When auditing Carvel, is the purpose of understanding internal control to express an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control?

According to Carvel's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the auditor's understanding of internal control is not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the company's internal control. Instead, the auditor's objective is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes their opinion.

The auditor's responsibilities include exercising professional judgment, identifying risks of material misstatement, and designing audit procedures responsive to those risks. These procedures involve examining evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. The auditor will evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

This means that while the auditors will review Carvel's internal controls to help them plan their audit procedures, they won't be giving a separate, formal opinion on how well those controls are working. This is a standard practice in financial auditing, where the focus is on the accuracy of the financial statements rather than a comprehensive assessment of all internal controls.