Coca Cola 2008 Annual Report Download - page 145

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Board of Directors and Shareowners
The Coca-Cola Company
We have audited The Coca-Cola Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31,
2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). The Coca-Cola Company’s
management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its
assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Report
of Management on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the
Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material
respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing
the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal
control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes
in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial
reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in
reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial
statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of
the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the
company; and (3) 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.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that
controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, The Coca-Cola Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States), the consolidated balance sheets of The Coca-Cola Company and subsidiaries as of
December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related consolidated statements of income, shareowners’ equity, and cash
flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2008, and our report dated February 26, 2009
expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 26, 2009
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