Entergy 2006 Annual Report Download - page 65

ENTERGY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES 2
2000066
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REPORTof INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the
accompanying Controls and Procedures - Internal Control over
Financial Reporting, that Entergy Corporation and Subsidiaries (the
“Corporation”) maintained effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2006, 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 their 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 such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis
for our opinions.
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, management’s assessment that the Corporation
maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2006, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on
the criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission. Also in our opinion, the Corporation
maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2006, 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, 2006 of the Corporation and our report dated
February 26, 2007 expressed an unqualified opinion on those
financial statements and included an explanatory paragraph regarding
their change in the method of accounting for defined benefit pension
and other postretirement plans.
DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
New Orleans, Louisiana
February 26, 2007
INTERNAL CONTROL over FINANCIAL REPORTING
The management of Entergy Corporation is 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, 2006. 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, 2006.
Entergy’s registered public accounting firm has issued an attestation report on management’s assessment of its internal control over
financial reporting.