Asset book value definition including break down of areas in the definition. Analyzing the definition of key term often provides more insight about concepts. Asset book value can be defined as: Asset’s acquisition costs less its accumulated depreciation (or depletion, or amortization); also somethomes used synonymously as the carrying value of an account. Book value is commonly used when referring to fixed assets or depreciable assets, assets that have a relatively long useful life, these assets being put on the books at cost and then depreciated. The book value is the estimated value of the asset, the cost of the asset less the accumulated depreciation, accumulated depreciation being the allocation of cost over the life, the cost that has been expensed as depreciation expense.
