Accounting / Forecasting question - Change in inventory forecasting (Circularity)

Hi,

I am trying to forecast change in inventory (as part of an LBO model) for a small company, using inventory days outstanding.

Let's say I have the average inventory days outstanding figure calculated for the past x years and want to use that as a basis of forecast. When doing the forward looking calculation of =-(COGS/365)*Inventory Days, I run into a circular calculation problem.

The COGS for the forward looking years include (among other things) "change in inventory", which in turn I am trying to calculate in the first place by using the above mentioned formula(?).

Am I supposed to just run a circular reference here?

Thanks!

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