Staples 2004 Annual Report Download - page 73

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(b) Attestation Report of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Board of Directors and Shareholders
Staples, Inc.
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report over
Financial Reporting, that Staples, Inc. maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 29,
2005, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Staples, Inc.’s management is responsible for maintain-
ing 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 management’s assessment and an opinion on the
effectiveness of 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, evaluating management’s assessment, testing and
evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, 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 misstate-
ments. 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, management’s assessment that Staples, Inc. maintained effective internal control over financial
reporting as of January 29, 2005, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the COSO criteria. Also, in our
opinion, Staples, Inc. maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
January 29, 2005, 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 Staples, Inc. as of January 29, 2005 and January 31, 2004 and the
related consolidated statements of income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended January 29, 2005 and our report dated February 22, 2005 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Ernst & Young LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 22, 2005
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