About Company

The company operates in the advanced electronics manufacturing industry, specializing in high-performance connectivity solutions for data transmission and communication systems.

Job Description

Inventory & Costing Accountant

1. Position Purpose

This is a hands-on ownership role for a technically strong costing professional to take end-to-end responsibility for inventory valuation, standard costing, variance analysis and physical inventory control at the India manufacturing entity.

The role requires someone equally comfortable with deep costing technical judgement and with disciplined, Manual Control execution every reconciliation, variance and reserve computation must be built and defended through robust, auditable manual working papers.

2. Key Responsibilities

Standard Costing & Cost Accounting

• Own the annual (and any interim) standard cost revision — material, labour and overhead — ensuring revision within 60 days of the physical inventory, with a Controller-approved revision form and impact analysis before implementation.

• Maintain and validate the manufacturing overhead absorption rate and methodology and determine the correct capitalise-versus-expense treatment for abnormal production/volume variances under Ind AS 2.

• Prepare and present monthly manufacturing and purchase price variance analysis with documented root cause for every variance above the materiality threshold.

• Audit bill-of-materials and routing accuracy periodically against actual shop-floor practice

Inventory Valuation & Reconciliation

• Ensure inventory is valued at the lower of cost (FIFO or weighted average) and net realisable value across raw material, WIP (open orders and components), finished goods, in-transit and intercompany inventory.

• Reconcile every inventory category to the general ledger and to perpetual stock records monthly, using manually maintained working papers given known ERP reporting limitations

• Age and investigate open work orders beyond 60 days; maintain the WIP valuation reconciliation to the GL with any difference provided for.

• Reconcile intercompany inventory positions and compute the monthly intercompany profit-in-inventory elimination reserve.

Physical Inventory & Cycle Counts

• Plan and execute the annual physical inventory.

• Design and operate a cycle-count programme for high-value SKUs, sustaining at least 95% accuracy; revert to full counts if accuracy falls below this threshold.

• Prepare and obtain Controller approval for every physical inventory adjustment before it is posted.

Excess & Obsolete (E&O) Inventory

• Compute and maintain the E&O reserve on the approved usage/backlog-based methodology, recomputed and sample-tested quarterly.

• Prepare and defend written justification for every management exclusion or inclusion that deviates from the standard E&O formula — re-justified each quarter, not carried forward by default.

• Perform net realisable value assessments and manage disposal of excess, obsolete and scrap inventory, including competitive dealer bidding, witnessed weighment and correct account posting — never blended into the scrap/rework variance account.

Transfer Pricing / Related-Party Inventory Support

• Maintain documentation supporting arm's-length pricing for related-party inventory transactions, both inbound and outbound, in coordination with the Tax function.

• Support quarterly transfer pricing margin monitoring specific to inventory-related intercompany flows.

Customer Claims, MRO & Scrap

• Reconcile customer quality/shortage claims to the credit note register.

• Maintain the MRO/spares perpetual record and support periodic physical verification.

• Own inventory receipt reconciliation discipline against the physical GRN book, given known ERP receipt-booking limitations

Audit, Compliance & Internal Controls

• Act as the primary control owner for all inventory-related controls and respond directly to statutory, internal and cost audit requests.

• Maintain audit-ready documentation for every judgemental inventory position — standards, E&O, variances, NRV — with a clear, dated paper trail.

• Support the annual cost audit where applicable under the Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, 2014, and maintain the prescribed cost records.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Production, Sourcing, Warehouse/Stores, Sales and Trade Compliance on inventory matters, including EOU duty-free procurement tracking, export documentation and customs valuation consistency.

• Work closely with the Assistant Controller and Finance Controller on month-end close, HQ/BPC reporting package inputs, and Board/Audit Committee reporting as required.

3. Qualifications & Experience

• Chartered Accountant (CA) or Cost & Management Accountant (CMA/ICWA) — mandatory.

• 4+ years of post-qualification experience, including at least 4–5 years specifically in manufacturing inventory accounting, standard costing and variance analysis.

• Prior experience in a multinational manufacturing environment strongly preferred; experience in a 100% Export-Oriented Unit or other export-focused manufacturing setup is a significant advantage.

• Demonstrated experience running physical inventory counts, cycle-count programmes, and excess & obsolete reserve methodology from end to end.

• Working knowledge of Ind AS 2 (Inventories), Ind AS 16, the CAS-4 cost accounting standard, and the Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, 2014.

• Comfortable operating in a manual/compensating-control environment — someone who builds robust, audit-ready Excel-based control workpapers rather than relying solely on system-generated reports.

• Exposure to transfer pricing or related-party transaction documentation from a costing/inventory perspective is a plus.

• Strong stakeholder management skills: this role interfaces daily with Production, Stores and Sourcing functions that do not currently have strong dedicated leadership, so the successful candidate must be able to drive process discipline cross-functionally without relying on direct authority.

Inventory & Cost Accountant - CA/CMA/MBA