FIFO (first in, first out)
Selling or using the oldest stock first; in accounting, costing each sale at the price of the oldest units.
FIFO stands for first in, first out. On the shelf it means putting new deliveries behind what's already there, so the units that arrived first leave first. It's the natural rule for anything that ages, goes out of fashion or is replaced by a new model.
In accounting, FIFO is also a way to value stock: each sale is costed at what the oldest units cost, and what's left is valued at the latest prices. For goods with an expiry date, what matters is the date, not the arrival: that's FEFO.
