The merchandising company such as retail stores and wholesalers sells goods that are usually same physical form as what the company acquires them. Therefore, those acquisition cost would be the cost of goods sold in merchandising company. The acquisition cost includes not only the cost of acquiring the merchandise but also the cost of making the goods ready for sale such as shipping costs. Let 's think of the following situation during the period. In addition to the beginning inventory, a company purchased additional merchandise so the amount of goods available for sale became the beginning inventory plus additional purchased merchandise. At the end of the period, the company wants to determine the amount of the cost of goods sold and ending inventory. How do they determine the amount of the cost of goods sold and ending inventory? There are two types of approaches: periodic inventory method and perpetual inventory method. The periodic inventory method is the following. (Cost of goods sold) = (Goods available for sales) (Ending inventory)
In the periodic inventory method, we determine the amount of ending inventory at the end of period, and then subtract the ending inventory from the goods