Actually, believe it or not, it truly doesn't matter what the actual physical flow of goods looks like--even if you absolutely have LIFO flow (say for example, a barrel of nails at a hardware store, where nobody is going to reach for the early ones at the bottom) or absolutely have FIFO --You know--milk at the grocery store where they put the newer ones in the back, (despite the fact that everyone's mother tells them to go to the back for the freshest milk) you can choose whichever method you want. So the hardware store can "assume" FIFO and the grocery store can "assume" LIFO regardless of what is really happening to the goods. You have now officially entered the Twilight Zone of choosing from the GAAP menu.

--Do you think this ability to choose can be/has been abused? Are there any mechanisms to prevent that?