Walmart 2008 Annual Report Download - page 51

The Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
We have audited Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.’s internal control over nancial
reporting as of January 31, 2008, based on criteria established in
Internal Control–Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO
criteria). Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s management is responsible for main-
taining eective internal control over nancial reporting, and for
its assessment of the eectiveness of internal control over nancial
reporting included in the accompanying “Management’s Report to
Our Shareholders”. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on 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). Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain rea-
sonable 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, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and
evaluating the design and operating eectiveness 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 nancial reporting is a process
designed 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 principles, and that receipts and expenditures
of the company are being made only in accordance with authoriza-
tions 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 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.
As indicated in the accompanying “Management’s Report to Our
Shareholders”, management’s assessment of and conclusion on
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting did not
include the internal controls of Bounteous Company Ltd, which is
included in the scal 2008 consolidated nancial statements of Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc. and constituted, 1.1% and 0.4% of consolidated total assets
and consolidated net sales, respectively, of the Company as of, and
for the year ended January 31, 2008. Our audit of internal control
over nancial reporting of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. also did not include
an evaluation of the internal control over financial reporting of
Bounteous Company Ltd.
In our opinion, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. maintained, in all material respects,
eective internal control over nancial reporting as of January 31, 2008,
based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated
balance sheets of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. as of January 31, 2008 and 2007,
and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders’
equity, and cash ows for each of the three years in the period ended
January 31, 2008 and our report dated March 26, 2008 expressed an
unqualied opinion thereon.
Rogers, Arkansas
March 26, 2008
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
WAL-MART 2008 ANNUAL REPORT 49