How can a perpetual inventory system help a small business keep track of inventory?

A perpetual inventory system keeps track of inventory changes with every purchase, new order and return. This is different from the periodic inventory system where the inventory database is only updated once every several months. The perpetual inventory system, thanks to computing power, can help a small business know at all times what it has on hand, which allows it to place smaller orders at a time, which can help with the cash flow situation.