Aarons 2008 Annual Report Download - page 43

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
of Aaron Rents, Inc.
We have audited Aaron Rents, Inc.’s internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, based on criteria
established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued
by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (the COSO criteria). Aaron Rents, Inc.’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 included in the accom-
panying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial
Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on 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 under-
standing of internal control over financial reporting, assessing
the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating
the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based
on the assessed risk, 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 reason-
able detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and
dispositions฀of฀the฀assets฀of฀the฀company;฀(2)฀provide฀reason-
able 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 com-
pany;฀and฀(3)฀provide฀reasonable฀assurance฀regarding฀preven-
tion 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 inad-
equate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of
compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, Aaron Rents, Inc. maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2008, 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 Aaron Rents, Inc. as
of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related consolidated
statements of earnings, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for
each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2008.
Our report dated February 27, 2009 expressed an unqualified
opinion thereon.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 27, 2009
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