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The difference between the cost of an inventory calculated under the FIFO and LIFO methods is called the LIFO reserve (in the example above, it is $750, i.e. $5250 - $4500). This reserve, a form of contra account, is essentially the amount by which an entity's taxable income has been deferred by using the LIFO method. [2]
The most commonly used inventory valuation methods under a perpetual system are: first-in first-out (FIFO) last-in first-out (LIFO) (highest in, first out) (HIFO) average cost or weighted average cost; These methods produce different results because their flow of costs are based upon different assumptions.
If she uses FIFO, her costs are 20 (10+10). If she uses average cost, her costs are 22 ( (10+10+12+12)/4 x 2). If she uses LIFO, her costs are 24 (12+12). Thus, her profit for accounting and tax purposes may be 20, 18, or 16, depending on her inventory method. After the sales, her inventory values are either 20, 22 or 24.
However, the update does not apply to all companies. Companies that use the FIFO (first-in, first-out) and average-cost methods of inventory valuation are required to implement the changes, whereas companies that use the LIFO (last-in, first-out) and retail inventory methods are not affected by the update. [3]
Which method an accountant selects can have a significant effect on net income and book value and, in turn, on taxation. Using LIFO accounting for inventory, a company generally reports lower net income and lower book value, due to the effects of inflation. This generally results in lower taxation. Due to LIFO's potential to skew inventory ...
Average cost method is a method of accounting which assumes that the cost of inventory is based on the average cost of the goods available for sale during the period. [1]The average cost is computed by dividing the total cost of goods available for sale by the total units available for sale.
For example, relating shipping and storage costs to a specific inventory item becomes difficult. These numbers often need to be estimated, diminishing the specificity advantage of the specific identification method. Thus, this method is generally limited to large, high-ticket items which can be easily identified specifically (such as tract houses).
Traditional standard costing (TSC), used in cost accounting, dates back to the 1920s and is a central method in management accounting practiced today because it is used for financial statement reporting for the valuation of income statement and balance sheet line items such as cost of goods sold (COGS) and inventory