Accountant - Inventory & Fixed Assets

Essentra is a leading provider of essential components and solutions. Every day we produce and distribute millions of small but essential products.

Our international network extends to 28 countries, with headquarters in the United Kingdom and includes 14 manufacturing facilities, 24 distribution centers and 33 sales & service centers.

At the center of everything is our purpose, to responsibly provide the products and services our customers need to succeed. Put simply, our purpose is why we exist as a company. Many companies claim to be changing the world; we don't. But we do make a powerful difference to our customers. We make it work. Every one of us. Every day.

Summary:

Essentra is seeking a full-time Inventory and Fixed Asset Accountant to join its team in Erie, PA. This role is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of inventory valuation, cost of goods sold (COGS), and fixed asset reporting. Key responsibilities include reconciling transactions with the General Ledger, validating costing inputs, and preparing detailed analyses of work-in-progress (WIP), absorption, and variances.

The position plays a critical role in delivering timely and reliable financial reporting to support operational decision-making, while ensuring compliance with Essentra's Accounting Manual, standard costing procedures, and IFRS requirements. By developing and maintaining reporting tools, the accountant will enable management to drive root cause analysis, operational accountability, and continuous improvement. This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days in office. The typical hours are 8:00am-5:00pm.

Typical Accountabilities:

• Ensure inventory is correctly valued in BPCS (ERP System) using the appropriate cost sets.
• Confirm unit costs are correctly reported by validating vendor invoice UOM and quantities billed against item setup.
• Ensure all cost buckets are accurately valued by item and facility.
• Maintain accurate transfer pricing and record intercompany revenue, receivables and payables for the manufacturing facility.
• Reconcile the inventory subledger with the GL; prepare and post journal entries for COGS and inventory movements.
• Prepare monthly inventory transaction analysis as part of the reconciliation process.
• Perform WIP analysis, recording earned labor and overhead absorption.
• Measure actual labor and overhead expenses against absorption; record variances and prepare production rate, volume, and efficiency reports.
• Identify and reclass adjustments and transactions to ensure inventory, CapEx, COGS, and gross profit are accurately reported.
• Deliver month-end inventory, obsolescence, and NRV reporting in compliance with Essentra Accounting Manual, standard costing procedures, and IFRS requirements.
• Maintain the fixed asset register, ensuring assets are properly recorded, tagged, and capitalized.
• Track CIP (construction in progress) and capital projects; prepare fixed asset reports for management.
• Support CapEx requests by preparing ROI analyses.
• Prepare cross-functional reports including operational P&L, PPV, cycle count, and obsolescence analyses.
• Assist with ad hoc cost analyses for new business or product proposals.
• Assist in monthly stock and obsolescence review meetings.
• Support the cost roll and budget process by preparing work center/headcount mapping files, cost allocations, and measuring freight, labor, and overhead costs per unit and per hour.
• Support external and internal audits by preparing PBCs as needed.

Qualifications:

• BA/BS in Accounting or Finance is strongly desired.
• 2-4 years experience in cost accounting, inventory, or manufacturing/distribution finance in a multi-site environment.
• Experience with BPCS or other legacy ERP systems strongly preferred.
• Strong Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook, and Teams), and data analysis skills
• Experience using efficiency, utilization, and variance data to support continuous improvement initiatives.
• Exposure to lean manufacturing principles and ability to translate financial insights into operational improvements.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Strong analytical skills, especially in reconciliations within non-automated systems.
• Must be able to think beyond the immediate, evaluate, and question to find solutions.
• Ability to detect, investigate, and correct unit cost/UOM issues. Awareness of downstream business impacts of costing errors.
• Be highly organized, detail-oriented, able to manage multiple deadlines.
• Self-starter who can work autonomously; role is heavily preparation-focused.
• Strong communication skills to support cross-functional teams.
• Cost-center, multi-currency, and cross-border experience a plus.

What We Offer:

This is a full-time position with a competitive salary, bonus incentive, full benefits package, and generous paid time off.