Perpetual inventory

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In business and accounting/accountancy, perpetual inventory or continuous inventory describe systems of inventory is which the inventory as recorded or displayed in the firm or organization's information system is updated on a continuous basis with real inventory in stock. In this case, book inventory would be the same as, or almost exactly the same as, the real inventory.

The ability to implement a perpetual inventory system was facilitated by the development of digital computer technology since the mid-20th century, before which there existed significantly greater challenges. In this earlier period, non-continuous, or periodic inventory systems were more prevalent.