Which of the following is NOT a common method for inventory valuation?

The correct response indicates that standard costing is not a common method for inventory valuation. While standard costing is a method used within cost accounting to establish expected costs for materials and labor, it is primarily geared towards budgeting, performance evaluation, and variance analysis rather than directly valuing inventory on hand.

In contrast, techniques like First-In-First-Out (FIFO), Last-In-First-Out (LIFO), and Weighted Average Cost are specifically designed to assign costs to inventory and determine the cost of goods sold.

FIFO assumes that the oldest inventory items are sold first, meaning that the cost of goods sold reflects the cost of the oldest stock, which can influence profit margins and tax obligations depending on market fluctuations. LIFO operates on the opposite principle, asserting that the most recently acquired items are sold first, which can provide benefits in an inflationary environment by matching higher current costs against revenues. Lastly, the Weighted Average Cost method calculates a single average cost per unit of inventory, smoothing out price fluctuations over time.

Overall, while standard costing plays a role in managing and controlling costs, it is not directly a method for valuing inventory in the same capacity as FIFO, LIFO, or Weighted Average Cost.