BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC
For the period ended Dec 31, 2024. Filed Feb 24, 2025.
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FY2024 · Filed Feb 24, 2025
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Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGIST ERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of earnings, comprehensive income, changes in shareholders’ equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.
Basis for Opinions
The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, 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 Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (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 audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures to 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. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting 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 audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
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.
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 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.
Unpaid Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses — Refer to Notes 1 and 16 to the financial statements
Critical Audit Matter Description
The Company’s unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses (“claim liabilities”) include short duration property and casualty insurance and reinsurance contracts. Key assumptions affecting certain of these claim liabilities include anticipated claims and their severity, expected loss ratios, and expected patterns of paid and incurred losses.
Given the subjectivity of estimating these key assumptions, performing audit procedures to evaluate whether certain of these claim liabilities were appropriately recorded as of December 31, 2024 required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort, including the need to involve our actuarial specialists.
How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our audit procedures related to the key assumptions affecting certain of these claim liabilities included the following, among others:
We tested the operating effectiveness of controls over claim liabilities, including those over the key assumptions.
We tested the underlying data that served as the basis for the actuarial analysis to evaluate that the inputs to the actuarial estimate were accurate and complete.
With the assistance of our actuarial specialists:
We developed independent estimates of the claim liabilities, including loss data and industry claim development factors as needed, and compared our estimates to management’s estimates.
We compared prior year estimates of expected incurred losses to actual experience during the most recent year to identify potential bias in management’s determination of the claim liabilities.
Unpaid Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses — Retroactive Reinsurance Contracts — Refer to Notes 1 and 17 to the financial statements
Critical Audit Matter Description
The Company’s unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses under retroactive reinsurance contracts (“retroactive claim liabilities”) include property and casualty retroactive reinsurance contracts. Key assumptions affecting certain of these retroactive claim liabilities include anticipated claims and their severity, expected loss ratios, and expected patterns of paid and incurred losses.
Given the subjectivity of estimating these key assumptions, performing audit procedures to evaluate whether certain of these claim liabilities were appropriately recorded as of December 31, 2024, required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort, including the need to involve our actuarial specialists.
How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our audit procedures related to the key assumptions affecting claim liabilities included the following, among others:
We tested the operating effectiveness of controls over claim liabilities, including those over the key assumptions.
We tested the underlying data that served as the basis for the actuarial analysis, including historical claims, to test that the inputs to the actuarial estimate were accurate and complete.
With the assistance of our actuarial specialists:
We developed independent claim liability estimates for certain retroactive reinsurance contracts and compared our estimates to management’s estimates. For other retroactive reinsurance contracts, we evaluated the process used by management to develop the estimated claim liabilities.
We compared prior year estimates of expected incurred losses to actual experience during the most recent year to identify potential bias in management’s determination of the claim liabilities.
/s/Deloitte & Touche LLP
Omaha, Nebraska
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1985.
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