EQUITY RESIDENTIAL
For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Feb 15, 2024.
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FY2023 · Filed Feb 15, 2024
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on the Financial Statements (Equity Residential)
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGIS TERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and the Board of Trustees of Equity Residential
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Equity Residential (the Company) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a) (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 15, 2024 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
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 Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter 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 matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
| Impairment of Long-Lived Assets | |
| Description of the Matter | At December 31, 2023, the Company’s net investment in real estate was approximately $18.9 billion. As more fully described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company periodically evaluates its long-lived assets, including its investment in real estate, for impairment. The judgments and assumptions regarding the existence of impairment indicators are based on factors such as operational performance, market conditions, legal and environmental concerns, the Company’s intent and ability to hold the related asset, as well as any significant cost overruns on development properties. If the expected future undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the long-lived asset, an impairment loss is recognized for the difference between the estimated fair value and the carrying amount. Auditing the Company's process to evaluate indicators of impairment was complex due to a high degree of subjectivity in the identification of events or changes in circumstances that may indicate impairment was present. Changes in these judgments could have a material impact on the Company’s analysis. |
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| How We Addressed theMatter in Our Audit | We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the Company’s long-lived asset impairment evaluation, including controls over management’s determination and review of the significant assumptions used in the analyses described above.We performed audit procedures that included, among others, evaluating the judgments used by management to identify whether indicators of impairment were present and testing the significant assumptions and completeness and accuracy of market and operating data used by the Company in its analyses. We reviewed costs incurred on development properties. We compared the significant assumptions used by management to current market data and performed sensitivity analyses of certain significant assumptions, such as market capitalization rates. We also held discussions with management and read the minutes of meetings of the Board of Trustees and related committees to understand whether there were any changes in management’s operating and development plans that would result in the disposal of a property significantly before the end of its useful life. |
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/s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1996.
Chicago, Illinois
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