Readers of the balance sheet want to know what the reported assets are worth. In accounting, the name for what an asset is “worth” is its fair value (also called market value ). The Garsden Company balance sheet (Exhibit 1) reported that the company’s cash on December 31, 2012, was $1,676,000. This was the f __ v ___ of the asset Cash. We can be reasonably certain that the amount was actually

$1,676,000, because the banks in which cash was deposited have reliable records of the amount.