Berkshire Hathaway 2010 Annual Report Download - page 31

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Omaha, Nebraska
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and subsidiaries (the
“Company”) as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, cash flows and changes in
shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010. We also
have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, based on criteria established in
Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, 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 an opinion
on these financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our 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 audit 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.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s
principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company’s
board of directors, management, and other personnel 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 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.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the
financial position of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the results of their
operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010, in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in
all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, based on the criteria
established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission.
DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
Omaha, Nebraska
February 25, 2011
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