Windstream 2015 Annual Report Download - page 167

F-37
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Windstream Holdings, Inc.:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive
income (loss), shareholders’ equity and cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Windstream
Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) at December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 and the results of their operations
and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2015 in conformity with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America. In addition, in our opinion, the financial statement schedules listed in the listed
in the index appearing under Item 15(a)(2) present fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein when read in
conjunction with the related consolidated financial statements. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2015, based on criteria established in Internal
Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(COSO). The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements and financial statement schedules, 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 opinions on these financial statements, on the financial statement schedules, and on the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated 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 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.
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2015, the Company changed the manner in which it classifies
its deferred taxes and presents its unamortized debt issuance costs on the consolidated balance sheet.
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 (i) pertain
to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets
of the company; (ii) 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 (iii) 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.
/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Little Rock, Arkansas
February 25, 2016