A Dark Vector Cognition product

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

8K characters. Original on sec.gov ·

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

| --- | --- |

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that are designed to provide reasonable assurance 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 Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. Because of inherent limitations, disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance that the objectives of disclosure controls and procedures are met.

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that as of December 31, 2017, the end of the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

The management of Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the Company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the Company’s board of directors, management and other personnel, 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 and includes those policies and procedures that:

•Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company;
•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
•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.

The Company’s management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017. In making this assessment, the Company’s management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013).

Based on their assessment, management has concluded that, as of December 31, 2017, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective based on those criteria.

The Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, has audited the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, as stated in its report which appears in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Previously Identified Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We previously identified and disclosed in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to accounting for income taxes. A material weakness is a deficiency, or 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. Specifically, we did not maintain the appropriate complement of resources in our tax department commensurate with the increased volume and complexity of accounting for income taxes subsequent to the Biomet merger. This material weakness did not result in a material misstatement to our financial statements or disclosures, but did result in out-of-period adjustments in our provision for income taxes and deferred tax liabilities that were individually and in aggregate immaterial. Additionally, this control deficiency could have resulted in misstatements of income tax related accounts and disclosures that would have resulted in a material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected.

Remediation of the Previously Disclosed Material Weakness

Our management, with oversight from our Audit Committee, has implemented the following changes to our internal control over financial reporting to remediate the previously disclosed material weakness described above:

•enhanced and supplemented our tax function by increasing the number of roles, hiring additional individuals, and engaging outside service providers with an appropriate level of knowledge and experience commensurate with the tax accounting complexities of our organization; and
•restructured our internal reporting procedures to spread execution over the broader resource base to enable enhanced review processes by personnel with the appropriate technical oversight and training.

During the quarters ended June 30 and September 30, 2017, we substantially completed the assessment of existing controls and restructured these controls in our efforts to remediate the previously identified material weakness. In conjunction with our third-quarter financial close procedures, the quarterly controls related to accounting for income taxes were tested and evaluated for their operating effectiveness. In the quarter ended December 31, 2017, we completed the testing and evaluation of the operating effectiveness of all controls related to accounting for income taxes, and based on the results of our testing, the controls were determined to be designed and operating effectively

as of December 31, 2017. Accordingly, we concluded that the previously reported material weakness described above has been remediated as of December 31, 2017.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2017 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Previous: Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure · Next: Item 9B. Other Information