Job Summary
We are looking for an experienced Senior Cost & Project Accountant to take responsibility for project costing, financial accounting, month-end closing, financial reporting, and project profitability analysis.
The successful candidate will be a hands-on accounting professional who can independently manage the month-end and year-end closing processes, prepare financial statements and management reports, analyze financial performance, and present key financial insights and recommendations to management.
Key Responsibilities
1. Project Costing & Profitability
- Take ownership of project costing and financial performance from project initiation through project completion.
- Monitor and analyze project costs, including consultant labor costs, subcontractor costs, software and license costs, cloud services, travel expenses, and other project-related expenses.
- Review employee and consultant timesheets and ensure labor costs are accurately allocated to the appropriate projects.
- Analyze Actual Cost vs. Budget vs. Forecast and investigate significant variances.
- Prepare and analyze Project Gross Profit and Gross Margin by project.
- Monitor projects with cost overruns or declining margins and provide recommendations to management and Project Managers.
- Prepare project forecasts and Estimate to Complete (ETC) to assess expected project costs and profitability.
- Ensure revenue, costs, and project margins are accurately recorded and reported.
2. Month-End & Year-End Closing
- Independently manage and coordinate the month-end and year-end closing process within the agreed timeline.
- Review General Ledger transactions and ensure the accuracy and completeness of accounting entries.
- Prepare and review accruals, prepaid expenses, deferred revenue, and other adjusting entries.
- Perform account reconciliations for key accounts, including AR, AP, Bank, Accrued Expenses, and project-related accounts.
- Review revenue and cost recognition in accordance with accounting policies and applicable accounting standards.
- Prepare and review Trial Balance and supporting schedules for financial reporting.
- Identify unusual or incorrect accounting transactions and coordinate corrective actions.
- Coordinate with external auditors and provide supporting schedules and documentation for audit purposes.
3. Financial Statements & Management Reporting
- Prepare and review monthly and annual financial statements, including Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement.
- Prepare monthly Management Reports and financial performance analysis.
- Analyze Actual vs. Budget vs. Forecast and explain key variances.
- Analyze revenue, gross profit, gross margin, operating expenses, and overall business profitability.
- Prepare management dashboards and financial reports to provide clear visibility into business and project performance.
- Present key financial results, business insights, and recommendations to management.
- Provide financial analysis and recommendations to support management decision-making.
4. Budgeting & Forecasting
- Support the preparation of the annual budget and financial forecasts.
- Prepare revenue, cost, and profitability forecasts for individual projects.
- Monitor actual performance against budget and provide variance analysis.
- Identify financial trends and potential risks and provide forward-looking analysis to management.
- Work closely with Project Managers and business teams to improve project profitability and financial performance.
5. Internal Control & Process Improvement
- Review and improve accounting and project cost control processes.
- Ensure the completeness and accuracy of financial information received from Project Management, HR, Procurement, and other departments.
- Develop and improve project costing and management reporting processes.
- Identify opportunities to improve cost efficiency and project profitability.
- Support the development and implementation of accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
- 5–8+ years of accounting experience, with experience at Senior Accountant or equivalent level.
- Solid experience in Project Accounting, Cost Accounting, and Financial Reporting.
- Experience in IT Consulting, IT Services, Software, System Integration, or other project-based businesses is highly preferred.
- Proven experience in month-end and year-end closing and financial statement preparation.
- Strong understanding of project costing, project profitability, and gross margin analysis.
- Good knowledge of revenue recognition and accrual accounting.
- Ability to prepare management reports and confidently present financial information to senior management.
- Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including Pivot Tables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, and financial analysis.
- Good knowledge of applicable accounting standards and experience working with external auditors.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and attention-to-detail skills.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to explain financial information to non-finance stakeholders.
- Able to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and meet tight deadlines.
Key Competencies
- Financial Accounting & Reporting
- Month-End & Year-End Closing
- Project Cost Accounting
- Project Profitability Analysis
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Cost & Variance Analysis
- Management Reporting
- Revenue & Cost Recognition
- Financial Analysis
- Internal Controls
- Advanced Microsoft Excel
- ERP / Accounting Systems
- Business Communication & Presentation