Suppose a company you are considering as an investment made sales of $54.8 billion in the year ended December 31, 2020. Collections from customers totalled $55 billion. The company began the year with $6.6 billion in inventories and ended with $7.9 billion. During the year, purchases of inventory added up to $39.8 billion. Of the purchases, the company paid $37.9 billion to suppliers.

As an investor searching for a good investment, you would identify several critical pieces of information about the companys operations during the year.

Using the facts provided, identify or calculate the information that is relevant to deciding whether to invest in this company, and specify how each piece is relevant to your decision.