Costco 2008 Annual Report Download - page 49

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 49 of the 2008 Costco annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 92

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Costco Wholesale Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Costco Wholesale Corporation
and subsidiaries as of August 31, 2008 and September 2, 2007 and the related consolidated
statements of income, stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income and cash flows for the 52-week
periods ended August 31, 2008 and September 2, 2007 and the 53-week period ended September 3,
2006. 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 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 consolidated financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting
principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall
consolidated 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 consolidated financial position of Costco Wholesale Corporation and subsidiaries as of
August, 31, 2008 and September 2, 2007, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for
the 52-week periods ended August 31, 2008 and September 2, 2007 and the 53-week period ended
September 3, 2006, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Effective September 3, 2007, the beginning of the Company’s fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, the
Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 48, Accounting for
Uncertainty in Income Taxes, an Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States), the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of
August 31, 2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report
dated October 16, 2008 expressed an unqualified opinion on internal control over financial reporting.
Seattle, Washington
October 16, 2008
47