Equifax 2010 Annual Report Download - page 37

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 37 of the 2010 Equifax annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 80

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80

The Board of Directors and Shareholders of Equifax Inc.:
We have audited Equifax Inc.’s (‘‘Equifax’’ or ‘‘the Company’’)
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010,
based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of
the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Equifax’s manage-
ment 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
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on 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, 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 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 its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
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 inadequate because of changes in
conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or
procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, Equifax Inc. maintained, in all material respects, effec-
tive internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010,
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, 2010 and 2009,
and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders’
equity and comprehensive income, and cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 2010 of Equifax Inc.
and our report dated February 23, 2011 expressed an unqualified
opinion thereon.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 23, 2011
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
EQUIFAX 2010 ANNUAL REPORT 35
35