Family Dollar 2009 Annual Report Download - page 41

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Family Dollar Stores, Inc.:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated financial statements listed in the accompanying index present
fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Family Dollar Stores Inc., and its subsidiaries at
August 29, 2009, and August 30, 2008, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended August 29, 2009, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in
the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective
internal control over financial reporting as of August 29, 2009, based on criteria established in Internal Control—
Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(COSO). The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective
internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing in
Item 9A elsewhere in this Report. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements and on
the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated 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 financial
statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was
maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a test basis,
evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over
financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating 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.
As discussed in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it
accounts for uncertain tax positions in 2008.
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 (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) 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 (iii) 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.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Charlotte, North Carolina
October 27, 2009
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