Estee Lauder 2005 Annual Report Download - page 87

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THE EST{E LAUDER COMPANIES INC.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and subsidiaries as of
June 30, 2005 and 2004, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders’ equity and comprehensive
income, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended June 30, 2005. These consolidated financial
statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits 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 the
financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that
our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial
position of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and subsidiaries as of June 30, 2005 and 2004, and the results of their
operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended June 30, 2005, in conformity with
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
As discussed in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting
Standards No. 150, “Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity,”
effective July 1, 2003.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the
effectiveness of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of June 30, 2005, based
on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of
the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated August 23, 2005 expressed an unqualified opinion on manage-
ment’s assessment of, and the effective operation of, internal control over financial reporting.
New York, New York
August 23, 2005
86