Inventory accounts for goods, components, and raw materials a business consumes or sells. As business owners, users manage inventory to ensure that they have enough products on hand and to identify when there is a shortage. There are multiple types of inventory in the business.
Inventory is the process of counting or classifying items. In accounting, inventory is a current asset that refers to all things in various production phases. For most businesses, inventory is a significant asset on the balance sheet, and too much inventory can become a practical problem.
All the commodities, merchandise, and supplies a company keeps on hand in anticipation of selling them for a profit are referred to as inventory.
Did you know?
An organisation's financial well-being and profitability are directly impacted by its inventory, which is any product that is available to buy.
What Exactly is Inventory?
Inventory includes everything a business uses to sell or manufacture things, from completed goods and parts to raw materials. Depending on the commodities or services offered by your company, inventory might range from bananas to nails to raw silk to valuable pieces of art.
It is often handled using an inventory management system, such as a sheet of paper, notepad, spreadsheet, or inventory management software. By effectively monitoring your inventory, your company will know if it has enough stock to meet client demand—and when it's time to make another order.
Businesses undertake strict inventory control because it impacts productivity and profitability. Even if a firm does not sell or consume daily, almost every organisation may gain from managing assets like computers and furniture.
Also read: What Is Inventory? Types, Examples & Impact of Inventory on Businesses
The following inventory points stand out from the above definition:
- All businesses that manufacture or sell things keep inventory in some form or another.
- Inventory might be either comprehensive or incomplete.
- Inventory is kept for future consumption and processing/value addition.
- All inventoried resources have economic worth and can be termed organisational assets.
What Are The Types of Inventories?
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Basic Resources
Raw materials are substances required to transform your inventory into a finished product. These inventory items are fragments of component components that are now on hand but have not yet been included in either the work-in-process or the finished products inventories.
Raw materials come in two varieties: direct and indirect. Natural materials are used in completed items directly, whereas indirect resources are incorporated into overhead or manufacturing expenses.
Leather is an example of inventory because it is a direct raw material used to create belts for a company. If you offer imitation flowers for your interior design firm, the cotton used in them would be considered natural raw materials.
Indirect raw resources might include lightbulbs, batteries, or anything else that keeps your shop running.
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Work-In-Process
Work-In-Process (WIP) inventory is, as the name suggests, inventory that is currently being worked on. Regarding expenses, WIP comprises raw materials (and, occasionally, labour charges) that are still "in production" after the types of inventories in the accounting period.
In other words, WIP inventory includes all direct and indirect raw materials your company uses to produce completed items.
For example, the packaging would be a work in progress if you sell medical equipment. This is done so that the drug may be adequately packed before being delivered to the consumer and is still in the works.
Another example would be a specifically ordered bridal gown that isn't quite finished before the end of the fiscal year. In bridal gowns, lace, silk, and taffeta are no longer considered raw materials but are also not "finished objects."
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Delivered Items
The finished product inventory is maybe the easiest to understand of all inventory kinds. Do you offer that stock for sale on your website? In this category, you can include any item that is ready to be sold to your clients once they have been completed.
Examples of finished items from an inventory might be a pre-assembled fruit salad, a bathrobe with a personalised monogram, or an employee-ready laptop.
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MRO and Overhaul
Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul are known as MRO (or MRO administratively). An MRO is anything that keeps or restores a product to its original condition.
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Buffered Inventory
Forecasting swings and market changes in a manufacturing or trade firm are impossible. Such modifications may negatively affect the sales or production process, which may result in out-of-stock circumstances. Buffer inventory makes an effort to make up for this by abiding by the proverb that prevention is preferable to cure.
Also read: Perpetual Inventory System - Methods, Advantages and Disadvantages
The commodities kept in a business’s warehouse or a factory as buffer inventory, also known as safety stock, serve as a buffer against unforeseen shocks. If enough buffer inventory is kept on hand, an unexpected increase in demand, a holdup in transportation, or a labour stoppage may be managed.
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Rotating Inventory
Items regularly and in large quantities are referred to as cycle inventory. Materials directly used in production or a standard process element are typically included in cycle inventories. A bakery, for example, requires a certain amount of flour each time it orders bread from its warehouse.
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Inventory Decoupling
Multiple machines work together to produce the majority of goods. The output of one engine feeds into the following one for additional processing. Each device must operate in unison for the process to be successful. Decoupling inventory is necessary since any equipment might malfunction and cause the process to fail. If a preceding machine cannot generate the expected output, decoupling inventory consists of things retained in reserve to be processed by a different device.
In an imaginary example of a factory making cookies, the dough is moulded and then baked in the oven. The producer may have additional parts on hand to avoid a malfunction in one of the moulding machines from delaying the baking process.
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Transit Inventory
The term "transit inventory" describes things transferred between two locations, such as finished goods being delivered to a store by truck or raw materials being conveyed by train to a factory.
What Effect Does Inventory Have on Businesses?
For every manufacturing and trading company, inventory is a crucial asset. Business leaders must comprehend what it implies. Some sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing and services, employ specialised purposes that consider all of the specific assets. Business owners may better understand how their inventory serves them by understanding the many forms of inventory.
Benefits of Accurate Inventory and Inventory Management
Companies may save money by using an effective inventory management plan and precise inventory counts since they will only stock the products that consumers purchase, streamlining their business processes.
Inventory Accounting
Accounting for inventory is the method for counting and recording changes in the value of the stock, such as raw materials, work in progress, and finished items, all of which are assets. Inventory financial accounting gives an accurate value of these stock assets.
Inventory accounting establishes the worth of stock goods and the exact item count. These data demonstrate the expenses of products sold and the ending inventory value, which factor in the firm's overall worth.
Also read: What are the Different Inventory Valuation Methods & How can they be Used?
Conclusion
Businesses must use an Inventory Management System to operate or keep track of inventory from both a physical and accounting aspect. A historical system records transactions to memorialise what has previously transpired.
This system suggests replenishment based on ideal dynamic levels, guaranteeing that your next order is the correct number for your consumers and your organisation. Furthermore, exception lists highlight both current and anticipated future difficulties and rank them according to their impact on your organisation. It enables more proactive inventory management, minimising the costs associated with a list, the price of the stock, and improving the service level offered to clients.
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