US Postal Service 2014 Annual Report Download - page 44

2014 Report on Form 10-K United States Postal Service 40
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service
We have audited the United States Postal Service’s internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2014, based on
criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (1992 framework) (the COSO criteria). The United States Postal Service’s 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 Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the United States Postal Service’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 the 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, the United States Postal Service maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of September 30, 2014, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the
balance sheets of the United States Postal Service as of September 30, 2014 and 2013, and the related statements of operations,
changes in net deficiency, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended September 30, 2014 of the United
States Postal Service and our report dated December 5, 2014 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon that included an
explanatory paragraph regarding the United States Postal Service’s ability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet all of its
financial obligations throughout their fiscal year ending September 30, 2015.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
McLean, Virginia
December 5, 2014