Lowe's 2006 Annual Report Download - page 31

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Lowe’s 2006 Annual Report
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Mooresville, North Carolina
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Lowe’s
Companies, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of February 2, 2007
and February 3, 2006, and the related consolidated statements of earnings,
shareholders’ equity, and cash ows for each of the three scal years in the
period ended February 2, 2007. ese nancial statements are the responsi-
bility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these nancial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). ose standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance
about whether the nancial statements are free of material misstatement. An
audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts
and disclosures in the nancial statements. An audit also includes assessing
the accounting principles used and signicant estimates made by management,
as well as evaluating the overall nancial statement presentation. We believe
that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, such consolidated nancial statements present fairly, in
all material respects, the nancial position of the Company at February 2, 2007
and February 3, 2006, and the results of its operations and its cash ows for each
of the three scal years in the period ended February 2, 2007, in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the eectiveness
of the Company’s internal control over nancial reporting as of February 2,
2007, based on the criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission and our report dated April 3, 2007 expressed an
unqualied opinion on management’s assessment of the eectiveness of
the Company’s internal control over nancial reporting and an unqualied
opinion on the eectiveness of the Company’s internal control over nan-
cial reporting.
Charlotte, North Carolina
April 3, 2007
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Mooresville, North Carolina
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the accompanying
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting included
on page 26, that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”)
maintained eective internal control over nancial reporting as of February 2,
2007, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission. e Company’s management is responsible for maintaining
eective internal control over nancial reporting and for its assessment of the
eectiveness of internal control over nancial reporting. Our responsibility is
to express an opinion on management’s assessment and an opinion on the
eectiveness of the Company’s internal control over nancial reporting based
on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). ose standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether eective internal control over nancial reporting was maintained in all
material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal
control over nancial reporting, evaluating management’s assessment, testing
and evaluating the design and operating eectiveness of internal control, and
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circum-
stances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over nancial reporting is a process designed
by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal executive and principal
nancial ocers, or persons performing similar functions, and eected by the
company’s board of directors, management, and other personnel to provide
reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of nancial reporting and the
preparation of nancial statements for external purposes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over
nancial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the
maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reect the
transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of
nancial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting prin-
ciples, 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 eect on the nancial statements.
Because of the inherent limitations of internal control over nancial
reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management
override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be
prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of
the eectiveness of the internal control over nancial reporting to future periods
are subject to the risk that the 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, management’s assessment that the Company maintained
eective internal control over nancial reporting as of February 2, 2007, is fairly
stated, in all material respects, based on the criteria established in Internal
Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Also in our opinion, the Company
maintained, in all material respects, eective internal control over nancial
reporting as of February 2, 2007, based on the criteria established in Internal
Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated nancial state-
ments as of and for the scal year ended February 2, 2007 of the Company
and our report dated April 3, 2007 expressed an unqualied opinion on those
nancial statements.
Charlotte, North Carolina
April 3, 2007
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm