Allstate 2008 Annual Report Download - page 313

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF
THE ALLSTATE CORPORATION
We have audited the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Financial Position of The Allstate Corporation
and subsidiaries (the ‘‘Company’’) as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related Consolidated Statements of
Operations, Comprehensive Income, Shareholders’ Equity, and Cash Flows for each of the three years in the period
ended December 31, 2008. We also have audited the Company’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 Company’s management is responsible
for these 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 Item 9A.
Controls and Procedures. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these 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 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 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.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects,
the financial position of The Allstate Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the
results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31,
2008, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our
opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2008, based on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed its method of
accounting for uncertainty in income taxes and accounting for deferred acquisition costs associated with internal
replacements in 2007 and defined pension and other postretirement plans in 2006.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Chicago, Illinois
February 25, 2009
203
Accountants’ Report