Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Trustees and Shareholders of George Putnam Balanced Fund

In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of George Putnam Balanced Fund (the Fund) as of and for the year
ended July 31, 2018, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States)
(PCAOB), we considered the Funds internal control over financial
reporting, including controls over safeguarding securities, as a
basis for designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of
expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply
with the requirements of Form NCEN, but not for the purpose of
expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Funds internal
control over financial reporting.  Accordingly, we do not
express an opinion on the effectiveness of the Funds internal
control over financial reporting.

The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and
maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting.
In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected benefits and
related costs of controls.  A companys 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
companys 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 a companys
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.

A deficiency in internal control over financial reporting exists
when the design or operation of a control does not allow
management or employees, in the normal course of performing
their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on
a timely basis.  A material weakness is a deficiency, or a
combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial
reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a
material misstatement of the companys annual or interim
financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a
timely basis.

Our consideration of the Funds internal control over financial
reporting was for the limited purpose described in the first
paragraph and would not necessarily disclose all deficiencies in
internal control over financial reporting that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the PCAOB.  However,
we noted no deficiencies in the Funds internal control over
financial reporting and its operation, including controls over
safeguarding securities, that we consider to be material
weaknesses as defined above as of July 31, 2018.

This report is intended solely for the information and use of
the Trustees of George Putnam Balanced Fund and the Securities
and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not
be used by anyone other than these specified parties.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
September 10, 2018




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