Verizon Wireless 2012 Annual Report Download - page 50

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VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
We, the management of Verizon Communications Inc., are responsible
for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial
reporting of the company. Management has evaluated internal control
over financial reporting of the company using the criteria for effective
internal control established in Internal Control–Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission.
Management has assessed the effectiveness of the company’s internal
control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012. Based on this
assessment, we believe that the internal control over financial reporting
of the company is effective as of December 31, 2012. In connection with
this assessment, there were no material weaknesses in the company’s
internal control over financial reporting identified by management.
The company’s financial statements included in this Annual Report
have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public
accounting firm. Ernst & Young LLP has also provided an attestation
report on the company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Lowell C. McAdam
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Francis J. Shammo
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Robert J. Barish
Senior Vice President and Controller
REPORT OF MANAGEMENT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER
FINANCIAL REPORTING
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING
FIRM ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
To The Board of Directors and Shareowners of Verizon
Communications Inc.:
We have audited Verizon Communications Inc. and subsidiaries’ (Verizon)
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012,
based on criteria established in Internal Control–Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (the COSO criteria). Verizon’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 Report of Management 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). Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assur-
ance 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
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external pur-
poses in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A
company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those poli-
cies 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 assur-
ance 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 direc-
tors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding
prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or dis-
position of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the
financial statements.