E-Z-GO 2004 Annual Report Download - page 53

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control over Financial
Reporting
To the Board of We have audited management’s assessment, included in the accompanying Report of Management, that Textron Inc. (the “Com -
Directors and pany”) maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 1, 2005, based on criteria established in Internal
Shareholders of Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the “COSO
Textron Inc. criteria”). Textron’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assess-
ment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on management’s
assessment and an opinion on the effectiveness of 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, evaluating management’s assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of
internal control, 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 to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliabil-
ity 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 its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projec-
tions 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.
In our opinion, management’s assessment that Textron Inc. maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of
January 1, 2005, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the COSO criteria. Also, in our opinion, Textron Inc. maintained,
in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 1, 2005, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the consolidated balance sheets of Textron Inc. as of January 1, 2005 and January 3, 2004, and the related consolidated state-
ments of operations, cash flows and changes in shareholders’ equity for each of the three years in the period ended January 1,
2005. Textron Inc. and our report dated February 16, 2005 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Boston, Massachusetts
February 16, 2005