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RAM Elevators & Lifts is one of Western Canada's leading manufacturers of residential elevators, accessibility lifts, and custom vertical transportation solutions.
We are looking for a detail-oriented and analytical Cost Analyst to join our Finance team.
This role is ideal for an experienced accounting or finance professional who enjoys working with numbers, analyzing manufacturing costs, identifying discrepancies, and understanding how financial information connects to business operations.
The Cost Accounting Specialist will support manufacturing cost analysis, inventory analysis, invoice review and processing, account reconciliations, month-end activities, financial reporting, and operational analysis.
The successful candidate will work closely with Finance, Purchasing, Production, Engineering, Warehouse, and Operations to ensure accurate costing and financial information and to identify opportunities to improve processes and business performance.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Controller, the Cost Accounting Specialist will be responsible for supporting cost and financial analysis activities within RAM's manufacturing operation.
The role will analyze material, labour, overhead, freight, production, and inventory costs; investigate cost variances; review product costing; monitor inventory information; and prepare routine financial and operational reports.
The Cost Accounting Specialist will also be responsible for reviewing and processing supplier invoices, supporting accounts payable activities, performing reconciliations, and assisting with month-end accounting processes.
This position requires strong manufacturing experience, advanced Microsoft Excel skills, and the ability to work independently with financial and operational data.
The successful candidate must be comfortable working with Excel formulas, large datasets, financial reports, and ERP systems.
Key Responsibilities
Cost & Manufacturing Analysis
- Analyze material, labour, overhead, freight, and production costs.
- Assist with maintaining and analyzing product and manufacturing costs.
- Review manufacturing costs against established standards and expectations.
- Investigate cost variances and identify potential causes.
- Analyze production cost trends and identify unusual changes.
- Review Bills of Materials (BOMs) and costing information for accuracy.
- Assist with product costing and pricing analysis.
- Analyze material usage and production efficiency.
- Monitor production scrap, rework, and related costs.
- Identify opportunities to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.
- Work with Production, Purchasing, and Engineering to investigate and resolve costing discrepancies.
- Assist with annual standard cost updates and costing reviews.
- Prepare cost analysis and reports for review by the Controller and management.
Inventory Analysis
- Monitor inventory costing and financial information.
- Reconcile inventory balances between the ERP system and accounting records.
- Assist with physical inventory counts and cycle counts.
- Review inventory adjustments and investigate discrepancies.
- Monitor inventory transactions for accuracy.
- Analyze inventory usage and trends.
- Assist with identifying obsolete, damaged, and slow-moving inventory.
- Investigate inventory variances and unusual movements.
- Work with Warehouse, Purchasing, and Production to resolve inventory discrepancies.
- Assist with maintaining accurate inventory valuation information.
Invoice Review & Processing
- Review supplier invoices for accuracy, completeness, pricing, and appropriate approvals.
- Match invoices to purchase orders, receiving records, and supporting documentation where applicable.
- Process supplier invoices in the accounting/ERP system.
- Code invoices to the appropriate general ledger accounts and departments.
- Verify invoice quantities, pricing, taxes, and supporting documentation.
- Investigate discrepancies between invoices, purchase orders, and received goods.
- Identify duplicate, incorrect, or unusual invoices and escalate discrepancies.
- Assist with vendor statement reconciliations.
- Respond to routine vendor inquiries regarding invoices and payment status.
- Maintain accurate and organized accounts payable documentation.
- Assist with payment processing and other accounts payable activities as required.
Accounting & Month-End Support
- Assist with month-end and year-end closing activities.
- Prepare journal entries as assigned.
- Perform account reconciliations.
- Assist with inventory and balance sheet reconciliations.
- Assist with accruals, prepaid expenses, and other month-end accounting entries.
- Prepare supporting schedules and working papers.
- Investigate unusual account balances and variances.
- Maintain accurate financial records and supporting documentation.
- Assist with providing information and documentation for external audit requirements.
Financial & Operational Reporting
- Prepare weekly and monthly cost and operational reports.
- Prepare cost variance reports.
- Analyze material, labour, purchasing, and production data.
- Assist with KPI reporting.
- Prepare inventory and cost reports.
- Analyze purchasing trends and material usage.
- Assist with labour efficiency and production performance reporting.
- Identify trends, inconsistencies, and unusual financial activity.
- Prepare Excel-based reports and schedules.
- Support the Controller with financial and operational analysis.
- Provide accurate data and analysis to support management decision-making.
Advanced Excel & Data Analysis
Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency is a core requirement of this position.
