IBM 2010 Annual Report Download - page 63

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61
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 62 through 130 present fairly, in all
material respects, the financial position of International Business
Machines Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2010
and 2009 and the results of their operations and their cash flows
for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010
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 December 31, 2010, 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 effec-
tiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over
Financial Reporting appearing on page 60. 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.
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 state-
ments in accordance with generally accepted accounting princi-
ples, 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 acquisi-
tion, 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, projec-
tions 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 22, 2011