closely with colleagues across Finance, FP&A, Procurement, NPD/Technical, Factory Operations whilst also engaging with external suppliers to ascertain information and align reporting outputs with business needs (e.g. support cost control, stock accuracy and decision-making).
* Support junior team members in their duties by providing guidance and sharing best practices.
Other Duties
* Work closely with the other Accountants in the preparation of monthly management accounts and financial reports as required.
* Undertake other ad hoc tasks or projects aligned to the role.
Requirements
Qualifications
Essential
* Fully qualified accountant (ICAS, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
Desirable
* Additional training or certification in cost accounting or inventory management.
Experience
Essential
* Proven ability to analyse and report on cost structures, stock valuation and variance analysis.
* Experience within the manufacturing sector.
* Strong experience in cost and inventory accounting.
* 3+ years post qualification experience.
Desirable
* Experience in FMCG or food manufacturing industries.
* Experience working with ERP systems and inventory management software.
* Exposure to process improvement projects related to stock and cost management.
Skills and Knowledge
Essential
* Strong technical accounting skills, particularly around COGS and stock valuation including stock provisioning methodologies.
* Advanced Excel skills, including financial modelling, data analysis and working with large datasets.
* Strong attention to detail and an analytical mindset.
* Ability to communicate complex financial data in a clear and meaningful way for non-financial colleagues.
Desirable
* Knowledge of UK VAT treatment on stock movements and imports.
* Experience with data visualisation tools (Power BI).
* Understanding of standard costing methodologies.
* Strong commercial awareness and understanding of wider business impact of cost and inventory decisions.
Personal Attributes
Essential
* Proactive and solution-oriented approach.
* Ability to work cross-functionally with factory operations, procurement and finance teams.
Desirable
* Experience in training or mentoring junior finance staff.
* Strong presentation skills for senior stakeholders.
Why Join Us:
Bake your career at Walker’s and become a part of “Scotland at its Finest”. We value our team and reward hard work and dedication with:
* 25% employee discount when purchasing our product from our own shops.
* Auto-enrolment into our pension scheme after 3 months.
* Life Assurance and generous holiday allowance which increases with length of service.
* Subsidised employee canteen services.
* Healthcare and Well-being benefits, including eligibility for Bupa.
* Long Service Awards.
* Family/Maternity/Paternity leave.
About Us
Our people have always been at the heart of everything we do, and without them, we couldn't be Scotland at its finest. Proving good, reliable employment to our local community has been at the core of Walker's values since the very beginning. We are committed to Equal Opportunities for all, proudly a Disability Confident and Young Person's Guarantee employer. We can't wait to have you as part of our team.
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