CVS 2007 Annual Report Download - page 42

38 I CVS Caremark
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The Board of Directors and Shareholders
CVS Caremark Corporation
We have audited CVS Caremark Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 29, 2007, based on criteria
established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (the COSO criteria). CVS Caremark Corporation’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 accompa-
nying Management’s 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, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness
of internal control based on the assessed risk, and 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 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 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, CVS Caremark Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 29, 2007, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the
consolidated balance sheet of CVS Caremark Corporation as of December 29, 2007, and the related consolidated statements of
operations, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the fifty-two week period ended December 29, 2007 and our report dated
February 25, 2008 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Boston, Massachusetts
February 25, 2008