For retailers, wholesalers and distributors, efficient inventory management is one of thekeys to business success. These companies often have considerable amounts of money investedin stock that’s intended for sale to customers. For many companies, this inventory ofgoods for sale — known as merchandise inventory — is their most valuable asset;automobiledealers, for example, may have millions of dollars tied up in vehicle inventory. Acompany’s ability to manage its merchandise inventory can affect its profitability,competitiveness, customer satisfaction and, ultimately, its survival.
What Is Merchandise Inventory?
Merchandise inventory is so called because retailers, wholesalers and distributors make moneyby buying goods from manufacturers or other suppliers and then merchandizing — thatis,marketing and selling — those products to customers. Merchandise inventory is themanifestation of the value of the goods a retailer or other reseller intends to sell tocustomers. It includes the goods the company holds in all locations — includingstoragefacilities, warehouses and retail stores.
Key Takeaways
- Merchandise inventory comprises the goods that retailers and resellers have purchasedwith the intent to sell to customers.
- Merchandise inventory is categorized as a current asset on the company’s balancesheet. For some retailers, it is their biggest asset.
- Efficient tracking of merchandise inventory is critical to managing expenses,profitability and customer satisfaction.
- Merchandise inventory calculations can also be useful in performing inventoryreconciliation, uncovering inventory shrinkage, identifying and recording inventory taxwrite-offs, and determining optimal inventory and ordering strategies.
- Companies can track merchandise inventory with perpetual or periodic inventory systems.A perpetual automated system is more accurate than a periodic manual approach.
Merchandise Inventory Explained
Merchandise inventory includes all goods that have been purchased but not yet sold. Thisunsold inventory is categorized as a current asset on a company’s balance sheet. Current assets areassets that the company expects to sell or consume within a year, and merchandise inventoryfits that definition because companies generally expect to sell inventory within a yearthrough normal business operations. The value of merchandise inventory includes the pricepaid to suppliers plus associated costs, such as transportation and insurance.
Why Is Merchandise Inventory Important in Accounting?
Merchandise inventory has an impact on the company’s current assets, accounts payable, expenses and profit, which areall important measures of the financial health of a business. Therefore, accuratelyaccounting for merchandise inventory is critical. Here’s how it works: A retail storebuys additional volumes of a product that is in short supply. The retailer records the costof the shipment in the merchandise inventory account, which is an asset account. It’snot treated as an expense until the retailer sells the goods. When the goods are sold, theircost is deducted from the merchandise inventory account and added to the cost of goods sold (COGS) expensesfor the period. This directly affects the company’s gross profit for the period,because gross profit is calculated by subtracting COGS from net sales.
What Does Merchandise Inventory Include?
Merchandise inventory includes a range of costs a retailer incurs in the course of obtainingthe products it intends to sell to its customers. It includes the price paid for the goods,shipping costs paid by the resellers or retailer and any other associated expenses, such astransit insurance and packaging. Merchandise inventory includes all goods the company haspurchased, from items in warehouses and retail stores to goods that are still in transitfrom suppliers.
Merchandise Inventory on Income Statements
While merchandise inventory is represented as an asset on the company’s balance sheet,it does not directly appear on the company’s income statement, whichreports revenue, expenses and profit or loss during a specific accounting period. However,changes in merchandise inventory during each period are reflected as expenses onthe income statement. That’s because when merchandise inventory is sold, its cost isincluded in the COGS expenses on the income statement for that period.
Merchandise Inventory Turnover
Merchandise inventory turnover is an important business metric for retail operations’management and strategy. Inventory turnover, also known as the inventory turnover ratio, isa measure of how quickly a company sells its inventory; it reflects the number of times abusiness sells and replaces its inventory during a given period. The inventory turnoverratio for an accounting period is calculated by dividing COGS by the averageinventory during the period.
Tracking inventory turnover can help businesses drive pricing strategies, promotions,supplier and warehouse management and more. Generally speaking, high merchandise inventoryturnover is desirable. It indicates that a retailer has better liquidity because itisn’t tying up too much of its money in unsold inventory. However, merchandiseinventory turnover varies by industry. Grocery stores and fast-fashion retailers typicallyhave higher inventory turnover, while high-end luxury retailers will have much lowerturnover rates.
Merchandise Inventory Methods
Merchandise inventory can be measured in one of two ways — using a perpetual inventorysystem or a periodic system. Aperiodic system involves waiting until the end of an accounting period to tally unsoldmerchandise via physical inventory counts. Because inventory can be such a large andimportant part of a retailer’s total assets, even companies that use a perpetualsystem often conduct a physical inventorycount at the end of each accounting period to check that their records are accurate.
