IBM 2011 Annual Report Download - page 71

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69
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 70 through 139 present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of International Business Machines
Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2011 and 2010
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of
the three years in the period ended December 31, 2011 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, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal
Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring 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 68. 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
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 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.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
New York, New York
February 28, 2012