Ross 2007 Annual Report Download - page 66

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64
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Board of Directors and Stockholders
Ross Stores, Inc.
Pleasanton, California
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Ross Stores, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of
February 2, 2008 and February 3, 2007, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders’ equity, and cash
owsforeachofthethreeyearsintheperiodendedFebruary2,2008.WealsohaveauditedtheCompany’sinternalcontrolover
financial reporting as of February 2, 2008, 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 these
consolidated 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 Annual Report on Internal
Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements and an
opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our 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 audit 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 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reect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.