IBM 2008 Annual Report Download - page 61

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION and Subsidiary Companies
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     
   
 :
In our opinion, the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements
appearing on pages  through  present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of International Business Machines
Corporation and its subsidiaries at December ,  and  and
the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December ,  in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all mate-
rial respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as
of December , , based on criteria established in Internal
Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Spon-
soring Organ izations 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 finan-
cial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report
on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing on page .
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 over-
all 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 B to the financial statements, the Company
adopted the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Stand-
ards No. , “Employers Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension
and Other Postretirement Plans,” as of December , .
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 mainte-
nance 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 detec-
tion 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.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
New York, New York
February , 