Valuation of stock provides the most common form of description. S tock is generally valued at cost or market value, whichever is the lower, as otherwise profit s shown which may never materialize. I t is no more than prudent to err on the side of caution, as some stock may deteriorate or, in the course of time, become un-saleable, and care should be taken to see that in no event must there be an overvaluation . N aturally an under-valuation of closing stock keeps down the profit and, of course, the tax payable of such profit. T he closing stock of the first year becomes the opening stock of the second year, and, if the stock has been greatly undervalued, then the closing stock of the second year will have to be very greatly undervalued if a similar gross profit ratio is to be shown for both years. F or example, if stock at the close of the first year is undervalued by £ 1,000, the profit will likewise be dept down by £ 1,000. In the second year, if both the opening and closing stock are undervalued by £ 1,000, the profit will be unaffected and will be the actual profit earned. If it is desired to make the profit £ 1,000 less than actual, in line with the first year, then the closing stock will have to be undervalued by another £ 1,000, making the stock evaluation £ 2,000 less than it actually is. The proprietor ’ s problems are only just beginning, because, to keep the same ratio of gross profit to sales, the stock will have to be undervalued more and more each year and the build-up will mean that in the course of time too much stock will be held in the business and the proprietor will not know what to do with it. If the excess is sold against cheques, the cheques will show in a banking account; it is not easy to sell bulk stock for cash at its full market value. As so many people have found, undervaluation of stock causes a great deal of difficulty. In the present instance, it is not any help for the customer to say that his stock is worth £ 42,000 unless it is his intention to restrict purchases and bring the excess stock back into the account and therefore increase his profit and his tax. By comparing the gross profit ratio over a few years and by careful questioning, it should be fairly straightforward for a banker to judge the true position about customer ’ s stock valuation methods, and to consider if they alter in substance the trading figures produced.