Cost and Management Accountant

About the role

The Cost and Management Accountant will support the Demand and Supply team by translating the company’s strategic direction into long‑term business targets and budgets. Reporting to the Financial Director, the role partners with department heads to drive cost reductions, improve forecasting accuracy and deliver actionable financial insights for a fast‑growing FMCG business.

Key responsibilities

• Prepare and manage the annual 12‑month budget, monitor performance against targets and identify variances early.
• Maintain a rolling six‑month profit forecast, updating assumptions and communicating impacts on EBITDA and cash flow.
• Produce accurate monthly management accounts, including income statements, balance sheets, free cash flow and profitability analyses by channel, SKU and headcount.
• Coordinate monthly stock counts, reconcile physical inventory with system records and address losses, wastage or obsolete stock.
• Maintain and update product costing, develop activity‑based costing methodology and lead the transition to absorption costing using Syspro.
• Analyse production variances, investigate root causes and work with Production and Supply Chain to reduce waste and improve gross margin.

Required profile

• Strong manufacturing costing background with deep understanding of production processes, overheads and cost drivers.
• Excellent analytical and problem‑solving skills, including budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis.
• High business acumen and ability to influence strategic and commercial decisions.
• Proven experience in supply chain, supplier/market insights and FMCG environments (minimum 8 years).
• Advanced communication skills, both written and verbal, and ability to work across functional teams.

Required skills

• Advanced Excel
• Financial modelling
• Data analysis
• PowerPoint
• Syspro ERP (costing modules)
• Activity‑based costing
• Absorption costing
• Budgeting
• Forecasting
• Cost management