Lowe's 2009 Annual Report Download - page 31

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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 internal control over financial reporting
of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of
January 29, 2010, 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 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).
ose 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 by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal
executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing
similar functions, and effected by the company’s board of directors,
management, and other personnel 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 the inherent limitations of internal control over financial
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 effectiveness of the internal control over financial
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, the Company maintained, in all material respects,
effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 29,
2010, 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 financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended
January 29, 2010 of the Company and our report dated March 30,
2010 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.
Charlotte, North Carolina
March 30, 2010