In accounting terms, "goods available for sale" includes all items that have been transformed from raw materials to finished goods. Management needs to know how many items are available for sale at any given moment in order to estimate manufacturing and delivery times for new orders. Calculating goods available for sale is simple, provided you keep careful inventory, manufacturing and purchasing records. Use a simple formula to determine your goods available for sale account balance at any time.

Start with your beginning inventory balance for the fiscal period.

Add the number of items transferred from the "raw materials" account to the "finished goods" account during the fiscal period if your business transforms raw materials. If your business buys and immediately resells goods, add the number of units purchased during the fiscal period to the beginning inventory balance.

Subtract the number of units sold during the fiscal period. The remaining total represents goods available for sale.