Stamps.com 2003 Annual Report Download - page 31

Table of Contents
competitive conditions change. If events were to occur that would cause our assumptions to change, the amounts recorded as amortization
would be adjusted.
Contingencies and Litigation . We are involved in various litigation matters as a claimant and as defendant and we record any amount
recovered in these matters when collection is certain. We record liabilities for claims against us when the losses are probable and estimatable.
Any amounts recorded would be based on reviews by outside counsel, in-house counsel and management. Actual results may differ from
estimates. See (Note 15) of Notes to Financial Statements.
Our exposure to market rate risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our investment portfolio. We have not used derivative
financial instruments in our investment portfolio. Our cash equivalents and investments are comprised of Money Market, US government
obligations and public corporate debt securities with weighted average maturities of less than 250 days at December 31, 2003. Our cash
equivalents and investments, net of restricted cash, approximated $159.1 million and had a related weighted average interest rate of 1.90%.
Interest rate fluctuations impact the carrying value of the portfolio. We do not believe that the future market risks related to the above securities
will have material adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.
Our financial statements, schedules and supplementary data, as listed under Item 14, appear in a separate section of this Report beginning on
page F-1.
None.
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-14 of the Exchange Act) that are designed to ensure that
information required to be disclosed in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods
specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including
our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing
and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed
and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives and management necessarily was required to
apply our judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.
Within 90 days prior to the filing date of this report, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of
management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our
disclosure controls and procedures. Based on the foregoing, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our
disclosure controls and procedures were effective.
There have been no significant changes in our internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect the internal controls
subsequent to the date we completed our evaluation.
Our chief executive officer (principal executive officer) and chief financial office (principal financial officer) have concluded that the design
and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures are effective as of December 31, 2003. This conclusion is based upon an evaluation
conducted under the supervision and with the participation of our company’s management. Disclosure controls and procedures are those
controls and procedures which ensure that information required to be disclosed in this Report is accumulated and communicated to
25
ITEM 7A.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
ITEM 8.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL
DISCLOSURE.
ITEM 9A.
CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES