GE 2014 Annual Report Download - page 146

126 GE 2014 FORM 10-K
REPORTS
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To Shareowners and Board of Directors
of General Electric Company:
We have audited the accompanying statement of financial position of General Electric Company and consolidated affiliates (the
“Company”) as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the related statements of earnings, comprehensive income, changes in
shareowners’ equity and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2014. We also have audited
the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control ±
Integrated Framework (2013) 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 internal 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 statements
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 statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts
and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management,
and evaluating the overall financial statement 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 weakness 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 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 consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of General Electric
Company and consolidated affiliates as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for
each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2014, 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, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control ± Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.
Our audits of the consolidated financial statements were made for the purpose of forming an opinion on the consolidated financial
statements taken as a whole. The accompanying consolidating information appearing on pages 129, 133 and 135 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 auditing 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.
/s/ KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP
Stamford, Connecticut
February 27, 2015