Advance Auto Parts 2004 Annual Report Download - page 55

Advance฀Auto฀Parts,฀Inc.฀and฀Subsidiaries
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฀ The฀ consolidated฀ financial฀ statements฀ and฀ related฀ financial฀ information฀ presented฀ in฀ this฀ Annual฀ Report฀ have฀ been฀฀
prepared฀with฀integrity,฀consistency฀and฀objectivity฀and฀are฀the฀responsibility฀of฀the฀management฀of฀Advance฀Auto฀Parts,฀Inc.฀
(the฀ Company).฀ The฀ consolidated฀ financial฀ statements฀ have฀ been฀ prepared฀ in฀ accordance฀ with฀ accounting฀ principles฀฀
generally฀accepted฀in฀the฀United฀States฀of฀America฀and,฀as฀such,฀include฀amounts฀based฀on฀management’s฀best฀estimates฀
and฀judgments.
฀ Management฀is฀also฀responsible฀for฀establishing฀and฀maintaining฀adequate฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting.฀The฀
Company’s฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀is฀a฀process฀designed฀under฀the฀supervision฀of฀the฀Company’s฀princi-
pal฀executive฀officer฀and฀principal฀financial฀officer฀to฀provide฀reasonable฀assurance฀regarding฀the฀reliability฀of฀financial฀
reporting฀and฀the฀preparation฀of฀the฀Company’s฀financial฀statements฀for฀external฀purposes฀in฀accordance฀with฀accounting฀
principles฀generally฀accepted฀in฀the฀United฀States฀of฀America.
฀ The฀Company’s฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀includes฀policies฀and฀procedures฀that฀(1)฀pertain฀to฀the฀mainte-
nance฀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฀the฀inherent฀limitations฀of฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting,฀including฀the฀possibility฀of฀collusion฀or฀
improper฀management฀override฀of฀controls,฀material฀misstatements฀due฀to฀error฀or฀fraud฀may฀not฀be฀prevented฀or฀detected฀
on฀a฀timely฀basis.฀Also,฀projections฀of฀any฀evaluation฀of฀the฀effectiveness฀of฀the฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀to฀
future฀periods฀are฀subject฀to฀the฀risk฀that฀the฀controls฀may฀become฀inadequate฀because฀of฀changes฀in฀conditions,฀or฀that฀the฀
degree฀of฀compliance฀with฀the฀policies฀or฀procedures฀may฀deteriorate.฀
฀ The฀Company’s฀financial฀statements฀and฀management’s฀assertion฀about฀the฀effectiveness฀of฀the฀Company’s฀controls฀over฀
financial฀reporting฀have฀been฀audited฀by฀the฀independent฀accounting฀firm฀Deloitte฀&฀Touche฀LLP,฀which฀was฀given฀unre-
stricted฀access฀to฀financial฀records฀and฀related฀data,฀including฀minutes฀of฀all฀meetings฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors฀and฀com-
mittees฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors.฀The฀Company฀believes฀that฀all฀representations฀made฀to฀the฀independent฀auditors฀during฀
their฀audit฀were฀valid฀and฀appropriate.
฀ The฀Audit฀Committee฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors,฀consisting฀solely฀of฀outside฀directors,฀has฀the฀responsibility฀of฀monitor-
ing฀and฀reviewing฀the฀Company’s฀systems฀of฀internal฀control,฀accounting฀practices,฀financial฀reporting฀and฀audits฀to฀assess฀
whether฀ their฀ quality,฀ integrity฀ and฀ objectivity฀ are฀ sufficient฀ to฀ protect฀ stockholders’฀ investments.฀ Both฀ the฀ Company’s฀
independent฀auditors฀and฀the฀internal฀auditors฀have฀free฀access฀to฀the฀Audit฀Committee.
Lawrence฀P.฀Castellani฀ Jeffrey฀T.฀Gray
Chairman฀of฀the฀Board฀and฀Chief฀Executive฀Officer฀ Executive฀Vice฀President฀and฀Chief฀Financial฀Officer
Management’s฀Responsibility฀for฀Financial฀Statements