There are two reasons for measuring some assets at cost. First, estimating fair value of each asset may be expensive and unreliable. If you bought a pair of shoes for $100 in 2011 and asked two friends in 2012 for the shoes’ value, they probably would disagree. Even if the estimates were made by professionals, the appraised value of each asset in a company would be [subjective / objective] and [expensive / inexpensive].