Answer:
b. cost of goods sold
Explanation:
The cost of merchandise is the expense incurred by retailers and wholesalers when they purchase inventory for reselling to customers. It is the cost of goods sold. Retailers and wholesalers do not manufacture goods; hence they will not have the cost of goods sold in their books. Instead, they buy finished products from manufacturers, which they refer to as the cost of merchandise sold.
Therefore, the cost of merchandise sold is equivalent to the cost of goods sold for non-manufacturing firms. To calculate the cost of merchandise sold, take beginning inventory plus merchandise purchased minus closing inventory.
