Cost Accountant

Mazak Corporation is looking for a Cost Accountant to join the Production Control team at our Florence, KY headquarters. The Production Cost Accountant serves as the bridge between Production Control and Accounting and is responsible for validating, analyzing, and overseeing all production-related costing data. This role ensures accurate tracking of material, labor, overhead, and variance reporting, while also providing real-time financial visibility into manufacturing performance. The position partners directly with production supervisors, planners, and accounting teams to maintain cost integrity, identify cost drivers, and support continuous improvement initiatives.

Scope and Responsibilities: Essential duties include, but are not limited to the following:

* Maintain and validate standard costs for manufactured items, components, and assemblies.

* Perform month-end cost rollups, variance reviews, and reconciliation of WIP, scrap, and rework transactions.

* Partner with Accounting to ensure alignment between production activity and financial postings.

* Monitor BOM and routing accuracy to ensure cost-to-produce reflects actual operations.

* Act as the primary point of contact between Accounting and Production for cost questions, clarifications, and issue resolution.

* Translate operational changes (process improvements, raw material changes, cycle times, etc...) into updated financial cost structures.

* Support cross-functional cost impact assessments for engineering changes, sourcing updates, and production shifts.

* Audit system transactions for completeness: production postings, labor confirmations, scrap declarations, and receipt-to inventory flows.

* Support ERP cost and configuration testing during system changes or process improvements.

* Coordinate with IT/ERP support for corrections and enhancements relating to cost visibility.

* Develop recurring cost dashboards and variance summaries for leadership.

* Identify and track cost trends, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities.

* Support forecasting, budgeting, and cost reduction initiatives.

Education/Certification:

* Bachelors degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field

Skills:

* Strong knowledge of cost accounting principles

* Proficiency in ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Dynamics, or similar)

* Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, formulas)

* Experience with financial reporting and reconciliations

* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

* High attention to detail and accuracy

* Ability to communicate financial data to non-finance teams

* Strong time management to meet deadlines

* Collaborative, proactive, and process-improvement mindset

* Knowledge of lean manufacturing or continuous improvement concepts

* Exposure to automation, BOM costing, and make-to-order concept

* Cost accounting experience in a manufacturing environment

EOE, including disability/vets