Cost of Goods
XACC/290

Cost of Goods

The cost of goods sold is a category of expense for merchandising organizations. It is defined as the total amount of merchandise sold during an accounting period (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2011). To calculate the cost of goods sold, it would depend on which type of system the merchandising company is using. If they are using a perpetual system, which means that the organization uses daily detailed entries for the cost of their inventory’s purchase and sale, they would be journalizing each selling price of merchandise (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2011). For example, for inventory sold, an accountant would debit Accounts Receivable or Cash and Sales Revenue is credited for that merchandise’s selling total price (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2011). Subsequently, the accountant would also debit the Cost of Goods Sold and credit Inventory for the cost of that merchandise sold.
The second system that can be used by a merchandising company would be the periodic system. In a periodic system, the organization does not keep a daily, detailed inventory record. They instead calculate the cost of goods sold at the end of their accounting period. To determine the cost of goods sold they use the equation – beginning inventory plus the cost of goods equals the cost of goods available for sale (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2011). They then take this total and minus it from their ending inventory. This will give the company their cost of goods sold.
There are several items that make up the cost of goods sold. These items are the purchase price of an item, the freight costs, overhead costs, materials, and labor. Returns and defective products can also be included in the cost of goods sold.

References
Kimmel,P.D. ,Weygandt,J.J. & Kieso, D.E. (2011).Financial accounting: Tools for business