Johnson and Johnson 2010 Annual Report Download - page 74

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
72 JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2010 ANNUAL REPORT
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of Johnson & Johnson:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and
the related consolidated statements of earnings, statements of
equity, and statements of cash flows present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of Johnson & Johnson and its sub-
sidiaries (“the Company”) at January 2, 2011 and January 3, 2010,
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of
the three years in the period ended January 2, 2011 in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all
material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting
as of January 2, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal
Control —Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Spon-
soring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The
Company’s management is responsible for these financial state-
ments, for maintaining effective internal control over financial
reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal con-
trol over financial reporting, included in the accompanying “Man-
agement’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.” Our
responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements
and on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting
based on our integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accor-
dance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Over-
sight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan
and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement
and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was
maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial state-
ments included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the
amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the
accounting principles used and significant estimates made by man-
agement, and evaluating the overall financial statement presenta-
tion. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included
obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial report-
ing, 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 audits also included per-
forming such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable
basis for our opinions.
As discussed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial State-
ments, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for
business combinations in 2009.
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
(i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the
assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that trans-
actions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial
statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting prin-
ciples, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being
made only in accordance with authorizations of management and
directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance
regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisi-
tion, 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 finan-
cial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, pro-
jections 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.
New York, New York
February 24, 2011