1 Note that required ending inventory and purchases peak in September, while cash payments on purchases peak in October.

2 Here we also compute ending inventory first.

3 Determination of ending inventory by the retail method is illustrated as follows...

4 The physical count establishes the correct amount of ending inventory and serves as a check on the perpetual records.

5 However, it consequently prices the ending inventory at the older, less realistic unit price.

6 Hence the ending inventory consists of old goods in the earliest purchase.

7 Hence ending inventory consists of the most recently acquired goods.

8 The second procedure is to assign costs to the ending inventory.

9 When the periodic inventory is being used, a physical inventory must be taken to determine the amount of the ending inventory.

10 Cost of goods sold at the current period is computed by subtracting the cost of ending inventory from the cost of goods available for sale.

11 A systematic count of all goods on hand, followed by the application of unit prices to the quantities counted and development of a dollar valuation of the ending inventory.

12 The periodic system requires that a physical count of the merchandise on hand be taken to determine the account of goods in the ending inventory.

13 By assigning cost we are simply dividing the cost of the goods available for sale between cost of goods sold and ending inventory.

14 Instead, at the end of the period, the business makes a physical count of the inventory on hand and applies the unit cost to determine the cost of ending inventory.

15 The cost of goods sold during the period is determined by subtracting the ending inventory from the cost of goods available for sale...