Proctor and Gamble 1999 Annual Report Download - page 36

Consolidated financial statements and financial information included in this report are the responsibility
of Company management. This includes preparing the statements in accordance with accounting prin-
ciples generally accepted in the United States and necessarily includes estimates based on management’s
best judgments.
To help insure the accuracy and integrity of Company financial data, management maintains
internal controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed as authorized
and accurately recorded and that assets are properly safeguarded. These controls are monitored by an
ongoing program of internal audits. These audits are supplemented by a self-assessment program that
enables individual organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of their controls. Careful selection of
employees and appropriate divisions of responsibility are designed to achieve control objectives. The
Company’s “Worldwide Business Conduct Manual” sets forth management’s commitment to conduct
its business affairs with the highest ethical standards.
Deloitte & Touche LLP, independent public accountants, have audited and reported on the
Company’s consolidated financial statements. Their audits were performed in accordance with
generally accepted auditing standards.
The Board of Directors, acting through its Audit Committee composed entirely of outside
directors, oversees the adequacy of internal controls. The Audit Committee meets periodically with
representatives of Deloitte & Touche LLP and internal financial management to review internal
control, auditing and financial reporting matters. The independent auditors and the internal auditors
also have full and free access to meet privately with the Audit Committee.
John E. Pepper Durk I. Jager Clayton C. Daley Jr.
Chairman of the Board President and Chief Executive Chief Financial Officer
250 East Fifth Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of The Procter & Gamble Company:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of The Procter & Gamble Company
and subsidiaries as of June 30, 1999 and 1998 and the related consolidated statements of earnings,
shareholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended June 30, 1999. These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express
an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the
accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the
financial position of the Company at June 30, 1999 and 1998 and the results of its operations and cash
flows for each of the three years in the period ended June 30, 1999, in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles.
July 29, 1999
32 The Procter & Gamble Company and Subsidiaries
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS