Entergy 2004 Annual Report Download - page 49

Entergy Corporation and Subsidiaries 2004
-47 -
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Entergy Corporation:
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the
accompanying Internal Control over Financial Reporting, that Entergy
Corporation and Subsidiaries (the Corporation) maintained effective
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, based
on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission. The Corporation’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. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on management’s
assessment and an opinion on the effectiveness of the Corporation’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 suchother procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for
our opinions.
Acompany’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
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America. 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, management’s assessment that Entergy Corporation
and Subsidiaries maintained effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2004, is fairly stated, in all material
respects, based onthe criteria established in Internal Control -
Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Also in our opinion,
Entergy Corporation and Subsidiaries maintained, in all material
respects, effectiveinternal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2004, 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 as of and for the year ended
December 31, 2004 of the Corporation and our report dated March 8,
2005 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.
DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
NewOrleans, Louisiana
March8, 2005
INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The management of EntergyCorporationis responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for
Entergy. Entergy’s internal control system is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the preparation and fair presentation of its financial
statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can
provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.
Entergy management assessed the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004. In making this
assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in
Internal Control - Integrated Framework.
Based on management’s assessment and the criteria set forth by COSO, management believes that Entergy maintained effective internal control
over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004.
Entergy’sregistered public accounting firm has issued an attestation report on management’s assessment of its internal control over
financial reporting.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM