IHOP 2009 Annual Report Download - page 155

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The Board of Directors and Stockholders of DineEquity, Inc. and Subsidiaries
We have audited DineEquity, Inc. and Subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2009, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria).
DineEquity, Inc. and Subsidiaries’ management is responsible 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 Report on Internal Control Over Financial
Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the company’s internal control over financial
reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained
in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over
financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design
and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other
procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a
reasonable basis for our opinion.
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 (1) pertain to the
maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and
dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) 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 (3) 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.
In our opinion, DineEquity, Inc. and Subsidiaries maintained, in all material respects, effective
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States), the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of DineEquity Inc. and
Subsidiaries as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, and the related consolidated statements of income,
shareholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2009
of DineEquity, Inc. and Subsidiaries and our report dated March 3, 2010 expressed an unqualified
opinion thereon.
/s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Los Angeles, California
March 3, 2010
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