Cost Accountant

Role Overview

This position is responsible for keeping a constant, real-time pulse on project finances across a portfolio of active jobs. Rather than waiting until project close-out to reconcile numbers, you will compare incurred, committed, and projected costs against approved budgets throughout each project’s life cycle, flagging overruns, variances, and shrinking margins as soon as they emerge. By giving project managers and senior leadership accurate, timely financial insights, you help prevent losses from being discovered only at handover and support better decisions while there is still time to act.

Key Responsibilities

• Record and track project costs as they occur, ensuring the financial picture stays current throughout project execution rather than relying on end-of-project reviews.
• Compare actual spending, committed purchase obligations, and forecasted outturn against approved budgets, then clearly report any deviations or emerging risks.
• Prepare cost-to-complete assessments and early-warning signals that highlight potential project losses before they become final.
• Provide project managers with digestible financial summaries they can use to make corrective decisions on scope, resources, suppliers, or schedules.
• Measure profitability and performance for each individual project, while also consolidating results to show the financial health of the entire project portfolio.
• Maintain and update product and project standard costs, capturing materials, labour, installation, procurement, and overhead components accurately.
• Run month-end closing activities for project costing, including reconciliations, journal entries, cost of goods sold calculations, and cost reporting packs.
• Partner with procurement, operations, and project delivery teams to identify cost-saving opportunities and reinforce accountability for the financial impact of operational choices.
• Keep all costing data clean and reliable within the ERP and accounting systems, and support internal and external audits with well-documented controls and records.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field.
• CPA, ACCA, CMA, or an equivalent professional qualification—or clear, demonstrable progress toward completing one—is essential.
• At least two years of relevant experience in cost accounting, project cost management, or a closely related financial control role.
• Hands-on experience with project or product costing, inventory reconciliation, cost allocation, variance analysis, and margin monitoring.
• Proven ability to collaborate with finance, procurement, operations, and project teams to control costs and drive profitability improvements.
• Experience supporting multiple concurrent projects is strongly preferred, as is prior exposure to the technology sector.
• Strong proficiency in ERP or accounting systems, plus advanced Microsoft Excel skills; practical experience with Zoho is an advantage.
• Excellent attention to detail and numerical accuracy, with the ability to investigate variances to their root cause.
• Comfort translating complex financial data into clear, actionable recommendations for non-financial stakeholders.
• Strong ownership, accountability, and communication skills, with the discipline to work independently and meet tight deadlines.