- Inventory
- For companies: Raw materials, items available for sale or in the process of being made ready for sale. They can be individually valued by several different means, including cost or current market value, and collectively by FIFO, LIFO or other techniques. The lower value of alternatives is usually used to preclude overstating earnings and assets. For security firms: securities bought and held by a broker or dealer for resale. The New York Times Financial Glossary
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1. [countable, uncountable] ACCOUNTING the amount of stock, including raw material S, supplies and finished goods, that a company has at a particular time; = stock Bre:• Companies have cut inventories sharply since the downturn began.
• Cash-and-carry outlets rely on a rapid turnover of stock to keep down inventory levels.
beˈginning ˌinventory [uncountable] ACCOUNTINGthe amount of goods that a store or other retailer has at the beginning of a period of time; = opening stockconˈtinuous ˌinventory also perˈpetual ˌinventory[countable, uncountable] ACCOUNTING an inventory in which records are changed whenever new items are received or old items are used up or sold, so that it always contains the most recent information2. [countable] a list of the goods and property owned by a particular person, organization, or country:continuous inventory of• A full inventory of equipment will be maintained.
3. take ( an) inventory ACCOUNTING to make a list of goods that a company or a person has at a particular time:• Newmark & Lewis were closed Sunday to take inventory.
— see also first in, first out, last in, first out* * *
A company's stock of raw materials, semi-finished and finished goods. Also known simply as stock.* * *
Ⅰ.inventory UK US /ˈɪnvəntri/, /ɪnˈventəri/ US /ˈɪnvəntɔri/ noun► [C or U] COMMERCE, PRODUCTION the amount of goods a store or business has for sale at a particular time, or their value: »About half of the shop's inventory was damaged in the tornado.
»Analysts say the company's inventory of unsold cars could last two to three months.
»a big/large/low inventory
► ACCOUNTING, PRODUCTION the amount of goods and materials owned by a company at a particular time, including parts, products being made, and finished products: »Businesses are increasing their spending on plants, equipment and inventories.
»cut/bring down/reduce inventory
»We are trying to reduce manufacturing cycle time and the associated raw material, work in process, and finished goods inventory levels.
► [C] a detailed list of all the goods and property owned by a person or a business: »a complete/extensive/detailed inventory
do/make/take an inventory »We need to take a hardware inventory to estimate the hardware upgrade costs.
→ See also BEGINNING INVENTORY(Cf. ↑beginning inventory), CONTINUOUS INVENTORY(Cf. ↑continuous inventory)Ⅱ.inventory UK US /ˈɪnvəntri/, /ɪnˈventəri/ US /ˈɪnvənˌtɔri/ verb [T]► to make a detailed list of all the goods and property owned by a person or a business: »The judge ordered that all property should be inventoried before any more sales were made.
Financial and business terms. 2012.
