Home Depot 1999 Annual Report Download - page 37

The Home Depot, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Management’s Responsibility for
Financial Statements
The financial statements presented in this Annual Report have been
prepared with integrity and objectivity and are the responsibility of the
management of The Home Depot, Inc. These financial statements
have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles and properly reflect certain estimates and judgments based
upon the best available information.
The Company maintains a system of internal accounting controls,
which is supported by an internal audit program and is designed to
provide reasonable assurance, at an appropriate cost, that the Company’s
assets are safeguarded and transactions are properly recorded. This
system is continually reviewed and modified in response to changing
business conditions and operations and as a result of recommendations
by the external and internal auditors. In addition, the Company has
distributed to associates its policies for conducting business affairs in a
lawful and ethical manner.
The financial statements of the Company have been audited by
KPMG LLP, independent auditors. Their accompanying report is based
upon an audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted
auditing standards, including the related review of internal account-
ing controls and financial reporting matters.
The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, consisting solely
of outside directors, meets quarterly with the independent auditors,
the internal auditors and representatives of management to discuss
auditing and financial reporting matters. The Audit Committee, acting
on behalf of the stockholders, maintains an ongoing appraisal of the
internal accounting controls, the activities of the outside auditors
and internal auditors and the financial condition of the Company.
Both the Company’s independent auditors and the internal auditors
have free access to the Audit Committee.
Dennis Carey Carol B. Tomé
Executive Vice President and Senior Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer Finance and Accounting
Independent Auditors’ Report
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
The Home Depot, Inc.:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of
The Home Depot, Inc. and subsidiaries as of January 30, 2000 and
January 31, 1999 and the related consolidated statements of earnings,
stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income, and cash flows for
each of the years in the three-year period ended January 30, 2000.
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 generally accepted
auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assess-
ing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall 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 financial position of
The Home Depot, Inc. and subsidiaries as of January 30, 2000 and
January 31, 1999, and the results of their operations and their cash
flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended January 30,
2000 in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 25, 2000
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