Symantec 2012 Annual Report Download - page 141

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Symantec Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Symantec Corporation (and subsidiaries)
as of March 30, 2012 and April 1, 2011, and the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders’ equity
and comprehensive income, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended March 30, 2012.
In connection with our audits of the consolidated financial statements, we have also audited the related financial
statement schedule listed in Item 15. We also have audited Symantec Corporation’s internal control over
financial reporting as of March 30, 2012, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
Symantec Corporation’s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, financial
statement schedule, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of
the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on Internal
Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A(b). Our responsibility is to express an opinion on
these consolidated financial statements, financial statement schedule, 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 referred to above present fairly, in all material respects,
the financial position of Symantec Corporation and subsidiaries as of March 30, 2012 and April 1, 2011, and the
results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended March 30,
2012, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, the related financial
statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a whole,
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