Costco 2002 Annual Report Download - page 23

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
To Costco Wholesale Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Costco Wholesale Corporation (a Wash-
ington corporation) and subsidiaries (“Costco”) as of September 2, 2001 and September 3, 2000, and the related
consolidated statements of income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the 52 weeks ended September 2,
2001, the 53 weeks ended September 3, 2000 and the 52 weeks ended August 29, 1999. These financial state-
ments are the responsibility of Costco’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these finan-
cial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States.
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the fi-
nancial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence sup-
porting 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 state-
ment presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial
position of Costco as of September 2, 2001 and September 3, 2000, and the results of its operations and its cash
flows for the 52 weeks ended September 2, 2001, the 53 weeks ended September 3, 2000 and the 52 weeks ended
August 29, 1999, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
As explained in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, during the year ended August 29, 1999, the
Company changed its method of accounting for membership fee income from a cash basis to a deferred basis
whereby membership fee income is recognized ratably over the one-year life of the membership.
Seattle, Washington
October 8, 2001
This audit report of Arthur Andersen LLP, our former independent public accountants, is a copy of the
original report dated October 8, 2001 rendered by Arthur Andersen LLP on our consolidated financial state-
ments included in our Form 10-K filed on November 15, 2001, and has not been reissued by Arthur Andersen
LLP since that date. We are including this copy of the Arthur Andersen LLP audit report pursuant to
Rule 2-02(e) of Regulation S-X under the Securities Act of 1933.
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