Explain how a periodic inventory system operates.
In a periodic system, up-to-date records are not maintained for inventory or the cost of goods sold. Thus less recordkeeping is required than in a perpetual system.
The beginning and ending inventories are determined by taking a complete physical count at each year-end. Purchases are recorded in a Purchases account, and no entries are made to record the cost of individual sales transactions. Instead, the cost of goods sold is determined at year-end by a computation such as the following (dollar amounts are provided only for purposes of example):