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How well do you understand Inventory

What is inventory?

Inventory – or stock –  is what your business buys in order to resell to customers. It may be changed in some way, or sold as it is.

For something to be inventory:

  • You must have bought it
    If you’re selling something on consignment, it still belongs to the manufacturer or supplier. That’s not your inventory – it’s theirs.
  • It must be for sale
    Things that you’ve bought to help run your business – such as stationery or work tools – aren’t inventory.

Why have inventory?

You could just order what you need, exactly when you need it. And some businesses are able to operate on a just-in-time system like this. But for most businesses, it’s impossible to organise such a precise supply chain.

Having inventory on hand has a number of benefits. It lets you:

  • be responsive to customer demand
  • deal with seasonal or cyclical demand
  • have some independence from suppliers
  • take advantage of price discounts and bulk buying
  • delay the impact of price increases
  • reduces delivery costs
  • avoid stoppages between manufacturing stages
  • managed products with long lead times

What should I do about inventory?

If your business has inventory – and most do – there are a few things you’ll need to do:

  • Report it to the right people – inventory contributes to the value of your business, so it must be reported on tax returns, business valuations, and insurance policies.
  • Manage it smartly – inventory can both make and lose money for your business, so you need to put some thought into how and when you order and store stock.
  • Keep on top of the numbers – to correctly report and manage inventory, you need to understand the cost and value of it. That’s where inventory accounting comes in.

This doesn’t have to be as hard as it sounds. There are accounting tricks to make it easier for small businesses. As you grow, you can use software and apps to do a lot of the time-consuming jobs, and number crunching.

 

Looking to find out more about Inventory types, management, and more. View the full Guide to Inventory from Xero here.

And if you have any questions relating to your inventory and finances, please don’t hesitate to contact your STS Accountant. We look forward to hearing from you.