Amazon.com 2011 Annual Report Download - page 80

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants On Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We carried out an evaluation required by the 1934 Act, under the supervision and with the participation of
our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of
our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the 1934 Act, as of December 31, 2011.
Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that, as of
December 31, 2011, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that
information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the 1934 Act is recorded,
processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and to
provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management,
including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions
regarding required disclosures.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial
reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the 1934 Act. Management has assessed the effectiveness of our
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2011 based on criteria established in Internal
Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission. As a result of this assessment, management concluded that, as of December 31, 2011, our internal
control over financial reporting was effective in providing reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles. Ernst & Young has independently assessed the effectiveness of our internal
control over financial reporting and its report is included below.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended
December 31, 2011 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over
financial reporting.
Limitations on Controls
Our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting are designed to provide
reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives as specified above. Management does not expect, however,
that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect
all error and fraud. Any control system, no matter how well designed and operated, is based upon certain
assumptions and can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that its objectives will be met. Further, no
evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or
that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected.
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