Unknown Stock Values
In this case "stock" refers to the inventory stocked in the business, not company ownership. And knowing the price or value of stock at any given time can help a business easily calculate reserves, plan for changing demand and create a snapshot of the business and its performance. The problem is that periodic inventory systems do not allow businesses to do this. The separate accounts keep tallies but do not add them up, which means there is no one place a business can look for its total inventory values.