Perpetual inventory method. Most large retailers and an increasingnumber of other companies take this approach. Their POS systems automatically recordproduct sales and update merchandise inventory in real time. As each item is sold,its cost is removed from the current asset account and added to COGS. This reducesthe possibility of human error when calculating inventory. It also gives business areal-time view of current inventory levels and key business and financial metricssuch as inventory turnover and COGS.
Periodic inventory method. Smaller retailers may opt for theperiodic method. This relies on physical inventory counts typically performed at theend of each accounting period; there’s no automated real-time inventorytracking. In some cases, retailers may perform a physical inventory count only atthe end of each fiscal year, although it’s usually advisable to do physicalcounts at least quarterly or after high-demand periods. This manual inventorytracking approach is more prone to manual error than the perpetual method, and itmeans companies lack a real-time view of inventory levels and associated inventorymetrics.
How to Calculate and Track Merchandise Inventory
In order to calculate the ending merchandise inventory at the close of an accounting period,a retailer must know the beginning merchandise inventory value, the total amount spent onadditional merchandise inventory and COGS.
Calculating beginning merchandise inventory. The beginning (or opening)merchandise inventory is the value of inventory at the start of the period, before procuringany more inventory items or selling any existing inventory. The beginning inventory for thecurrent period is simply the ending merchandise inventory value from the previous period.
Calculating merchandise inventory. The company adds to the beginninginventory the amount spent on additional inventory during the period. It then subtractsCOGS. The formula is:
Ending merchandise inventory = beginninginventory + new inventory costs - cost of goods sold (COGS)
How merchandise inventory calculations are used. Merchandise inventorycalculations have many uses beyond preparing the company’s balance sheet and incomestatements. Companies can use the calculations for inventory reconciliation, for example.Comparing the calculated inventory values with the results of physical inventory counts canhelp companies identify and address issues such as inventory shrinkage due to accountingerrors, theft, spoilage or other factors. Inventory calculations can also be used toidentify inventory write-offs for tax purposes. In addition, retailers may use trends ininventory to determine optimal ordering strategies.
Merchandise Inventory Examples
There are as many examples of merchandise inventory as there are finished goods that anindividual or business might buy from a retailer or wholesaler. Anything that a retailer hason hand to sell to customers — clothing, computers, cars, cheese, crackers —falls under thecategory of merchandise inventory.
Only finished goods ready for sale are counted as merchandise inventory; if a company makesfurniture using lumber, fasteners and glue and then sells the furniture to customers, onlythe finished chairs and tables are included in merchandise inventory.
Manage Merchandise Inventory With NetSuite
Manually tracking merchandise inventory with spreadsheets or pen and paper is bothinefficient and error-prone. Inventory management software helps even small and midsizeorganizations automate merchandise inventory tracking, leading to increased productivity,fewer mistakes and an improved customer experience by having merchandise on hand. NetSuite InventoryManagement enables retailers to track inventory in real time wherever it is located:at warehouses, retail stores and logistics providers. It provides companywide visibilitythat enables retailers to optimize their inventory processes, better manage stock, decreasecost of goods sold, and boost profitability. Real-time analytics help businesses monitortrends, quickly spot problems and drive better performance over time.
Conclusion
For retailers, distributors and wholesalers, efficiently tracking and managing merchandiseinventory is critical to the company’s financial health. Applying inventory managementsoftware can help companies decrease expenses, increase profitability and improve customersatisfaction.
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Merchandise Inventory FAQ
What is an example of merchandise inventory?
Merchandise inventory is the cost of finished goods (COGS) that a retailer or wholesaler hasavailable to sell to its customers during a given accounting period. For a bookstore,merchandise inventory would include the cost of the books or magazines it has for sale. Foran automobile dealer, it would be the cost of cars and trucks.
Is merchandise inventory an asset?
Yes. Merchandise inventory is considered a current asset. Current assets are assets that thecompany expects to sell or consume within a year.
What type of account is merchandise inventory?
Merchandise inventory is an asset account. Merchandise inventory is reported as a currentasset on a retailer’s balance sheet. A current asset is one that will provide aneconomic benefit during a given accounting period, typically a year. Merchandise inventoryqualifies because it is expected to be sold during a fiscal or calendar year.
Why is merchandise inventory important for accounting?
Tracking merchandise inventory is critical for retailers, wholesalers or distributors inorder to accurately calculate their assets, expenses and overall profitability. For manycompanies, merchandise inventory is one of the biggest assets recorded on the balance sheet.When merchandise is sold, its costs are recorded as part of COGS on a company’s incomestatement. COGS is then used to calculate gross and net profit.
What should be included in merchandise inventory?
Merchandise inventory includes the amount the retailer or other reseller paid for the itemsthemselves, as well as additional costs incurred by the company such as shipping, insuranceand storage. Merchandise inventory includes all unsold stock that is ready for sale, whetherit’s located in stores or warehouses.
