Project Cost Accountant – Team Lead

Location Type: On-site

 

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Our Plante Moran Realpoint team is seeking a supervisor to lead a team of Project Cost Accountants in the day-to-day delivery of cost, schedule, and performance monitoring and reporting for client capital construction programs. This role supervises a small team of approximately 5 Accountants that closely partner with Plante Moran Realpoint project managers, client stakeholders, outside project team members, and firm leadership to establish project governance, track project costs against established budgets, monitor the project for key aspects of contract compliance, maintain project data, and provide clear, decision-ready insights across a portfolio of assigned client projects.

Your Role.

Your role combines hands-on project controls execution with team leadership and client-facing communication. As a team leader, you will generally:

• Supervise and develop the Project Cost Accounting team (work planning, mentoring/coaching, QA/QC review, and performance management for assigned staff).
• Drive process standardization and reporting by documenting procedures, refining templates, and improving automation/visualization.

For programs assigned to your team, you will:

• Establish, implement, and maintain program/project controls standards across cost, schedule, change management, forecasting, and reporting cadence.
• Own reporting deliverables, including dashboards, executive summaries, cost reports, cash flow, earned value/performance metrics (as applicable), reconciliations, and monthly/quarterly client reporting deliverables.
• Lead budget, commitment, and forecast management: set up control structures, track commitments/expenditures, develop estimates at completion, and explain variances.
• Support schedule performance reporting by coordinating with project managers and schedulers to track milestones, critical path impacts, and recovery actions.
• Manage change control analytics: log and track change requests, assessing cost/schedule impacts, support client approvals, and reflect approved changes in baseline and forecast.
• Ensure data integrity in the PMIS (e.g., e-Builder/other) through governance, reconciliation, and routine, accurate, and timely reviews.
• Partner with project managers to identify trends/risks early and recommend mitigation actions based on cost and schedule indicators.
• Ensure coordination with client finance/procurement and external vendors to validate pay applications, invoices, contracts, and supporting documentation align with contractual requirements.

Qualifications.

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration/accounting (or other applicable field).
• 7+ years of experience in accounting, project controls and/or serving as a project owner for a substantial capital improvement program.
• Demonstrated experience in developing, mentoring, supervising, and leading project controls/reporting/accounting staff.
• Demonstrated ability to develop budgets, forecasts, and cost reports; explain variances; and present findings to non-technical audiences.
• Proficiency in Excel and reporting/analytics; comfort building repeatable templates and improving reporting processes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including client-facing facilitation and presentation.

Preferred:

• Experience supporting multi-project capital programs (portfolio reporting, governance, and cross-project standardization).
• Experience with change management, cost-control, and invoice/pay application review (e.g., AIA/G702/G703 style applications) and contract and other commercial documentation.
• Experience working in e-Builder or a comparable project management information system.

What makes us different?

On the surface, we’re one of the nation’s largest audit, tax, consulting, and wealth management firms. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll see what makes us different: we’re a relatively jerk-free firm (hey, nobody ‘s perfect) with a world-class culture, consistent recognition as one of Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and an endless array of opportunities. At Plante Moran, diversity, equity and inclusion means that all staff members have equitable and fair opportunities to succeed, in an inclusive environment, with their individual, unique identities. So, what are you waiting for? Apply now.

Plante Moran enjoys a “Workplace for Your Day” model which, simply put, means we strive for flexibility and balance while staying true to our principally in-person model. We believe that face-to-face interactions are paramount for individual and collective development, but also encourage individuals to work with their supervisor and team to determine their optimal working environment each day.

Plante Moran is committed to a diverse workplace. We strive to create a culture where each person feels accepted and valued. We believe that each person’s ultimate potential begins with first acknowledging their inherent dignity. When we can recognize – and celebrate – our many human differences, we’re able to create a workplace where all staff feel a sense of belonging and an opportunity to succeed. This allows us to attract and retain the best talent, serve clients through diverse thinking, and better represent and support the various communities in which we live and work. Plante Moran is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Plante Moran maintains a drug-free workplace.

Interested applicants must submit their resume for consideration using our applicant tracking system. Due to the high volume of interest in our positions, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship, with the exception of qualified candidates who are bilingual in either Japanese and English or Chinese and English. Unsolicited resumes from search firms or employment agencies, or similar, will not be paid a fee and become the property of Plante Moran.

The specific statements above are not intended to be all-inclusive.

We are pleased to offer eligible staff a robust benefits package. Eligibility and contribution requirements for some of these benefits vary based on the number of hours staff work per week. Highlights include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance. In addition to this, eligible staff are able to take advantage of our Flexible Time Off and various pre-determined holidays, as well as a 401(k) plan, flexible benefits plans, business-related travel expense, lodging, and meal reimbursement for business-related use. A pension plan is also available for eligible administrative and paraprofessional staff. A discretionary bonus plan is available for eligible staff. Plante Moran also offers some contingent staff positions the option to elect health insurance in addition to limited paid sick time.

The compensation range reflects the base salary we reasonably expect to pay for this position across our offices in the following regions: CO, IL, OH, and MA. Please review the position description for the applicable geographic location. Generally, experienced hires are not hired at or near the maximum salary range, as compensation decisions take into account a wide variety of factors, including but not limited to: responsibilities, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and geography. For early career roles, including campus hires, we offer standardized, market-based starting salaries among individuals within the same hiring group. This approach ensures fairness and reflects current industry benchmarks for entry-level talent.

Under Colorado’s Job Application Fairness Act, you have the right to redact, from any documents that you submit in connection with your application, information that identifies your age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution. Should you wish to exercise your right to redact such information, please redact it prior to submitting documentation.

The compensation range for this role in CO, IL, OH, and MA is: $75,000.00 – $90,000.00

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