Arguments for the Use of Financial Valuations of Heritage Assets

Arguments for the use of financial valuations of heritage assets to fulfil the accountability and performance evaluation functions of accounting statement preparation include:

A) The funds contributed to government departments cannot be effectively tracked unless valuations of heritage assets are included in financial statements.
B) Managers of heritage assets need to ensure that they maximise the value of the collections and maintain them appropriately. Valuations of all assets provide an accurate performance measure in this regard.
C) In order to assess whether or not managers of collections have performed well it is necessary to have financial valuations of the heritage assets held at the beginning and end of the period. Decisions to buy and sell heritage assets can then be evaluated in the context of their impact on the quality of the entire collection.
D) Performance measurement will be more accurate because, for example, rate of return is calculated on total asset base.