Senior Cost Accountant at Divergent — Torrance, CA

## Purpose

The Cost Accountant serves as a subject-matter expert across cost accounting, owning core cost accounting activities across close, reconciliations, standard cost management, inventory valuation, and financial controls. This role operates with significant autonomy across multiple cost accounting workstreams, independently resolving complex accounting and operational issues, defining scalable practices, and influencing functional decisions that strengthen the accuracy and integrity of inventory and COGS reporting.

Working closely with Supply Chain (Warehouse, Procurement, Planning), Production, Program Management, and IT teams- this position strengthens the Cost Accounting and Finance function by defining and improving cost accounting methodologies, reconciliations, processes, and financial controls that improve the accuracy, reliability, and scalability of inventory and COGS reporting.

## The Role

Month-End Close Support

• Own assigned cost accounting close workstreams end-to-end, independentlyestablishingpriorities, resolving complex issues, and ensuring accurate and timely completion
• Prepare and post journal entries for assigned close areas, including accruals, reclassifications, and timing corrections
• Own sub-ledger to GL reconciliations for assigned accounts, ensuring alignment between operational data and financial results and independently determiningappropriate resolutionfor complex discrepancies
• Define and continuously improve close schedules, checklists, controls, and supporting workpapers to improve scalability, accuracy, and repeatability
• Identifyand resolve discrepancies between operational activity and financial reporting; assess downstream accounting implications and lead cross-functional resolution of issues affecting inventory and COGS

Standard Cost Management

• Serve as a subject-matter expert for standard costing, providing guidance on costingmethodology, inventory valuation, and related accounting practices to Finance and cross-functional partners
• Own standard cost records and methodologies, ensuring ERP cost data appropriately reflects approved processes, operational changes, accounting requirements, and cost methodologies
• Perform complex costing and work order analysis to evaluate inventory valuation,identifysystemic issues, and determine appropriate accounting treatment and process improvements
• Analyze cost variances including purchase price variance (PPV),identifyroot causes and interdependencies across operational processes, and drive corrective actions or standard cost updates as appropriate
• Define and improve standard costing practices and controls as manufacturing processes, systems, and business requirements evolve

Reconciliations and Analyses

• Own inventory and cost account reconciliations, including raw materials, WIP, and finished goods, and independently resolve complex or recurring accounting issues
• Develop and maintain PPV analysis, absorption reporting, and other cost variance workpapers thatprovideactionable insight into manufacturing and financial performance
• Validateinventory movements and production data against ERP records; independently investigate complex breaks, determine root causes, and lead resolution across Finance and Operations
• Identifytrends and systemic issues across inventory and cost accounting workstreams and recommend changes to accounting practices, operational processes, or system controls

Policy, Procedures, and Documentation

• Define andmaintainreconciliation templates, trackers, standards, and process documentation for recurring close activities and one-time events
• Own documentation of inventory valuation, cost recognition, standard costassumptionsand methodology in a clear, audit-ready format as processes evolve
• Establishand continuously improve cost accounting workflows, standards, and controls to improve repeatability, scalability, and process continuity
• Providetechnical guidance to accounting peers and cross-functional partners on cost accounting processes, controls, and methodologies and proactively share knowledge and best practices across the function

Landed Cost, Variances, and ERP Support