[Commerce Class Notes] on Perpetual Inventory Recording System Pdf for Exam

Perpetual Inventory System Accounting

The meaning of perpetual inventory is that it deals with the record of the physical quantities of the stocks and its valuation. There are two principles to determine the inventory of a firm, which are the periodic inventory system and the perpetual inventory record system.

 

Perpetual Inventory System Meaning

The perpetual inventory system records the stocks continuously. Under the perpetual inventory system, the inventory gets recorded after each issue or receipt or purchase of the raw materials, work in progress, final goods, etc. The perpetual inventory system cost of goods sold are updated on a day to day basis.

For ensuring the accuracy of the perpetual inventory transactions, the physical counts of the inventory are carried out many times in a year. This ensures that the inventory is cross-checked and the validity and the accuracy of the perpetual inventory accounting is checked as well. According to the perpetual inventory system, the value of the closing stock is determined by the cost of goods that are issued and the cost of goods that are sold. The equation given below refers to the closing inventory valuation.

Opening Stock (known value) + Purchases during the year (known) – COGS (known) = Closing Stock (balancing figure)

Advantages of a Perpetual Inventory System

The advantages of the perpetual inventory record system are given as follows:

1. It helps in avoiding the time-consuming practices of the regular stock taking. According to the perpetual inventory management system, the stocks are counted only a few times in the year.

2. The management keeps a daily record of the valuation and quantity of the closing stock which helps in the distribution and the production management.

3. There is also a system of internal check which dissuades misappropriation or thefts. The records of different departments like stores, purchases, and manufacturing are checked against each other.

4. There is no requirement to halt the process of production for taking physical stock count often. 

Periodic Inventory System

According to the periodic inventory system, the verification of the inventory is carried out by the physical count of the inventory on a given date. Hence, for determining the closing stock the physical count of the inventory including the weight, numbers, etc. are taken. Firms usually tend to carry this out around the end of the accounting year.

The valuation of the inventory or the closing stock is done with the help of either of the inventory pricing methods like Average Cost, FIFO, LIFO, etc. In this method, the cost of the goods sold are calculated using the following equation:

Opening Stock (known value) + Purchases during the year (known) – Closing Stock (counted) = COGS (balancing figure)

Disadvantages of the Periodic Inventory System

The disadvantages of the periodic inventory system are mentioned below:

1. Firms tend to do a physical count more than one time in a year and generally make quarterly or monthly installments that need frequent inventory counting.

2. For carrying out a physical count, the normal manufacturing and several other activities are suspended which eventually leads to losses for the firm or business.

3. COGS is regarded as a balancing figure which means that it cannot be accounted for the losses due to any kind of damages or abnormal losses.

4. The periodic inventory system also does not provide any kind of inventory control systems or methods.