2A27
COST ACCOUNTANT

This is cost accounting work supervising and participating in the development, installation and maintenance of cost accounting systems. Work involves the preparation of cost figures reflecting departmental operations. Contact with departmental officials and technical personnel in developing cost accounting systems and reporting procedures is a significant aspect of the work.

Work is performed under the direction of an accounting or an administrative supervisor. Assignments require evaluative thinking and work is performed in accordance with precedents and well defined policies. The employee has responsibility for the analysis of the operational costs of an assigned department and provides management with cost information for use in planning programs and budgets.

• Plans, develops, installs and maintains control systems for determining costs of services rendered by assigned department; meets with administrators, accounts, cost accountants and computer personnel to discuss, adapt and install computer processed cost accounting and management information systems; revises systems and develops sub-systems to reflect changes in operations; establishes cost centers, classifications and accounts for the maintenance of records to collect, compute and assign costs to a service, an operational unit or to administrative support.
• Calculates and assigns costs such as labor, materials and supplies to determine direct costs of services rendered; calculates job order, unit costs and cost data for rate schedules and billing charges to city agencies, governmental jurisdictions, third party payers and private firms.
• Develops overheads such as equipment or fixed asset depreciation, utility costs, payroll fringe benefits and administrative support services; assigns, analyzes and distributes applicable overheads to job orders and departmental services; distributes overheads using procedures specified by appropriate parties such as the water utility industry and thirty-party payers.
• Maintains cost and operational data; measures actual performance against standards; reports costs which reflect possible inefficiency in use of equipment, material and personnel; meets with administrators to discuss cost allocations; prepares periodic and special analytical cost reports relating dollar costs with operational data for specific service units, departmental functions or proposed service contracts.
• Plans, assigns and reviews the work of a group of subordinates engaged in maintaining payroll, labor cost and inventory control data; implements new accounting procedures; trains subordinates and reviews their work for completeness and accuracy.
• Performs related work as required.

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• the principles, methods and techniques of cost accounting as applied to large and diversified service operations.
• the problems commonly encountered in cost accounting and of the measures commonly used for their resolution.
• the applications of computer equipment to cost accounting systems.
• the applications of machine tabulating equipment to cost record maintenance.
• organizational, management and system theory and their relationship to cost system.
• current developments in the cost accounting field and their relationship to management information systems.

ABILITY TO:

• devise, install and maintain a comprehensive cost accounting system, including the application of computer systems, involving large and complex service operations.
• resolve accounting, manual procedures, organizational and electronic data processing problems involved in implementing the installation and maintenance of a cost system.
• analyze cost and operational data and prepare a variety of related reports reflecting the various aspects of departmental service costs.
• maintain cost records in a manner that will enable development of standards.
• advise management with respect to cost accounting systems.
• present ideas effectively and clearly.
• train and supervise a group of employees engaged in cost accounting operations.
• establish and maintain effective working relationships with associate and department officials.

• Completion of a bachelor's degree program at an accredited college or university with major course work in accounting.
• Four years of accounting experience which has included two years of cost accounting experience with computerized cost accounting systems in a large organization.

PHYSICAL AND MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required of a position in this class.

PAY RANGE: EP21
Class Established: 10/1956
Latest Spec. Revision: 10/1976

ML/deb/sb