What is Inventory Turnover Ratio?

The rate of a company replacing inventory in a given period due to sales is known as Inventory Turnover.

Calculation of a company’s inventory turnover gives help to the businesses that make better pricing, manufacturing, marketing, and purchasing decisions of a company.

Better management of inventory levels of a company indicates that the sales of a company are at their desired level, and even the costs can be controlled. The measurements of inventory turnover ratio are taken to see how well a company is generating sales from its particular or overall inventory.

Understanding Inventory Turnover.

Inventory will be ultimately sold in which the account of all the goods of a company having in its stock, includes the raw materials, materials in process, and even finished goods.

Typically inventory includes all finished goods, e.g., such as clothing, in a department store.

However, raw materials that go into production and are completed as finished goods can also be included in inventory.

E.g., The inventory of fabric would be considered by the clothing manufacturer and used for manufacturing clothing.

Inventory turnover helps us to understand how many times a company will sell and replaces its stock of goods in a particular period. As such, inventory turnover also reflects how well a company will manage the costs associated with its sales efforts.

It is better to have a higher inventory turnover. It indicates high inventory turnover company is selling its goods as quickly as possible, and there is also some consideration in demand for their products.

On the other hand, lower inventory turnover likely would indicate weaker sales and declining demand for a company’s products. This will improve Accounts receivable ratio will help in your working capital.

As we can see, how well the company is managing its stock by inventory turnover—an indication of overestimated demand of a company’s products and purchase of too many goods.

This would lead to the manifestation of lower turnover.

A company can even miss out on several sales opportunities if the inventory turnover is high and indicates that the company is insufficient inventory.

Whether the company’s sales and purchasing departments are synced, or not can also be seen by the inventory turnover. Ideally, if inventory matches the sales, it can also be considered costly for the companies holding into their list that aren’t selling.

Thus, an indication can be seen if inventory turnover sales have its effectiveness and the management of its operating costs.

Alternatively, to improve the inventory turnover, the given amount of sales should be made using less inventory.

Analysis of Inventory Turnover Ratio.

Inventory turnover is a measurement of how efficiently a company controls its merchandise, so it is an indication that it is essential to have a higher turn.

This also shows that the company is not overspending by purchasing too many inventories and wasting its resources by storing non-salable inventory. It also offers the efficiency of a company that how effectively can a company is selling the stocks it buys.

This also shows the measurement taken by the investors on how liquid a company’s inventory is.

As considered one of the most significant assets, is retailer typically reports on its balance sheet. And if this inventory cannot be sold, then it isn’t substantial for the company.

This measurement also shows that how easily a company can convert its inventories into cash.

Mainly, it can be seen that the creditors are often interested in this because inventories are often put up as collateral for various loans. In this, even banks want to know that these inventories will be easy to sell or not.

It depends that inventory may turn verily with industry. For instance, even the apparel industry will be having higher turns than the exotic car industry.

How does the inventory turnover ratio work?

As having a lot of troubles, savings can also be done. So, while finding inventory turnover ratios, we look at a company’s balance sheet and its income statement.

Cost of Goods Sold can often be seen on the income statement as inventory balances can be found on the balance sheet.

By having these two documents, you need to arrange the numbers into the formula, and then it is done.

In comparison to the figures, you can keep in mind that some analysts may use total annual sales instead of using the cost of goods sold.

This can be included mainly in the same equation as it is included in the company’s markup. This means it can be led to a different result than equations used for the cost of goods sold.

It is not better than the other, but you have been sure about your various comparisons.

You do not have to use annual sales to find the ratio for one or single company is also using the cost of goods sold for another.

Significance and Interpretation of the Inventory turnover-

The ratio of inventory turnover may vary significantly among industries. A high ratio primarily indicates the quick-moving inventories and a low ratio; on the other side, it slowly moves outdated lists in the stock.

Needlessly a low ratio might also be the result of maintenance of excessive inventories. Unnecessarily maintaining bloated inventories also indicates poor inventory management of a company because this also involves tiding up funds that can be used in other business operations.

The users can even observe various factors that can even affect the inventory turnover ratio before Interpretation or making any decision. This will also improve your Debt to income ratio of your company.

E.g., companies using the first-in-first-out cost flow assumption may also have a higher Inventory Turnover Ratio in the days of inflation because purchasing the latest inventory at a higher price may remain in the stock under First-In-First-Out.

On the other side, companies using the Last-In-First-Out cost flow assumption may have a comparatively lower Inventory Turnover Ratio than others because the previous or oldest inventory purchased at relatively lower prices may remain in the stock under Last-In-First-Out.

Another factor that might be influencing this ratio can be used for the just-in-time method. Companies that are using just in time system of inventory management usually have a high inventory turnover ratio compared to the others in a particular industry.

What is an Ideal Inventory Turnover Ratio?

For most retailers, 2 to 4 is an ideal inventory turnover ratio. However, this might be varying between industries, so always make sure to have proper research of your specific industry.

 Your ratio should be between 2 and 4 to know the inventory sale cycle which matches the restock. You must be receiving the new inventory before the need of it and can move it relatively quick. This will improve Quick Ratio of your company.

Low Inventory Turnover.

Having a rate of 1 or having less means you have excessive inventory.

E.g., if you are selling 20 units over an entire year and always having 20 teams in hand means the rate of 1, you are investing too much in inventory as it is also way more than what’s needed to meet the demands.

