Big Lots 2009 Annual Report Download - page 155

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Big Lots, Inc.
Columbus, Ohio
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Big Lots, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”)
as of January 30, 2010, 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 maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report
on Internal Control over Financial Reporting in Item 9A. 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 provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
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 Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of January 30, 2010, based on the criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States), the consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule as of and for the year
ended January 30, 2010, of the Company, and our report dated March 30, 2010, expressed an unqualified
opinion on those financial statements and financial statement schedule.
/s/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
Dayton, Ohio
March 30, 2010