E-Z-GO 2001 Annual Report Download - page 35

Management is responsible for the integrity and objectivity of the financial data presented in this Annual
Report. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity w ith accounting princi-
ples generally accepted in the United States and include amounts based on management’s best
estimates and judgments. The independent auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, have audited the consolidated
financial statements and have considered the internal control structure to the extent they believed
necessary to support their report, w hich appears below.
We conduct our business in accordance w ith the standards outlined in the Textron Business Conduct
Guidelines w hich is communicated to all employees. Honesty, integrity and high ethical standards are the
core values of how w e conduct business. Every Textron division prepares and carries out an annual
Compliance Plan to ensure these values and standards are maintained. Our internal control structure is
designed to provide reasonable assurance, at appropriate cost, that assets are safeguarded and that
transactions are properly executed and recorded. The internal control structure includes, among other
things, established policies and procedures, an internal audit function, and the selection and training of
qualified personnel. Textron’s financial managers are responsible for implementing effective internal
control systems and monitoring their effectiveness, as w ell as developing and executing an annual
internal control plan.
The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, on behalf of the shareholders, oversees management’s
financial reporting responsibilities. The Audit Committee, comprised of six directors who are not officers
or employees of Textron, meets regularly w ith the independent auditors, management and our internal
auditors to review matters relating to financial reporting, internal accounting controls and auditing. Both
the independent auditors and the internal auditors have free and full access to senior management and
the Audit Committee.
Lew is B. Campbell Ted R. French
Chairman, President and Executive Vice President
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
January 24, 2002
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders
Textron Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Textron Inc. as of December 29, 2001
and December 30, 2000, and the related consolidated statements of income, cash flows and changes in
shareholders’ equity for each of the three years in the period ended December 29, 2001. These financial
statements are the responsibility of Textron’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on
these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance w ith 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 consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects,
the consolidated financial position of Textron Inc. at December 29, 2001 and December 30, 2000, and the
consolidated results of its operations and its cash flow s for each of the three years in the period ended
December 29, 2001, in conformity w ith accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
As discussed in Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2000 Textron changed its method of
accounting for pre-production costs in accordance w ith Emerging Issues Task Force No. 99-5, “ Accounting
for Pre-Production Costs Related to Long-Term Supply Arrangements.”
Boston, Massachusetts
January 24, 2002
Report of
Independent
Auditors
Report of
Management
Textron Annual Report 33