Equity Income Fund Annual Report - Putnam Investments

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting FirmThe Board of Trustees and ShareholdersPutnam Equity Income Fund:We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities ofPutnam Equity Income Fund (the fund), including the fund’s portfolio, asof November 30, 2013, and the related statement of operations for the yearthen ended, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the yearsin the two-year period then ended, and the financial highlights for eachof the years or periods in the five-year period then ended. These financialstatements and financial highlights are the responsibility of the fund’smanagement. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financialstatements and financial highlights based on our audits.We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PublicCompany Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standardsrequire that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assuranceabout whether the financial statements and financial highlights arefree of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a testbasis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financialstatements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as ofNovember 30, 2013, by correspondence with the custodian and brokers or byother appropriate auditing procedures. An audit also includes assessing theaccounting principles used and significant estimates made by management,as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believethat our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.In our opinion, the financial statements and financial highlights referred toabove present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of PutnamEquity Income Fund as of November 30, 2013, the results of its operationsfor the year then ended, the changes in its net assets for each of the years inthe two-year period then ended and the financial highlights for each of theyears or periods in the five-year period then ended, in conformity with U.S.generally accepted accounting principles.Boston, MassachusettsJanuary 8, 2014Equity Income Fund 25