to clearly distinguish the market price of shares from the core ownership equity or shareholders' equity, the term 'book value' is often used since it focuses on the values that have been added and subtracted in the accounting books of a business (assets – liabilities). the term is also used to distinguish between the market price of any asset and its accounting value which depends more on historical cost and depreciation. it may be used interchangeably with carrying value. while it can be used to refer to the business' total equity, it is most often used: