Which of the following best describes an inventory turnover?

Inventory turnover is a key financial metric that measures how many times a company's inventory is sold and replaced over a specific period, typically a year. The correct choice involves calculating this metric by dividing the average cost of goods sold by the average inventory level.

This ratio provides insight into the efficiency of inventory management and indicates how well a company is converting its stock into sales. A higher inventory turnover ratio suggests that a company is selling goods quickly, which can be indicative of strong sales performance or effective inventory management practices. Conversely, a low turnover might suggest overstocking or weak sales.

The other options do not accurately describe the concept of inventory turnover. For example, the time taken to sell all inventory within a year focuses on the duration of inventory holding rather than its turnover frequency. The total number of different items in stock simply counts inventory variety, while the total weight of all inventory items relates to logistics considerations, but neither of these measures directly addresses the turnover of inventory in terms of sales efficiency.