During an economic downturn, a company decided to reduce its inventory levels to cut costs, leading to a LIFO liquidation. This resulted in the sale of inventory that was purchased at a lower cost years ago. As a consequence, the company reported unusually low cost of goods sold and higher profits for that fiscal year.
The CFO explained that the unexpected jump in profits was due to a LIFO liquidation, which occurred because we significantly reduced our inventory levels last quarter.