CVS 2002 Annual Report Download - page 23

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2002 Annual Report
Management’s Responsibility for
Financial Reporting
We are responsible for the preparation and integrity of the
consolidated financial statements appearing in this Annual Report.
The financial statements were prepared in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America and include certain amounts based on our best estimates
and judgments.
We are responsible for maintaining a system of internal
accounting controls and procedures to provide reasonable
assurance, at an appropriate cost/benefit relationship, that assets
are safeguarded and that transactions are authorized, recorded
and reported properly. Our internal accounting control system is
enhanced by periodic reviews by our internal auditors and
independent auditors, written policies and procedures and a
written Code of Conduct adopted by our Company’s Board of
Directors, applicable to all employees of our Company. In addition,
we have an internal Disclosure Committee, comprised of
management from each functional area within the Company, which
performs a separate review of our disclosure controls.
In our opinion, our Company’s internal accounting controls
provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded and that
the financial records are reliable for preparing financial statements.
The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, consisting
solely of outside directors, is responsible for monitoring the
Company’s accounting and reporting practices. The Audit
Committee meets periodically with management, the 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 full and free
access to the Audit Committee.
KPMG LLP, independent auditors, are appointed by the Board
of Directors and ratified by our Company’s shareholders. They
were engaged to render an opinion regarding the fair presentation
of our consolidated financial statements. 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 accounting
controls to the extent they considered necessary to support their
opinion.
Thomas M. Ryan
Chairman of the Board, President and
Chief Executive Officer
January 31, 2003
Independent Auditors’ Report
Board of Directors and Shareholders
CVS Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance
sheets of CVS Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 28,
2002 and December 29, 2001, and the related consolidated
statements of operations, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for
the fifty-two week periods ended December 28, 2002, December
29, 2001 and December 30, 2000. 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 28,
2002 and December 29, 2001, and the results of their operations
and their cash flows for the fifty-two week periods ended
December 28, 2002, December 29, 2001 and December 30,
2000, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States of America.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial
statements, CVS Corporation and subsidiaries adopted the
provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, in 2002.
KPMG LLP
Providence, Rhode Island
January 31, 2003
David B. Rickard
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and
Chief Administrative Officer