IBM 2009 Annual Report Download - page 65

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES
To the Stockholders and Board of
Directors of International Business
Machines Corporation:
In our opinion, the accompanying Consolidated Financial State-
ments appearing on pages 64 through 126 present fairly, in all
material respects, the financial position of International Business
Machines Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31,
2009 and 2008 and the results of their operations and their cash
flows for each of the three years in the period ended December
31, 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 inter-
nal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009,
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
financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s
Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing
on page 62. 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 con-
ducted 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 exam-
ining, 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 obtain-
ing 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 rea-
sonable basis for our opinions.
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 dispo-
sitions 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 expendi-
tures 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 finan-
cial 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 compli-
ance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
New York, New York
February 23, 2010
63