Final answer:
With rapid turnover, the weighted average cost method produces a balance sheet valuation similar to FIFO because the average cost tends to follow recent prices more closely, mirroring FIFO's characteristic of valuing inventory based on the most recent costs.
Step-by-step explanation:
In scenarios where there is a rapid turnover, the inventory method that produces a balance sheet valuation similar to the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method is the weighted average cost method.
This is because, with rapid turnover, the costs of inventory purchased or produced are frequently flowing through to cost of goods sold, resulting in the remaining inventory being valued at costs similar to the most recent purchases, which is a characteristic of the FIFO method.
The use of the weighted average cost method results in smoothing out the effects of price fluctuations over time, but with rapid inventory turnover, the average cost tends to follow recent prices more closely.