Cost Accountant

Optimal, on behalf of its client, a fast-growing artisan bakery and pastry group with its own central production facility and retail network, is seeking a Cost Accountant based in Athens.

Scope of Role

The Cost Accountant is responsible for the accuracy of the full costing cycle, from raw-material purchasing and production through distribution to stores and retail sales, and for preparing weekly costing reports across the Group's production and retail companies. The role also involves reconciling retail takings, bank transactions and POS transactions, with a primary focus on production costing and inventory control rather than VAT or tax compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Record and verify raw-material purchases in Pylon, ensuring full traceability of supplier invoices, lot numbers and expiry dates.
• Monitor the end-to-end cycle, including purchase orders, raw-material intake, recipe-based production orders, distribution to stores, and daily store sales and waste.
• Prepare weekly costing for raw materials, merchandise and finished products using the Pylon costing module.
• Prepare costing inputs, including shrinkage and surplus entries, pending delivery notes and invoices, and stock counts.
• Reconcile retail store takings with Pylon and carry out bank and POS reconciliations.
• Review purchasing, stock-movement and internal-transfer entries made by the invoicing team, working with colleagues to correct errors at the source.
• Investigate variances between production, stock and sales before each weekly close, and report findings along with proposed corrective actions.
• Contribute to improving data-entry and control procedures as new stores, products and sales channels are added.

Requirements

• Degree or vocational diploma in Accounting.
• 3 years of experience in production costing within a food manufacturing company, such as an industrial bakery, ideally with its own distribution operation.
• Hands-on experience in raw-material entry and lot traceability, shrinkage and surplus entries, pending delivery notes and invoices, and stock counts.
• Working experience with Pylon, including its costing module.
• Experience in retail cash, bank and POS reconciliations.
• Ability to investigate discrepancies, trace them back to their source and work with colleagues outside Finance to resolve errors and improve accuracy.
• Ability to manage the weekly costing cycle independently, identify and report relevant issues to management, and propose corrective actions.

What the company offers:

• A competitive compensation and benefits package.
• A central role in developing the costing function of a growing company, with a direct reporting line to senior management.
• Long-term career and personal growth prospects within a modern and evolving organization.

About Optimal

Since 2005, Optimal has provided unparalleled, bespoke HR services to large organizations and SMEs operating in the EMEA region. We pride ourselves on delivering a 360° business support platform to our clients through 6 service divisions:

• Talent Acquisition
• HR Strategy & Talent Development
• Learning & Development
• Workforce Management
• Recruiting
• Outplacement