200 4 Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting The Board of Directors and Stockholders Fastenal Company:  We have audited management's assessment, included in the accompanying Management Report on Internal  Control over Financial Reporting ,  that Fastenal Company maintained effective internal control over financial  reporting as of December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in  Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) .  Fastenal  Company's management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for  its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an  opinion on management's assessment and an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over  financial reporting based on our audit.  We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board  (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about  whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit  included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, evaluating management's  assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and performing  such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a  reasonable basis for our opinion.  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.  In our opinion, management's assessment that Fastenal Company maintained effective internal control over  financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on criteria established  in  Internal Control—Integrated Framework  issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the  Treadway Commission (COSO) .  Also, in our opinion, Fastenal Company maintained, in all material respects,  effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in  Internal  Control—Integrated Framework  issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission  (COSO) .  We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board  (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of Fastenal Company and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2004  and 2003, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income,  and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2004, and our report dated  February 18, 2005 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements .  2004 ANNUAL REPORT – PAGE 36  Minneapolis, Minnesota  February 18, 2005 