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Newell Rubbermaid Inc. 2010 Annual Report
NEWELL RUBBERMAID 2010 Annual Report 43
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The Board of Directors and Stockholders of Newell Rubbermaid Inc.
We have audited Newell Rubbermaid Inc. and subsidiaries’ 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). Newell Rubbermaid Inc. and subsidiaries’ 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 Management’s Responsibility for Financial Statements and Annual 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, Newell Rubbermaid Inc. and subsidiaries maintained, in all material respects, effective 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 of Newell Rubbermaid Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the related
consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income (loss), and cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 2010 of Newell Rubbermaid Inc. and subsidiaries and our report dated March 1, 2011
expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Atlanta, Georgia
March 1, 2011