COCA COLA CO
For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Feb 20, 2024.
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FY2023 · Filed Feb 20, 2024
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Item 8. Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareowners and the Board of Directors of The Coca-Cola Company
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of The Coca-Cola Company and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareowners’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) and our report dated February 20, 2024 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
| Accounting for uncertain tax positions | |
| Description of the Matter | As described in Note 12 and Note 15 to the Company’s consolidated financial statements, the Company is involved in various income tax matters for which the ultimate outcomes are uncertain. As of December 31, 2023, the gross amount of unrecognized tax benefits was $929 million. As described in Note 12, on September 17, 2015 the Company received a Statutory Notice of Deficiency from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for the tax years 2007 through 2009 in the amount of $3.3 billion for the period. On November 18, 2020, the U.S. Tax Court issued an opinion predominantly siding with the IRS related to the Company’s transfer pricing between its U.S. parent company and certain of its foreign affiliates for tax years 2007 through 2009. On November 8, 2023, the U.S. Tax Court issued a supplemental opinion, siding with the IRS.While the Company continues to disagree with the IRS positions and the portions of the opinion affirming such positions, it is possible that some portion or all of the adjustment proposed by the IRS could ultimately be upheld. As a result of the application of ASC 740, Accounting for Income Taxes, the Company has recorded a tax reserve of $439 million for this matter as of December 31, 2023. Auditing management’s evaluation of uncertain tax positions, including the uncertain tax position associated with the IRS notice and opinion, was especially challenging due to the level of subjectivity and significant judgment associated with the recognition and measurement of the tax positions that are more likely than not to be sustained. |
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| How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit | We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design, and tested the effectiveness of controls over the Company’s accounting process for uncertain tax positions. Our procedures included testing controls addressing the completeness of uncertain tax positions, controls relating to the identification and recognition of the uncertain tax positions, controls over the measurement of the unrecognized tax benefit, and controls over the identification of developments related to existing uncertain tax positions. Our audit procedures included, among others, evaluating the assumptions the Company used to assess its uncertain tax positions and related unrecognized tax benefit amounts by jurisdiction. We also tested the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data used in the identification and measurement of uncertain tax positions. We evaluated evidence of management’s assessment of the opinion, including inquiries of tax counsel, inspection of technical memos, and written representations of management. We involved professionals with specialized skill and knowledge to assist in our evaluation of the tax technical merits of the Company’s assessment, including the assessment of whether the tax positions are more likely than not to be sustained, the amount of the potential benefits to be realized, and the application of relevant tax law. We also assessed the Company’s disclosures of uncertain tax positions included in Note 12 and Note 15. |
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| Valuation of trademarks with indefinite lives and goodwill | |
| Description of the Matter | As described in Note 1 to the Company’s consolidated financial statements, the Company performs an annual impairment test of its indefinite-lived intangible assets, including trademarks with indefinite lives and goodwill, or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate that assets might be impaired. Each impairment test may be qualitative or quantitative. Trademarks with indefinite lives and goodwill were $14.3 billion and $18.4 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2023.Auditing the valuation of trademarks with indefinite lives and reporting units with goodwill involved complex judgment due to the significant estimation required in determining the fair value of the trademarks with indefinite lives and related reporting units with goodwill, respectively. Specifically, the fair value estimates were sensitive to significant assumptions about future market and economic conditions. Significant assumptions used in the Company’s fair value estimates included sales volume, pricing, royalty rates, long-term growth rates, and discount rates, as applicable. |
| How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit | We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design, and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the Company’s annual impairment tests for trademarks with indefinite lives and reporting units with goodwill. For example, we tested management’s risk assessment process to determine whether to perform a quantitative or qualitative test and management’s review controls over the valuation models and underlying assumptions used to develop such estimates. For impairment tests of reporting units with goodwill, we also tested controls over the determination of the carrying value of the reporting units. We tested the estimated fair values of the trademarks with indefinite lives and reporting units with goodwill based on our risk assessments. Our audit procedures included, among others, comparing significant judgmental inputs to observable third party and industry sources, considering other observable market transactions, and evaluating the reasonableness of management’s projected financial information by comparing to third party industry projections, third party economic growth projections, and other internal and external data. We performed sensitivity analyses of certain significant assumptions to evaluate the change in the fair value of the trademarks with indefinite lives and reporting units with goodwill and also assessed the historical accuracy of management’s estimates. In addition, we involved specialists to assist in our evaluation of certain significant assumptions used in the Company’s discounted cash flow analyses. We also assessed the Company’s disclosure of its annual impairment tests included in Note 1. |
/s/Ernst & Young LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1921.
Atlanta, Georgia
February 20, 2024
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