GE 2012 Annual Report Download - page 35

GE 2012 ANNUAL REPORT 33
Report of Independent Registered
Public Accounting Firm
To Shareowners and Board of Directors
of General Electric Company:
We have audited the statement of financial position of General
Electric Company and consolidated affiliates (the “Company”) as of
December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the related statements of earn-
ings, comprehensive income, changes in shareowners’ equity and
cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 2012 appearing on pages 70 through 139. We also
have audited the Company’s internal control over financial report-
ing as of December 31, 2012, based on criteria established in
Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(“COSO”). The Company’s management is responsible for these
consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective inter-
nal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated
financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal
control over financial reporting based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of
the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial state-
ments are free of material misstatement and whether effective
internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all
material respects. Our audits of the consolidated financial state-
ments included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assess-
ing the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management, and evaluating the overall financial state-
ment presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial
reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control
over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weak-
ness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating
effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our
audits also included performing such other procedures as we
considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our
audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a pro-
cess 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 reason-
able 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 expendi-
tures 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 inad-
equate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of
compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred
to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial posi-
tion of General Electric Company and consolidated affiliates as of
December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of their operations
and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period
ended December 31, 2012, in conformity with U.S. generally
accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, the Company
maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control
over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, based on crite-
ria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued
by COSO.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial state-
ments, in 2010 the Company changed its method of accounting
for consolidation of variable interest entities.
Our audits of the consolidated financial statements were
made for the purpose of forming an opinion on the consoli-
dated financial statements taken as a whole. The accompanying
consolidating information appearing on pages 71, 73 and 75 is
presented for purposes of additional analysis of the consolidated
financial statements rather than to present the financial position,
results of operations and cash flows of the individual entities.
The consolidating information has been subjected to the audit-
ing procedures applied in the audits of the consolidated financial
statements and, in our opinion, is fairly stated in all material
respects in relation to the consolidated financial statements
taken as a whole.
KPMG LLP
Stamford, Connecticut
February 26, 2013