Equifax 2006 Annual Report Download - page 49

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EQUIFAX 2006 ANNUAL REPORT 47
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control
Over Financial Reporting, that Equifax Inc. and subsidiaries
maintained effective internal control over fi nancial 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 COSO criteria). Equifax Inc.’s management
is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over
fi nancial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness
of internal control over fi nancial 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 fi nancial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the stan-
dards 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 fi nancial reporting
was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included
obtaining an understanding of internal control over fi nan-
cial 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 fi nancial reporting is a
process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding
the reliability of fi nancial reporting and the preparation of
fi nancial statements for external purposes in accordance
with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. A com-
pany’s internal control over fi nancial reporting includes
those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the main-
tenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately
and fairly refl ect the transactions and dispositions of the
assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance
that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit prep-
aration of fi nancial statements in accordance with U.S.
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 regard-
ing prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisi-
tion, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could
have a material effect on the fi nancial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over
fi nancial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.
Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future
periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inad-
equate 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 Equifax
Inc. maintained effective internal control over fi nancial
reporting as of December 31, 2006 is fairly stated, in all
material respects, based on the COSO criteria. Also, in our
opinion, Equifax Inc. maintained, in all material respects,
effective internal control over fi nancial reporting as of
December 31, 2006 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 as of December 31,
2006 and 2005, and the related consolidated statements of
income, shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income
(loss), and cash fl ows for each of the three years in the period
ended December 31, 2006 of Equifax Inc. and subsidiaries
and our report dated February 27, 2007 expressed an unqual-
ifi ed opinion thereon.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 27, 2007
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING
FIRM ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The Board of Directors and Shareholders of Equifax Inc.: