Apple 2015 Annual Report Download - page 73

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Based on an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s management, the Company’s principal
executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules
13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) were effective as of
September 26, 2015 to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or
submits under the Exchange Act is (i) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities
and Exchange Commission rules and forms and (ii) accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its
principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Inherent Limitations Over Internal Controls
The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles (“GAAP”). The Company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of
the Company’s assets;
(ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in
accordance with GAAP, and that the Company’s receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with
authorizations of the Company’s management and directors; and
(iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the
Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Management, including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that the Company’s internal
controls will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only
reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect
the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent
limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of internal controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of
fraud, if any, have been detected. Also, any evaluation of the effectiveness of controls in future periods are subject to the risk that those
internal controls may become inadequate because of changes in business conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or
procedures may deteriorate.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined
in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Management conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control
over financial reporting based on the criteria set forth in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework). Based on the Company’s assessment, management has concluded that
its internal control over financial reporting was effective as of September 26, 2015 to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. The Company’s independent registered public
accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, has issued an audit report on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, which appears
in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter of 2015, which were identified
in connection with management’s evaluation required by paragraph (d) of rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, that have
materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information
Not applicable.
Apple Inc. | 2015 Form 10-K | 71