Analyzing Effects of LIFO on Inventory Turnover Ratios

The current assets of Exxon Mobil Corporation follow:

$ millions	2020	2019
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$4,364	$3,089
Notes and accounts receivable, net	20,581	26,966
Inventories:
Crude oil, products and merchandise	14,169	14,010
Materials and supplies	4,681	4,518
Other current assets	1,098	1,469
Total current assets	$44,893	$50,052

In addition, the following note was provided in its 2020 10-K report:

Inventories. Crude oil, products and merchandise inventories are carried at the lower of current market value or cost (generally determined under the last-in, first-out methodLIFO). Inventory costs include expenditures and other charges (including depreciation) directly and indirectly incurred in bringing the inventory to its existing condition and location. Selling expenses and general and administrative expenses are reported as period costs and excluded from inventory cost. Inventories of materials and supplies are valued at cost or less.

Miscellaneous Financial Information. In 2020, 2019, and 2018, net income included gains of $41 million, $523 million and $107 million, respectively, attributable to the combined effects of LIFO inventory accumulations and drawdowns. The aggregate replacement cost of inventories was estimated to exceed their LIFO carrying values by $5.4 billion and $9.7 billion at December 31, 2020, and 2019, respectively.

Required: a. Exxon Mobil reported a pretax loss of $28,883 million in 2020. What amount of pretax earningswould have been reported by the company if inventory had been reported using the FIFO costing method? $Answer 1 billion b. Exxon Mobil reported cost of goods sold of $94,007 million in 2020. Compute its inventory turnover ratio for 2020 using total inventories. (Round your answer to one decimal place.) Answer 2 c. BP, p.l.c. (BP) reports its nancial information using IFRS. For scal year 2020, BP reported cost of goods sold of $132,104 million, beginning inventory of $20,880 million and ending inventory of $16,873 million. Compute BP's inventory turnover ratio for scal year 2020. (Round your answer to one decimal place.) Answer 3 d.Compare your answers in parts b and c. BP can't use LIFO to report under IFRS, so revise your calculations in such a way as to find out which company has faster inventory turnover. (Hint: Calculate Exxon Mobil's inventoryturnover ratio as if Exxon Mobil used the FIFO costing method.) (Round your answer to one decimal place.) Answer 4