Aarons 2009 Annual Report Download - page 43



The Board of Directors and Shareholders
of Aaron’s, Inc.
We have audited Aaron’s, Inc.’s internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2009, based on criteria established in
Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the
COSO criteria). Aaron’s, Inc.’s management is responsible for main-
taining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for
its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over finan-
cial reporting included in the accompanying Management 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 understanding 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 pro-
vides 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 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 expendi-
tures 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 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’s, Inc. maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2009, 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’s, Inc. as of December
31, 2009 and 2008, and the related consolidated statements of
earnings, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 2009. Our report
dated February 26, 2010 expressed an unqualified opinion
thereon.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 26, 2010

