Symantec 2014 Annual Report Download - page 135

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 28, 2014 and March 29, 2013, and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income,
stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended March 28, 2014. 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 the internal control over financial reporting of Symantec Corporation as of March 28, 2014, based
on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (1992) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Management of Symantec Corporation is responsible for these
consolidated financial statements, the 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, the financial statement schedule and an opinion on the internal control over
financial reporting of Symantec Corporation 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 28, 2014 and March 29, 2013, and the results of their
operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended March 28, 2014, 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, presents fairly, in all material respects, the
information set forth therein. Also in our opinion, Symantec Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal
control over financial reporting as of March 28, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework (1992) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, Symantec Corporation has elected to change its method of
accounting for sales commissions. The adoption of this accounting policy change has been applied retrospectively to all
periods presented.
/s/ KPMG LLP
Santa Clara, California
May 16, 2014
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