Whirlpool 2005 Annual Report Download - page 37

Whirlpool Corporation 33
Report of Independent Registered Public
Accounting Firm On Internal Control Over
Financial Reporting
The Stockholders and Board of Directors
Whirlpool Corporation
Benton Harbor, Michigan
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control
Over Financial Reporting, that Whirlpool Corporation main-
tained effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2005, based on criteria established in Internal
Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(the COSO criteria). Whirlpool Corporation’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 responsi-
bility 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 main-
tained 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 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 authoriza-
tions 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, management’s assessment that Whirlpool
Corporation maintained effective internal control over finan-
cial reporting as of December 31, 2005, is fairly stated, in all
material respects, based on the COSO criteria. Also, in our
opinion, Whirlpool Corporation maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as
of December 31, 2005, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards
of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United
States), the consolidated balance sheets of Whirlpool
Corporation as of December 31, 2005 and 2004, and the
related consolidated statements of operations, changes in
stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three
years in the period ended December 31, 2005 (not presented
separately herein) and our report dated February 28, 2006
expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Chicago, Illinois
February 28, 2006