Manufacturing Costing Accountant
Finance Leadership | Manufacturing Costing | Business Intelligence
Location: Kelowna, BC | Reports to: President |
Position Overview
Westwood Cabinetry is a Kelowna-based Canadian manufacturer of high-quality cabinetry serving dealer and retail channels across Western Canada. We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Manufacturing Costing Accountant to lead our finance function, strengthen manufacturing cost controls, and turn financial and operating data into practical business insight.
Reporting to the President, this role provides financial leadership across accounting, costing, inventory, budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, reporting, and business analysis. The Controller reports to this position and manages day-to-day accounting activities. The successful candidate will partner closely with production, procurement, engineering, sales, shipping, and senior leadership to improve margins, operating performance, data integrity, and decision-making.
Key Responsibilities, Financial Leadership & Reporting
· Provide oversight and direction to the Controller and finance team, establishing priorities, accountabilities, and effective financial controls.
· Oversee timely and accurate monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reporting in accordance with applicable accounting standards and company policies.
· Review operating results, balance sheet reconciliations, working capital, cash flow, and financial performance metrics; present findings and recommendations to the President and senior leadership.
· Ensure the integrity of the general ledger and the appropriate accounting treatment of inventory, cost of goods sold, accruals, and capital expenditures.
· Coordinate year-end financial statement preparation, external review or audit support, and related schedules and documentation.
Manufacturing Costing & Margin Management
· Own and continuously improve the company’s product, job, and standard costing methodologies for raw materials, direct labour, freight, and manufacturing overhead.
· Develop, maintain, and regularly update product cost sheets, labour and overhead rates, bills of material, routings, cost roll-ups, and item master costing data.
· Review actual versus standard or estimated costs; investigate purchase price, usage, labour efficiency, overhead absorption, scrap, freight, and production variances.
· Validate cost of goods sold and provide gross margin analysis by product series, channel, dealer, customer, and order type.
· Support quoting, pricing reviews, new product development, custom projects, and re-pricing decisions with accurate cost models and profitability scenarios.
· Quantify the financial impact of supplier changes, material price movements, labour-rate adjustments, design changes, and process improvements.
Inventory Accounting & Controls
Oversee valuation and reconciliation of raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods, including reserves for slow-moving, obsolete, or excess inventory.
· Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to maintain accurate inventory transactions, landed costs, production reporting, and costing inputs.
· Support and improve cycle counts and annual physical inventory counts; investigate discrepancies, report root causes, and drive corrective actions.
· Establish and monitor internal controls over inventory, purchasing, costing, and production data.
Budgeting, Forecasting & Business Intelligence
· Lead the annual operating and capital budget process, including materials, labour, overhead, departmental expenses, headcount, and cash requirements.
· Build rolling forecasts using sales, backlog, production pipeline, capacity, lead-time, and purchasing data.
· Prepare budget-to-actual reporting with clear explanations of variances, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
· Develop management dashboards and KPIs covering revenue, backlog, margins, productivity, labour efficiency, scrap, inventory, working capital, and operating performance.
· Provide scenario modelling and ad hoc financial analysis to support capacity planning, capital investments, pricing strategy, product rationalization, and other strategic initiatives.
Cross-Functional Partnership & Continuous Improvement
· Serve as a finance business partner to production, procurement, engineering, sales, shipping, and logistics, translating financial information into practical operational actions.
· Identify margin leakage, bottlenecks, data-quality issues, and inefficient workflows; lead improvements to reporting, costing, controls, and decision support.
· Maintain costing integrity across Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the SQL-based proprietary production platform, and the 2020 design catalogue.
· Develop scalable tools, procedures, documentation, and training that improve financial literacy and accountability across the organization.
· Stay current with manufacturing finance, cost accounting, inventory management, and business intelligence best practices.
Qualifications, Education & Experience
· Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
· CPA designation is strongly preferred; candidates with substantial, directly relevant manufacturing cost-accounting and finance leadership experience will also be considered.
· Minimum five years of progressive experience in cost accounting, financial analysis, controllership, or finance leadership, including significant experience in a manufacturing environment.
· Demonstrated experience with product costing, job costing, standard costing, inventory valuation, overhead allocation, variance analysis, budgeting, forecasting, and month-end close.
· Experience leading or mentoring accounting professionals and working directly with executive leadership.
· Experience in cabinetry, millwork, furniture, or another engineered-to-order or product-based manufacturing environment is an asset.
Technical Skills & Capabilities
· Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including financial modelling, pivot tables, lookups, data analysis, and dynamic management reporting.
· Strong ERP and manufacturing-systems capability; Microsoft Dynamics NAV experience is preferred, and familiarity with SQL-based reporting is a strong asset.
· Sound knowledge of applicable Canadian accounting standards, inventory accounting, internal controls, and manufacturing cost flows.
· Demonstrated ability to move from complex or incomplete data to clear, credible analysis and actionable recommendations.
· Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to present findings, challenge assumptions constructively, and influence decisions.
· Highly accurate, organized, self-directed, and comfortable establishing processes in a fast-paced, growing organization.
What We Offer
· A high-impact finance leadership role with direct access to the President and senior leadership.
· The opportunity to mentor the Controller and finance team while shaping costing, reporting, controls, and business intelligence.
· A collaborative environment where financial insight directly influences production, pricing, investment, and growth decisions.
· A stable British Columbia manufacturer with strong roots in the Okanagan.
· Competitive compensation and benefits, with meaningful opportunities to build and improve systems and processes.
Westwood Cabinetry is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace.
Pay: $110,000.00-$130,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental care
- Employee assistance program
- Extended health care
- Life insurance
- On-site parking
- Paid time off
- Vision care
- Wellness program
Work Location: In person
