There is a natural tradeoff in many cases between relevance and reliability. For example, the value of an infrequently traded asset may be very relevant, if the clear intent is to even- tually sell that asset to meet a liability. But the valuation of such an asset may be difficult or impossible to reliably determine. Different parties may place materially di fferent values on that asset, such that the reported value is impossible to verify by an external party or auditor. The only reliable value for the asset may be its original cost, but such a value.
