Coca Cola 2010 Annual Report Download - page 159

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 and subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting as of December 31,
2010, 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 and subsidiaries’
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 Management’s Report 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.
As indicated in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, management’s
assessment of and conclusion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting did not include the
internal controls of the acquired North American operations of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (subsequently renamed
Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc.), which is included in the 2010 consolidated financial statements of The Coca-Cola
Company and subsidiaries and constituted approximately 31 percent of consolidated total assets as of December 31,
2010 and approximately 10 percent of consolidated net operating revenues for the year then ended. Our audit of
internal control over financial reporting of The Coca-Cola Company and subsidiaries also did not include an evaluation
of the internal control over financial reporting of Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc.
In our opinion, The Coca-Cola Company and subsidiaries maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control
over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, 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, 2010 and
2009, and the related consolidated statements of income, shareowners’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years
in the period ended December 31, 2010, and our report dated February 28, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion
thereon.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 28, 2011
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