Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
8K characters. Original on sec.gov ·
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) or 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission and to ensure that information required to be disclosed is accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive and financial officers, to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), with assistance from other members of management, have reviewed the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of September 2, 2018 and, based on their evaluation, have concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of such date due to a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting, described below.
Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP and includes those policies and procedures that: (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect our transactions and the dispositions of our assets; (2) provide reasonable assurance that our transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with appropriate authorizations; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness for 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.
Under the supervision of and with the participation of our management, we assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of September 2, 2018, using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013). A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
We identified a material weakness in internal control related to ineffective information technology general controls (ITGCs) in the areas of user access and program change-management over certain information technology (IT) systems that support the Company’s financial reporting processes. Our business process controls (automated and manual) that are dependent on the affected ITGCs were also deemed ineffective because they could have been adversely impacted. We believe that these control deficiencies were a result of: IT control processes lacking sufficient documentation such that the successful operation of ITGCs was overly dependent upon knowledge and actions of certain individuals with IT expertise, which led to failures resulting from changes in IT personnel; insufficient training of IT personnel on the importance of ITGCs; and risk-assessment processes inadequate to identify and assess changes in IT environments that could impact internal control over financial reporting. The material weakness did not result in any identified misstatements
to the financial statements, and there were no changes to previously released financial results. Based on this material weakness, the Company’s management concluded that at September 2, 2018, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was not effective.
The Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG LLP has issued an adverse audit report on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of September 2, 2018, which appears in Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
Following identification of the material weakness and prior to filing this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we completed substantive procedures for the year ended September 2, 2018. Based on these procedures, management believes that our consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our CEO and CFO have certified that, based on their knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this Form 10-K, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this Form 10-K. KPMG LLP has issued an unqualified opinion on our financial statements, which is included in Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
Remediation
Management has been implementing and continues to implement measures designed to ensure that control deficiencies contributing to the material weakness are remediated, such that these controls are designed, implemented, and operating effectively. The remediation actions include: (i) creating and filling an IT Compliance Oversight function; (ii) developing a training program addressing ITGCs and policies, including educating control owners concerning the principles and requirements of each control, with a focus on those related to user access and change-management over IT systems impacting financial reporting; (iii) developing and maintaining documentation underlying ITGCs to promote knowledge transfer upon personnel and function changes; (iv) developing enhanced risk assessment procedures and controls related to changes in IT systems; (v) implementing an IT management review and testing plan to monitor ITGCs with a specific focus on systems supporting our financial reporting processes; and (vi) enhanced quarterly reporting on the remediation measures to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.
We believe that these actions will remediate the material weakness. The weakness will not be considered remediated, however, until the applicable controls operate for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively. We expect that the remediation of this material weakness will be completed prior to the end of fiscal 2019.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Except for the material weakness identified during the quarter, as of September 2, 2018, there have been no other changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that occurred during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
| /s/ W. CRAIG JELINEK | |
| W. Craig Jelinek | |
| President, Chief Executive Officer and Director |
| /s/ RICHARD A. GALANTI | |
| Richard A. Galanti | |
| Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Director |
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