HP 2008 Annual Report Download - page 84

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Hewlett-Packard Company
We have audited Hewlett-Packard Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of
October 31, 2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria).
Hewlett-Packard Company’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 accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on the effectiveness of 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
maintenance 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.
As indicated in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial
Reporting, management’s assessment of and conclusion on the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting did not include the internal controls of Electronic Data Systems Corporation, which
is included in the 2008 consolidated financial statements of Hewlett-Packard Company. For the fiscal
year ended October 31, 2008, Electronic Data Systems Corporation constituted 3 percent of Hewlett-
Packard Company’s total net revenue, and the fair value assigned to tangible assets for purposes of
applying the purchase method of accounting as of the acquisition date accounted for approximately 11
percent of Hewlett-Packard Company’s total assets as of October 31, 2008. Our audit of internal
control over financial reporting of Hewlett-Packard Company also did not include evaluation of the
internal control over financial reporting of Electronic Data Systems Corporation.
In our opinion, Hewlett-Packard Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal
control over financial reporting as of October 31, 2008 based on the COSO criteria.
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