Tucker's Technology had the following goods available for sale in the last accounting period:

Beginning inventory ..........................................100 units @ $ 5

Purchases (in order from first to last): ......................140 units @ $ 7

200 units @ $ 8

160 units @ $ 8.50

Sales for the period were 530 units.

(a) Compute the inventory balance and the cost of goods sold at the end of the accounting period using average cost, FIFO, and LIFO.

(b) Which method shows the highest ending inventory?

(c) Which method shows the highest cost of goods sold?

(d) Explain why ending inventory and cost of goods sold differ under the three methods of inventory valuation.