CVS 2000 Annual Report Download - page 23

Management’s Responsibility for Financial Reporting
The integrity and objectivity of the financial statements and related financial information in this Annual Report are the responsibility
of the management of the Company. The financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America and include, when necessary, the best estimates and judgments of management.
The Company maintains a system of internal controls designed to provide reasonable assurance, at appropriate cost, that assets are
safeguarded, transactions are executed in accordance with management’s authorization, and the accounting records provide a reliable
basis for the preparation of the financial statements.The system of internal accounting controls is continually reviewed by management
and improved and modified as necessary in response to changing business conditions and the recommendations of the Company’s
internal auditors and independent auditors.
KPMG LLP, independent auditors, were engaged to render an opinion regarding the fair presentation of the consolidated financial
statements of the Company.Their accompanying report is based upon an audit conducted in accordance with auditing standards generally
accepted in the United States of America and included a review of the system of internal controls to the extent they considered necessary
to support their opinion.
The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, consisting solely of outside directors, meets periodically with management, internal
auditors and the independent auditors to review matters relating to the Company’s financial reporting, the adequacy of internal accounting
controls and the scope and results of audit work.The internal auditors and independent auditors have free access to the Audit Committee.
Thomas M. Ryan David B. Rickard
Chairman of the Board, President and Executive Vice President and
Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer
February 1, 2001
Independent Auditor’s Report
Board of Directors and Shareholders
CVS Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of CVS Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 30, 2000 and
January 1, 2000, and the related consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for the fifty-two week
period ended December 30, 2000, the fifty-three week period ended January 1, 2000 and the fifty-two week period ended December
26, 1998. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express
an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America.Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.
An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating
the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
CVS Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 30, 2000 and January 1, 2000, and the results of their operations and their cash flows
for the the fifty-two week period ended December 30, 2000, the fifty-three week period ended January 1, 2000 and the fifty-two week
period ended December 26, 1998, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
KPMG LLP
Providence, Rhode Island
February 1, 2001
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2000 Annual Report