Accounting for Futures. Example 1. It is June 30. You have just purchased $1,000,000 of inventory. Dr. Inventory 1,000,000. Cr. Cash 1,000,000. You will sell the inventory on Jan 1. The current selling price is 1,500,000, but you don’t know what the price will be six months from now. You enter into a futures contract (at no cost) to sell the A futures contract is a legal agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity or asset at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future. Futures contracts are standardized for quality and quantity to facilitate trading on a futures exchange. The IRS considers commodities and futures transactions as 1256 Contracts. On the form's line 1, enter your gains and losses from your 1099-B Form. Continue to the place on the form where you add the profits and losses to get a final number. For example, this number may be a profit of $5,000.