Entergy 2012 Annual Report Download - page 51

Entergy Corporation and Subsidiaries 2012
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Entergy Corporation and Subsidiaries
New Orleans, Louisiana
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting
of Entergy Corporation and Subsidiaries (the “Corporation”)
as of December 31, 2012, 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, included in
the accompanying Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on 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, assessing the risk that a material weakness
exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness
of internal control based on the assessed risk, 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 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, the Corporation maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2012, 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, 2012 of the Corporation and our report dated
February 27, 2013 expressed an unqualified opinion on those
consolidated financial statements.
DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
New Orleans, Louisiana
February 27, 2013
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
Entergy’s 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’s management assessed the effectiveness of Entergy’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012. 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, 2012.
Entergy’s registered public accounting firm has issued an attestation report on Entergy’s internal control over financial reporting.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
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