In what ways are the inventory accounts of a retailing company different from those of a manufacturing company?

Short Answer

Expert verified

Retailing companies account for only one class of inventory, i.e., finished products. In contrast, manufacturing companies take the record of inventories at every level of production.

Step by step solution

01

Inventory account for a retailing company

Retail companies mostly deal with “ready to sale”goods. It is also the goods for final consumption. Thus the inventories for the retailing companies constitute final goods that cannot be further processed.

Examples of inventories for retailing companies are FMCG goods, electronics goods, readymade garments, etc.

02

Inventory account for manufacturing company.

A manufacturing company uses inventory for production purposes and then makes them ready for sale.Thus inventories for manufacturing companies fall under three heads – raw materials, work in process, and finished product.

Examples of inventories for manufacturing companies are Leather, Jute, steel, etc.

03

Comparison of inventory accounts between retailing and manufacturing company

Inventory account for a retailing company is simple. Retailing companies need to record one class of inventories, i.e., finished goods. On the balance sheet, only finished goods as closing inventory would appear.

In comparison to that, the manufacturing company has a complex inventory accounting. They need to keep a record of inventories at every level of production. In order to get the estimated finished inventory value, unprocessed and partially processed inventory (WIP) is converted to the finished product value. On the balance sheet, all the categories of inventories are listed.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

(FIFO and LIFO) Harrisburg Company is considering changing its inventory valuation method from FIFO to LIFO because of the potential tax savings. However, management wishes to consider all of the effects on the company, including its reported performance, before making the final decision.

The inventory account, currently valued on the FIFO basis, consists of 1,000,000 units at \(8 per unit on January 1, 2017. There are 1,000,000 shares of common stock outstanding as of January 1, 2017, and the cash balance is \)400,000.

The company has made the following forecasts for the period 2017–2019.

2017

2018

2019

Unit sales (in millions of units)

1.1

1.0

1.3

Sales price per unit

\(10

\)12

\(12

Unit purchases (in millions of units)

1.0

1.1

1.2

Purchase price per unit

\)8

\(9

\)10

Annual depreciation (in thousands of dollars)

\(300

\)300

\(300

Cash dividends per share

\)0.15

\(0.15

\)0.15

Cash payments for additions to and replacement of plant and equipment (in thousands of dollars)

\(350

\)350

$350

Income tax rate

40%

40%

40%

Operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation) as a percent of sales

15%

15%

15%

Common shares outstanding (in millions)

1

1

1

Instructions

a. Prepare a schedule that illustrates and compares the following data for Harrisburg Company under the FIFO and the LIFO inventory method for 2017–2019. Assume the company would begin LIFO at the beginning of 2017.

  1. Year-end inventory balances.
  2. Annual net income after taxes.
  3. Earnings per share.
  4. Cash balance.

Assume all sales are collected in the year of sale and all purchases, operating expenses, and taxes are paid during the year incurred.

b. Using the data above, your answer to (a), and any additional issues you believe need to be considered, prepare a report that recommends whether or not Harrisburg Company should change to the LIFO inventory method. Support your conclusions with appropriate arguments.

Dimitri Company, a manufacturer of small tools, provided the following information from its accounting records for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Inventory at December 31, 2017 (based on physical count of goods in Dimitri’s plant, at cost, on December 31, 2017) \(1,520,000

Accounts payable at December 31, 2017 1,200,000

Net sales (sales less sales returns) 8,150,000

Additional information is as follows.

1. Included in the physical count were tools billed to a customer f.o.b. shipping point on December 31, 2017. These tools had a cost of \)31,000 and were billed at \(40,000. The shipment was on Dimitri’s loading dock waiting to be picked up by the common carrier.

2. Goods were in transit from a vendor to Dimitri on December 31, 2017. The invoice cost was \)76,000, and the goods were shipped f.o.b. shipping point on December 29, 2017.

3. Work in process inventory costing \(30,000 was sent to an outside processor for plating on December 30, 2017.

4. Tools returned by customers and held pending inspection in the returned goods area on December 31, 2017, were not included in the physical count. On January 8, 2018, the tools costing \)32,000 were inspected and returned to inventory. Credit memos totaling \(47,000 were issued to the customers on the same date.

5. Tools shipped to a customer f.o.b. destination on December 26, 2017, were in transit at December 31, 2017, and had a cost of \)26,000. Upon notification of receipt by the customer on January 2, 2018, Dimitri issued a sales invoice for \(42,000.

6. Goods, with an invoice cost of \)27,000, received from a vendor at 5:00 p.m. on December 31, 2017, were recorded on a receiving report dated January 2, 2018. The goods were not included in the physical count, but the invoice was included in accounts payable at December 31, 2017.

7. Goods received from a vendor on December 26, 2017, were included in the physical count. However, the related \(56,000 vendor invoice was not included in accounts payable at December 31, 2017, because the accounts payable copy of the receiving report was lost.

8. On January 3, 2018, a monthly freight bill in the amount of \)8,000 was received. The bill specifically related to merchandise purchased in December 2017, one-half of which was still in the inventory at December 31, 2017. The freight charges were not included in either the inventory or in accounts payable at December 31, 2017.

Instructions

Using the format shown below, prepare a schedule of adjustments as of December 31, 2017, to the initial amounts per Dimitri’s accounting records. Show separately the effect, if any, of each of the eight transactions on the December 31, 2017, amounts. If the transactions would have no effect on the initial amount shown, enter NONE.

