Emerson 2009 Annual Report Download - page 49

Annual Report 47
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The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Emerson Electric Co.:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Emerson Electric Co. and subsidiaries as of
September 30, 2009 and 2008, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders’ equity, and cash
ows for each of the years in the three-year period ended September 30, 2009. We also have audited Emerson Electric
Co.’s internal control over nancial reporting as of September 30, 2009, based on the criteria established in Internal
Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(COSO). Emerson Electric Co.’s management is responsible for these consolidated nancial statements, for main-
taining effective internal control over nancial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control
over nancial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated nancial statements and an opinion on the Company’s
internal control over nancial reporting 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 audits to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the nancial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over nan-
cial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the consolidated nancial statements included
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the nancial statements, assessing
the accounting principles used and signicant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall nancial
statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over nancial reporting included obtaining an understanding
of internal control over nancial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evalu-
ating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide
a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over nancial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding
the reliability of nancial reporting and the preparation of nancial statements for external purposes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over nancial reporting includes those policies
and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reect
the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are
recorded as necessary to permit preparation of nancial 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 nancial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over nancial 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, the consolidated nancial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the
nancial position of Emerson Electric Co. and subsidiaries as of September 30, 2009 and 2008, and the results of its
operations and its cash ows for each of the years in the three-year period ended September 30, 2009, in conformity
with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, Emerson Electric Co. maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over nancial reporting as of September 30, 2009, based on the criteria established
in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated nancial statements, effective September 30, 2007, the Company changed
its method of accounting for dened benet pension and other postretirement plans due to the adoption of the recog-
nition and disclosure provisions FAS 158, “Employers’ Accounting for Dened Benet Pension and Other Postretirement
Plans” (now part of ASC 715, Compensation – Retirement Benets). Also as discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated
nancial statements, effective September 30, 2009, the Company adopted the measurement date provision of ASC 715.
St. Louis, Missouri
November 23, 2009