Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
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Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including
our principal executive officer and
principal financial officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and
procedures as of the end of the period covered by this annual report as
such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and
15d-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
Based on
this evaluation, our management, including our principal executive
officer and principal financial officer,
concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 27,
2025, to ensure that all
material information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file
or submit under the Exchange Act is
accumulated and communicated to them as appropriate to allow timely
decisions regarding required disclosure and
that all such information is recorded, processed, summarized and reported
within the time periods specified in the
SEC’s rules and forms, and the rules of the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The combination of acquisitions, continued acquisition integrations and systems
implementation activity
undertaken during the quarter ended December 27, 2025, and carried over from
prior quarters, when considered in
the aggregate, represents a material change in our internal control
over financial reporting.
The full integration of
certain acquisitions completed in the current and prior quarters will extend
beyond year-end and, therefore, we
excluded these acquisitions, which represents approximately 0.10% of
our total net sales, from our annual
assessment of internal control over financial reporting as of December
27, 2025, as permitted by related SEC staff
interpretive guidance for newly acquired businesses.
During the quarter ended December 27, 2025, we completed the acquisition
of a controlling interest of a Global
Distribution and Value-Added Services segment affiliate in Canada as well as the acquisition of a Global
Specialties Products segment business in Brazil.
Also, post-acquisition integration related activities continued for
businesses acquired during prior quarters within our Global Specialties Products
segment.
These acquisitions, the
majority of which utilize separate information and financial accounting
systems, have been included in our
consolidated financial statements since their respective dates of acquisition.
Additionally, during the quarter ended December 27, 2025, we continued systems implementation activities for the
phased roll-out of a new e-commerce system for our Global Distribution
and Value
-Added Services segment in the
U.S. and Canada.
Also, we completed systems implementation activity for migrating
many of our Global
Distribution and Value-Added Services, Global Specialty Products and Global Technology segment businesses
Company-wide onto an existing Human Capital Management
system.
Finally, we continued systems
implementation activities for upgrading the ERP business system for our Global
Distribution and Value-Added
Services segment in Australia and New Zealand.
All acquisitions, continued acquisition integrations, and systems
implementation activities involve necessary and
appropriate change-management controls that are considered in our quarterly
assessment of the design and
operating effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
Management’s
Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate
internal control over financial reporting,
as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f).
Our internal control system is designed to provide
reasonable assurance to our management and Board regarding the preparation
and fair presentation of published
financial statements.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management,
including our principal
executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal
control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control-Integrated
Framework (2013), updated
and reissued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations, or the COSO Framework.
Based on our evaluation
under the COSO Framework, our management concluded that our
internal control over financial reporting was
effective at a reasonable assurance level as of December 27, 2025.
The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 27,
2025, has been independently
audited by BDO USA, P.C., an independent registered public accounting firm and their attestation is included
herein.
Limitations of the Effectiveness of Internal Control
A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide
only reasonable, not absolute, assurance
that the objectives of the internal control system are met.
Because of the inherent limitations of any internal control
system, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that
all control issues, if any, within a company
have been detected.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Shareholders and Board of Directors
Henry Schein, Inc.
Melville, New York
Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We
have audited Henry
Schein, Inc.’s
(the “Company’s”)
internal control over
financial reporting as
of December
27, 2025, based on
criteria established in Internal Control
– Integrated Framework (2013) issued
by the Committee
of
Sponsoring
Organizations
of
the
Treadway
Commission
(the
“COSO
criteria”).
In
our
opinion,
the
Company
maintained,
in
all
material
respects,
effective
internal
control
over
financial
reporting
as
of
December
27,
2025,
based on the COSO criteria.
We
also
have
audited,
in
accordance
with
the
standards
of
the
Public
Company
Accounting
Oversight
Board
(United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 27, 2025 and December
28,
2024,
the
related
consolidated
statements
of
income
and
comprehensive
income,
changes
in
stockholders’
equity, and cash
flows for each of the three years in the
period ended December 27, 2025, and the related
notes and
our report dated February 24, 2026 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’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
Item
9A, Management’s
Report on
Internal Control
over
Financial Reporting.
Our responsibility
is
to
express an
opinion on the
Company’s internal
control over financial
reporting based on
our audit. We
are a public
accounting
firm
registered
with
the
PCAOB and
are
required
to
be
independent
with
respect
to
the
Company in
accordance
with
U.S.
federal
securities
laws
and
the
applicable
rules
and
regulations
of
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit of internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB.
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,
and
testing
and
evaluating
the
design
and
operating
effectiveness
of
internal
control
based
on
the
assessed
risk.
Our
audit also included performing
such other procedures as we
considered necessary in the
circumstances. We
believe
that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
As indicated in
the accompanying Item
9A, Controls and
Procedures, management’s
assessment of and
conclusion
on
the
effectiveness
of
internal
control
over
financial
reporting
did
not
include
the
internal
controls
of
certain
entities
acquired
in
2025
(“the
2025
Acquisitions”),
which
are
included
in
the
consolidated
balance
sheet
of
the
Company as of December 27,
2025, and the related consolidated
statements of income and comprehensive income,
changes
in
stockholders’
equity,
and
cash
flows
for
the
year
then
ended. The
2025
Acquisitions
constituted
approximately
0.10%
of
total
net
sales
for
the
year
ended
December
27,
Management
did
not
assess
the
effectiveness
of
internal
control
over
financial
reporting
of
the
2025
Acquisitions
because
of
the
timing
of
the
acquisitions
which
were
completed
during
the
2025
fiscal
year.
Our
audit
of
internal
control
over
financial
reporting of
the Company
also did
not include
an evaluation
of the
internal control
over financial
reporting of
the
2025 Acquisitions.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
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
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.
/s/ BDO USA, P.C.
New York
,
New York
February 24, 2026
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