Aflac 2008 Annual Report Download - page 98

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94
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
The shareholders and board of directors of Aflac Incorporated:
We have audited Aflac Incorporated and subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, based
on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO). Aflac Incorporated’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 Management’s Annual Report 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 assurance 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, and testing and evaluating the design
and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included 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 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, Aflac Incorporated and subsidiaries maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the consolidated balance sheets of Aflac Incorporated and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related
consolidated statements of earnings, shareholders’ equity, cash flows, and comprehensive income for each of the years in the
three-year period ended December 31, 2008, and our report dated February 19, 2009 expressed an unqualified opinion on
those consolidated financial statements.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 19, 2009
Auditors’ Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Aflac Incorporated Annual Report for 2008