Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• BOOK VALUE
  
  an accounting term which usually refers to a business' historical cost of assets less liabilities. The book value of a stock is determined from a company's records by adding all assets (generally excluding such intangibles as goodwill), then deducting all debts and other liabilities, plus the liquidation price of any preferred stock issued. The sum arrived at is divided by the number of common shares outstanding and the result is the book value per common share. Book value of the assets of a company may have little or no significant relationship to market value. Tangible Book Value is different than Book Value in that it deducts from asset value intangible assets, which are assets that are not hard (e.g., goodwill, patents, capitalized start-up expenses and deferred financing costs). Economic Book Value allows for a Book Value analysis that adjusts the assets to their market value. This valuation allows valuation of goodwill, real estate, inventories and other assets at their market value.
  
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