IHOP 2009 Annual Report Download - page 154

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain ‘‘disclosure controls and procedures,’’ as such terms are defined in Rule 13a-15(e)
and 15d-15(e) promulgated under the Exchange Act, amended, that are designed to ensure that
information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is
recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and
forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding
required disclosure. In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management
recognized that disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can
provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and
procedures are met. Additionally, in designing disclosure controls and procedures, our management
necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible
disclosure controls and procedures. The design of any disclosure controls and procedures also is based
in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance
that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Based on their assessment as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on
Form 10-K, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure
controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over
financial reporting, as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). All internal control
systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those systems
determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement
preparation and presentation.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief
Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009 based on the framework in Internal
Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (‘‘COSO’’). Based on that evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control
over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2009.
The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009 has
been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in
their report that appears herein.
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