Staples 2007 Annual Report Download - page 92

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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 and includes those policies and procedures that:
• Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions
and dispositions of the assets of the company;
• 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
• 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.
Staples’ internal control system was designed to provide reasonable assurance to the Company’s management
and Board of Directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements. All
internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations which may not prevent or
detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable
assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. 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.
Staples’ management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting as
of February 2, 2008. In making this assessment, it used the criteria set forth in Internal Control-Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
Based on our assessment, we believe that, as of February 2, 2008, the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting is effective based on those criteria.
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