Best Buy 2003 Annual Report Download - page 175

63
Report of Best Buy Management
To Our Shareholders:
Our management is responsible for the preparation, integrity and objectivity of the accompanying consolidated financial statements
and the related financial information. The financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles and necessarily include certain amounts that are based on estimates and informed judgments.
We maintain a system of internal accounting controls that is designed to provide reasonable assurance as to the reliability of our
financial records and the protection of our shareholders’ interests. The concept of reasonable assurance is based on the recognition that
the cost of a system of internal control should not exceed the related benefits. We believe our system provides the appropriate balance.
The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, comprised of independent directors, further augments our system of internal controls.
The Audit Committee oversees our system of internal controls, accounting practices, financial reporting and audits, and assesses
whether their quality, integrity and objectivity are sufficient to protect shareholders’ investments.
In addition, our independent auditor, whose report thereon appears on page 65, has audited the consolidated financial statements. Its
role is to form an independent opinion as to the fairness with which such statements present our financial position and results of
operations.
We believe the information contained in the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related financial information
beginning on page 42 fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of our Company.
/s/ Bradbury H. Anderson /s/ Darren R. Jackson
Bradbury H. Anderson
Vice Chairman
and CEO
Darren R. Jackson
Executive Vice President—Finance
and Chief Financial Officer
64
Independent Auditor’s Report
Shareholders and Board of Directors
Best Buy Co., Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Best Buy Co., Inc. and subsidiaries as of March 1, 2003, and
March 2, 2002, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, changes in shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended March 1, 2003. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the 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.
An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit
also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the
overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of
Best Buy Co., Inc. and subsidiaries at March 1, 2003, and March 2, 2002, and the consolidated results of their operations and their
cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended March 1, 2003, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States.
As discussed in Notes 1 and 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed its method of accounting for goodwill to
conform to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142 and its method of accounting for cash consideration received from a
vendor to conform to Emerging Issues Task Force No. 02−16 effective March 3, 2002, respectively.