Nordstrom 2006 Annual Report Download - page 45

Nordstrom, Inc. and subsidiaries 27
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Nordstrom, Inc.
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, that
Nordstrom, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of February 3, 2007, based on
criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on management’s assessment and an opinion
on the effectiveness of 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, evaluating management’s assessment,
testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary
in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal executive and
principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company’s board of directors, management, and other
personnel 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 the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management override
of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of
the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the 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, management’s assessment that the Company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of February 3, 2007,
is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal
control over financial reporting as of February 3, 2007, based on the criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated financial
statements and financial statement schedule as of and for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2007 of the Company and our report dated March 22,
2007, expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements and financial statement schedule and included an explanatory paragraph
regarding the change in accounting for stock-based compensation upon adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123(R),
Share-Based Payment .
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Seattle, Washington
March 22, 2007