The successful candidate must be comfortable independently working with financial and operational data in Excel.
Required Excel skills include:
- XLOOKUP / VLOOKUP
- SUMIFS / COUNTIFS
- IF / IFERROR
- Pivot Tables
- Conditional formulas
- Data sorting and filtering
- Data validation
- Data cleaning and organization
- Financial calculations
- Cost and variance analysis
- Comparing and reconciling large datasets
- Preparing financial and operational reports
- Creating and maintaining complex spreadsheets
The candidate must be able to use Excel to analyze large amounts of data, identify discrepancies, perform calculations, investigate variances, and produce meaningful reports.
Excel proficiency will be assessed during the recruitment process.
Experience with Power Query or Power BI is considered an asset but is not required.
Accounting Systems & Process Improvement
- Maintain accurate costing and financial information within Sage and other ERP systems.
- Ensure accounting and costing data is entered accurately and consistently.
- Monitor data integrity within financial systems.
- Assist with maintaining product and inventory costing information.
- Identify opportunities to improve accounting, costing, invoice processing, and reporting processes.
- Assist with improving financial reporting workflows.
- Support automation and process improvement initiatives.
- Document accounting and costing procedures as required.
- Assist with implementation of new accounting, reporting, or ERP processes.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Work closely with Purchasing, Production, Warehouse, Engineering, and Operations.
- Follow up with departments regarding invoice, inventory, purchasing, and costing discrepancies.
- Work with Purchasing to investigate supplier pricing and invoice discrepancies.
- Work with Production to understand manufacturing cost variances.
- Work with Engineering regarding BOMs and product costing information.
- Assist operational departments with accounting and costing-related questions.
- Communicate financial and cost information clearly and professionally.
- Support the Controller and Finance team with analysis and special projects.
What We're Looking For
We are looking for an experienced, analytical, and detail-oriented professional who enjoys working with numbers and understanding the story behind the data.
The ideal candidate is someone who:
- Enjoys analyzing costs and financial information.
- Has experience working in a manufacturing environment.
- Is highly proficient in Excel and comfortable working with formulas and large datasets.
- Notices discrepancies and investigates them rather than simply reporting them.
- Takes ownership of their work.
- Can work independently with limited supervision.
- Is comfortable working with different departments across a manufacturing organization.
- Learns new systems and processes quickly.
- Has strong organizational and problem-solving skills.
Technical Skills
The successful candidate should have practical experience with:
- Manufacturing cost analysis
- Product costing
- Material, labour, and overhead cost analysis
- Inventory analysis
- Inventory reconciliation
- Cost and variance analysis
- Standard costing
- Accounts payable
- Invoice review and processing
- Purchase order and receiving reconciliation
- General ledger accounting
- Account reconciliations
- Journal entries
- Month-end support
- ERP systems
- Sage Accounting
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office 365
CPA enrollment or progress toward a professional accounting designation is considered an asset but is not required.
Core Competencies
The successful candidate will:
- Demonstrate exceptional attention to detail.
- Take ownership and accountability for assigned work.
- Identify errors and discrepancies proactively.
- Think analytically and enjoy working with data.
- Demonstrate strong problem-solving skills.
- Be comfortable investigating discrepancies and finding solutions.
- Learn new systems and processes quickly.
- Manage multiple priorities effectively.
- Meet deadlines consistently.
- Communicate professionally with internal departments and vendors.
- Maintain confidentiality and exercise sound professional judgment.
- Work independently while contributing effectively to the Finance team.
- Demonstrate a continuous improvement mindset.
Why Join RAM Elevators & Lifts?
At RAM, Finance plays an important role in supporting our growing manufacturing operation.
This position provides exposure to cost analysis, manufacturing operations, inventory, purchasing, accounts payable, financial reporting, and business processes, providing an excellent opportunity to develop a broad financial and analytical skill set.
You will work closely with Finance and operational teams while gaining practical experience in a growing Alberta manufacturing company.
We value initiative, accountability, innovation, and people who are committed to improving the way we work.
Pay: $60,000.00-$70,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company events
- Dental care
- Disability insurance
- Extended health care
- Life insurance
- On-site parking
- Vision care
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Edmonton, AB T5S 2J9: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree (required)
Experience:
- Cost Analysis: 3 years (required)
- Accounting and Finance: 3 years (required)
- Inventory Costing: 3 years (required)
- Manufacturing: 3 years (required)
Location:
- Edmonton, AB T5S 2J9 (required)
Work Location: In person
