Question

After making a sale, a seller may have customers that return goods. The seller uses the perpetual inventory system. This requires the seller to ________.

Answer 1

Answer:provides a running balance of cost of goods available for sale and cost of goods sold.

Explanation:

Perpetual inventory system provides a running balance of cost of goods available for sale and cost of goods sold. Under this system, no purchases account is maintained because inventory account is directly debited with each purchase of merchandise. The expenses that are incurred to obtain merchandise inventory increase the cost of merchandise available for sale. These expenses are, therefore, also debited to inventory account. Examples of such expenses are freight-in and insurances etc. Each time the merchandise is sold, the related cost is transferred from inventory account to cost of goods sold account by debiting cost of goods sold and crediting inventory account.

The balance in inventory account at the end of an accounting period shows the cost of inventory in hand. The accuracy of this balance is periodically assured by a physical count – usually once a year. If a difference is found between the balance in inventory account and a physical count, it is corrected by making a suitable journal entry. The common reasons of such difference include inaccurate record keeping, normal shrinkage, and shoplifting etc.