Cost Accountant

SUMMARY:
An exciting opportunity for a commercially-minded Cost Accountant to join a fast-growing renewable energy business at the forefront of South Africa’s energy transformation. This role is ideal for a detail-driven finance professional who enjoys turning operational data into strategic commercial insight while partnering closely with leadership teams.

POSITION INFO:
Our client is a leading renewable energy and solar solutions provider specialising in residential and commercial energy systems across South Africa.

The successful incumbent will take ownership of project-based costing, inventory valuation, margin analysis and commercial reporting across the business. Reporting directly to the Financial Director, this role will play a key part in optimising supply chain performance, installation costing, pricing strategy and long-term financial forecasting within a dynamic, project-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain standard costing models for solar components, installation labour and project activities
• Conduct detailed variance analysis between quoted project costs and actual installation spend
• Prepare monthly gross margin reporting across residential and commercial projects
• Analyse profitability by project type, financing model, installation teams and geographic regions
• Partner with the Financial Director on annual budgets, rolling forecasts and strategic financial planning
• Provide data-driven projections on material pricing trends, labour costs and new product launches
• Prepare detailed cost-benefit analysis for procurement decisions and capital expenditure initiatives
• Oversee inventory valuation, stock reconciliations and work-in-progress (WIP) tracking
• Coordinate stock counts and reconcile physical inventory to the general ledger
• Produce detailed actual vs budget reporting with clear variance explanations and commercial insights
• Maintain and reconcile inter-company loan accounts while accurately calculating monthly interest allocations
• Conduct procurement and pricing audits to ensure that selling prices remain aligned to market conditions and input costs
• Analyse realised markups and identify opportunities to optimise margins and commercial pricing strategies
• Act as a finance business partner to procurement, sales and operational teams by delivering actionable commercial insights
• Ensure that all cost accounting activities comply with financial controls, accounting standards and internal policies

• BCom Accounting, Finance or a related qualification is essential
• CIMA qualification or progress towards CIMA highly advantageous
• Minimum 1–2 years’ experience within cost accounting, project accounting or commercial finance
• Renewable energy, manufacturing, construction or project-based industry exposure advantageous
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including Pivot Tables, Power Query and complex formulas
• ERP system experience essential (SAP, Oracle, Sage, Xero or similar)
• Strong understanding of inventory management, margin analysis and budgeting principles
• Highly analytical with strong commercial acumen and attention to detail
• Ability to translate financial data into actionable insights for senior leadership
• Proactive mindset with the ability to identify inefficiencies, cost leakage and margin improvement opportunities
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills

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