It is also vital to maintain inventory levels by calculating how much the company is selling and avoiding dead stock, which works with your full flow of cash.

High inventory turnover-

This inventory turnover can indicate that you are selling your products in a very timely manner, which also typically means that sales are doing well in a period given.

Ecommerce retailers can also strive for a high inventory turnover rate; this means that they are selling the inventory they are having in hand quickly and make a repurchase of the fresh stock often. This also helps in saving on the store which is having to carry costs.

While having a higher turnover rate is generally taken into consideration; and it is also an indication of success. It can be problematic if the inventory turnover rate is too high. An arrival of sales can also cause you to have constantly replenished inventory, and if you fail to keep up with the demands, you might be experiencing stockouts.

Mainly this can be true if it takes weeks or longer to replenish the stock for a specific stock-keeping unit. This can also mean weeks of lost sales on which it is clearly a popular item.

Maximizing your inventory turnover rate-

Whether the inventory turnover is higher or lower, let’s learn the measures you can take to try and combat or regulate the issue.

To solve for higher inventory turnover.

It is easier to solve the higher inventory turnover than the lower inventory turnover. In this, you either need to order more inventory or make fewer sales.

Typically, it boils down to the needs more than the stock on average for meeting your customer demand. In this, proper demand forecasting can also help.

Products which are having a higher inventory turnover ratio can be used to make sure for keeping a back stock.

Hence, this using inventory management software can also provide help for analyzing your inventory.

Limitations of Inventory Turnover Ratio-

The time usually taken by a company to sell its supply can significantly vary by industry.

If you don’t know the average of the inventory, it might turn the industry into question, and then this formula won’t help you very much.

Typically, retail stores and grocery chains must have a much higher Inventory Turnover Ratio.

This results in selling lower-cost products that spoil or get damaged quickly. This results in far greater management are required in the industry.

In other words, companies that manufacture heavy types of machinery like airplanes will have a much lower turnover rate.

Usually, it will take a longer time to manufacture and sell an airplane.

It might often bring in millions of dollars to the company once the sales close.

Inventory Turnover and Dead Stock.

The vital piece of data for maximizing efficiency in selling perishable and other goods which can be easily damaged is Inventory Turnover.

Some examples are milk and milk products, other poultry items, fast fashion, automobiles, and periodicals.

Likely an excess of cashmere sweaters may often lead to unsold inventories and lost profits, especially as season changes and retailers stock up with new lists which are seasonal.

These kinds of unsold stock are called obsolete inventory or dead stock.

Inventory Turnover and Open to buy systems-

Some of the retailers might employ an open-to-buy scheme as they can seek management for their inventories, and in this, they can more efficiently replenish their stocks.

At their core, the Open-to-buy system is the software budgeting system that is used for purchasing merchandise.

Usage of such a system can be helpful to monitor merchandise, and it can be integrated into a retailer’s financing and control processes of inventory control.

It can even help small retailers manage the decisions better to see how much inventory to buy, how to evaluate and how the stock is performing, and even assist with obtaining future lists.

Personalization can provide such software up to some degree, but it may not use all types of stock.

E.g., it may also work best with seasonal merchandise and fashion, but maybe it is a good fit for quick selling consumer goods or even essential items and tacks.

Some Special Considerations-

To check the performance of a company can turn its inventories into sales is inventory turnover.

This ratio also shows how well the management can manage the costs associated with inventory and even whether they’re buying too much stock or more minor.

In this case, inventory turnover also shows that how well the company is at selling its goods.

If sales are going down or even the economy is also underperforming, it can show a lesser inventory turnover ratio.

Usually, a high inventory turnover ratio is also preferable because there is an indication that shows more sales generated from a specific amount of inventory.

Sometimes a high inventory ratio also can result in loss of sales, as there is insufficiency in inventory to meet overall demand.

The inventory turnover ratio can be comparable to the industry’s benchmark to assess if a company can manage its inventory successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions.

What is a Good Inventory Turnover?

What it takes to counts as a “Good inventory turnover” ultimately depends on the industry in question.

As a usual rule, the industries with stocking products can be relatively inexpensive and tend to have higher inventory turnovers. Some more expensive items where customers can usually take more time before making any purchasing decisions. It will tend to have lesser inventory turnovers.

For instance, a company selling cheap products might sell the equivalent of 30 times their overall inventory in a year. In contrast, a company selling sizeable industrial machinery may only have cycled through their list three times.

Therefore, Inventory turnover ratios are needed to assess relative to the company’s industry, and even competitors can say whether they are good or bad.

How do you calculate inventory turnover?

Calculating inventory turnover is a method of how instantly a company can sell its inventories in a year. It can also use as a metric of complete operational efficiency.

For calculating inventory turnover, there are two ways.

The first method consists of the division of the company’s annual sales with its average inventory balance.

The second method is dividing the annual cost of goods sold by the average inventory.

In another case, the average balance inventory can be estimated by taking the sum of the beginning inventory and ending list for the year and later dividing it by 2.

Is high inventory turnover excellent or bad?

This turnover method can be used to measure how fast the company is good at selling its inventories in a year and is also used as a metric of complete operational efficiency.

We can find two popular ways of calculating inventory turnover.

The first method consists of the division of the company’s annual sales with its average inventory balance.

According to the second method, we have to divide the annual cost of goods sold by average inventory.

An estimation of the average inventory balance can be taken by the total of beginning inventory and ending inventory of the entire year and divide by 2.