Chesapeake Energy 2015 Annual Report Download - page 78

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74
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Chesapeake Energy Corporation
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements listed in the accompanying index present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) at December
31, 2015 and 2014, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended December 31, 2015 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, 2015, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). 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 Management's Report on Internal
Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements and on the
Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated 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 audits 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.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it presents
deferred income tax assets and liabilities in 2015.
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 (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect
the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) 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 (iii) 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
inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may
deteriorate.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
February 25, 2016