Estee Lauder 2008 Annual Report Download - page 113

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The Board of Directors and Stockholders
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.:
We have audited The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.’s (the “Company”) internal control over fi nancial reporting as of
June 30, 2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’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, 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 fi nancial 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 fi nancial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an
understanding of internal control over fi nancial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing
and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also
included 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
generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over fi nancial reporting includes those policies
and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance 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 preparation of fi nancial 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
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
inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures
may deteriorate.
In our opinion, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over
fi nancial reporting as of June 30, 2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by
the COSO.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States), the consolidated balance sheets of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and subsidiaries as of June 30, 2008
and 2007, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income, and cash
fl ows for each of the years in the three-year period ended June 30, 2008, and our report dated August 21, 2008 expressed
an unqualifi ed opinion on those consolidated fi nancial statements.
New York, New York
August 21, 2008
THE EST{E LAUDER COMPANIES INC. 111
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM ON
INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING