With all the discussion about balance sheet values I have always thought that it depends on the purpose for the valuation. For depreciable assets the bank probably wants to see conservative values based on a quick sale-not waiting for a year or more. But, I wouldn't want to use those same values for insurance purposes-I would want a value that would pretty much make me whole if there was a loss. Then I want to know a value that would approximate fair market value to determine ROI and other metrics. Finally, I want a value for fixed assets like land that don't change year to year to see what the past years efforts have added (or subtracted) from the bottom line. I have adjusted land values at certain times to reflect inflation or life changing events such as death of a parent etc but keep these changes to a minimum.