Accounts Net

Inventory Payable Sales

Initial amounts \(1,520,000 \)1,200,000 \(8,150,000

Adjustments—increase

(decrease)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Total adjustments

Adjusted amounts \) \( \)

Case 2: Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc., headquartered in Miami, Florida, describes itself in a recent annual report as follows.

Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Noven is a place of ideas—a company where scientific excellence and state-of-the-art manufacturing combine to create new answers to human needs. Our transdermal delivery systems speed drugs painlessly and effortlessly into the bloodstream by means of a simple skin patch. This technology has proven application sinestrogen replacement, but at Noven we are developing a variety of systems incorporating best selling drugs that fight everything from asthma, anxiety and dental pain to cancer, heart disease and neurological illness. Our research portfolio also includes new technologies, such as iontophoresis, in which drugs are delivered through the skin by means of electrical currents, as well as products that could satisfy broad consumer needs, such as our anti-microbial mouth rinse.

Noven also reported in its annual report that its activities to date have consisted of product development efforts, some of which have been independent and some of which have been completed in conjunction with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (RPR) and Ciba-Geigy. The revenues so far have consisted of money received from licensing fees, “milestone” payments (payments made under licensing agreements when certain stages of the development of a certain product have been completed), and interest on its investments. The company expects that it will have significant revenue in the upcoming fiscal year from the launch of its first product, a transdermal estrogen delivery system.

The current assets portion of Noven’s balance sheet follows.

Cash and cash equivalents \(12,070,272

Securities held to maturity 23,445,070

Inventory of supplies 1,264,553

Prepaid and other current assets 825,159

Total current assets \)37,605,054

Inventory of supplies is recorded at the lower-of-cost (first-in, first-out)-or-net realizable value and consists mainly of supplies for research and development.

Instructions

(a) What would you expect the physical flow of goods for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to be most like: FIFO, LIFO, or random (flow of goods does not follow a set pattern)? Explain.

(b) What are some of the factors that Noven should consider as it selects an inventory measurement method?

(c) Suppose that Noven had $49,000 in an inventory of transdermal estrogen delivery patches. These patches are from an initial production run and will be sold during the coming year. Why do you think that this amount is not shown in a separate inventory account? In which of the accounts shown is the inventory likely to be? At what point will the inventory be transferred to a separate inventory account?

Case 1: T J International

T J International was founded in 1969 as Trus Joist International. The firm, a manufacturer of specialty building products, has its headquarters in Boise, Idaho. The company, through its partnership in the Trus Joist MacMillan joint venture, develops and manufactures engineered lumber. This product is a high-quality substitute for structural lumber and uses lower-grade wood and materials formerly considered waste. The company also is majority owner of the Outlook Window Partnership, which is a consortium of three wood and vinyl window manufacturers.

Following is T J International’s adapted income statement and information concerning inventories from its annual report.

T J International

Sales \(618,876,000

Cost of goods sold 475,476,000

Gross profit 143,400,000

Selling and administrative expenses 102,112,000

Income from operations 41,288,000

Other expense 24,712,000

Income before income tax 16,576,000

Income taxes 7,728,000

Net income \) 8,848,000

Inventories.Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market and include material, labor, and production overhead costs. Inventories consisted of the following:

Current Year Prior Year

Finished goods \(27,512,000 \)23,830,000

Raw materials and

work-in-progress 34,363,00033,244,000

61,875,000 57,074,000

Reduction to LIFO cost (5,263,000) (3,993,000)

\(56,612,000 \)53,081,000

The last-in, first-out (LIFO) method is used for determining the cost of lumber, veneer, Microllamlumber, TJI joists, and open web joists. Approximately 35 percent of total inventories at the end of the current year were valued using the LIFO method. The first-in, first-out (FIFO) method is used to determine the cost of all other inventories.

Instructions

(a) How much would income before taxes have been if FIFO costing had been used to value all inventories?

(b) If the income tax rate is 46.6%, what would income tax have been if FIFO costing had been used to value all inventories ? In your opinion, is this difference in net income between the two methods material? Explain.

(c) Does the use of a different costing system for different types of inventory mean that there is a different physical flow of goods among the different types of inventory? Explain.

Presented below is information related to Kaisson Corporation for the last 3 years.

Quantities Base-Year Cost Current-Year Cost

in Ending

Item Inventories Unit Cost Amount Unit Cost Amount

December 31, 2016

A 9,000 \(2.00 \)18,000 \(2.20 \)19,800

B 6,000 3.00 18,000 3.55 21,300

C 4,000 5.00 20,000 5.40 21,600

Totals \(56,000 \)62,700

December 31, 2017

A 9,000 \(2.00 \)18,000 \(2.60 \)23,400

B 6,800 3.00 20,400 3.75 25,500

C 6,000 5.00 30,000 6.40 38,400

Totals \(68,400 \)87,300

December 31, 2018

A 8,000 \(2.00 \)16,000 \(2.70 \)21,600

B 8,000 3.00 24,000 4.00 32,000

C 6,000 5.00 30,000 6.20 37,200

Totals \(70,000 \)90,800

Instructions

Compute the ending inventories under the dollar-value LIFO method for 2016, 2017, and 2018. The base period is January 1, 2016,and the beginning inventory cost at that date was $45,000. Compute indexes to two decimal places.

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Business Studies Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free