Ross 2006 Annual Report Download - page 64

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Board of Directors and Stockholders
Ross Stores, Inc.
Pleasanton, California
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Ross Stores, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as
of February 3, 2007 and January 28, 2006, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders’ equity and
cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended February 3, 2007. We also have audited management’s assess-
ment, included in the accompanying “Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting,” that the
Company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of February 3, 2007, based on criteria established in
Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
The Company’s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control
over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility
is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements, an opinion on management’s assessment, and an opinion
on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting 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 state-
ments are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all
material respects. Our audit of financial statements 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 manage-
ment, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included
obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, evaluating management’s assessment, testing and evalu-
ating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and performing such other procedures as we considered neces-
sary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s prin-
cipal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company’s board
of directors, management, and other personnel 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 the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper
management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely
basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to future periods are
subject to the risk that the 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 consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial posi-
tion of Ross Stores, Inc. and subsidiaries as of February 3, 2007 and January 28, 2006, and the results of their operations and
their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended February 3, 2007, in conformity with accounting principles gener-
ally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, management’s assessment that the Company maintained
effective internal control over financial reporting as of February 3, 2007, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the
criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the