Question

Howe Corporation calculates inventory and cost of goods sold one time at the end of every accounting period. In contrast, Kelty Industries updates their inventory and cost of goods sold accounts multiple times in one day. What is the difference between Howe and Kelty?

Answer 1

The difference is only in the strategy the company wants to use. For some market segments calculating the cost of goods sold by the permanent or periodic method may be more advantageous and allow a better monitoring of business efficiency and profitability. Companies often choose the method that best fits their organizational strategy. The periodic method, for example, as used by Kelty Industries, can be useful for greater input and output control, process optimization, consumer behavior assessment, and other advantages. But if Howe and Kelty wanted to change the calculation method, it would not affect anything, as the result would be the same regardless of the calculation, periodic or daily.