Inventory is usually conceptualized as the line item that represents goods or products that retail or manufacturing companies have to sell. Inventories include raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods in certain entities. Inventories usually have a corresponding cost of sales/services account that as an operating expense reduces net sales or revenue. According to FASB, ASC 330-10-05-2 “An inventory has financial significance because revenues may be obtained from its sale, or from the sale of the goods or services in the production of which it is used. Normally such revenues arise in a continuous repetitive process or cycle of operations in which goods are acquired, created, and sold, and further goods are acquired for additional sales.” Inventory is defined in FASB, ASC 330-10-20, “Inventory: The aggregate of those items of tangible personal property that have any of the following characteristics:
a. Held for sale in the ordinary course of business
b. In process of production for such sale
c. To be currently consumed in the production of goods or services to be available for sale.
The term inventory embraces goods awaiting sale (the merchandise of a trading concern and the finished goods of a manufacturer), goods in the course of production (work in process), and goods to be consumed directly or indirectly in production (raw materials and supplies). This definition of inventories excludes long-term assets subject to depreciation accounting, or goods which, when put into use, will be so classified. The fact that a depreciable asset is retired from regular use and held for sale does not indicate that the item should be classified as part of the inventory. Raw materials and supplies purchased for production may be used or consumed for the construction of long-term assets or other purposes not related to production, but the fact that inventory items