[Kay12345]

I was able to find prior trends on DUIs, but not other traffic violations. The reason I ask the question is because I completed a background check request form from one of the big 4 firms about two weeks ago. There was a part where they asked about criminal offenses in the last 7 years. I answered no.

Fast forward two weeks. I am chatting with a classmate who got an offer from the same firm. He filled out the background check few days ago, and he got cleared. In the part where they asked about past criminal offenses, he disclosed all the traffic violations he received in the last 7 years.

It then occured to me that I did not disclose mine. I logged into the onboarding website and opened the submitted form. This is the actual question:

“In the past 7 years, have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense (whether a misdemeanor or a felony)?
(A conviction for a criminal offense, includes, but is not limited to, a conviction for DUI, DWI, underage drinking, or a conviction that resulted in probation.) You should also include any criminal offenses to which you plead guilty or nolo contendere, “no contest.”
Do not include convictions that were annulled, sealed, eradicated, erased or expunged, or convictions that resulted in referral to a diversion program.
Conviction of a crime will not necessarily disqualify you from employment.”

I do not have any felonies but I have had traffic tickets that include things like:
-failing to stop at a stop sign,
-speeding ticket
– driving with a suspended license(this is a misdemeanor)

Should i have disclosed the above?

[Anonymous]

Traffic violations do not have to be disclosed as they are not criminal offenses. Driving with a suspended license is a misdemeanor and can land you in jail. What was the outcome of that?

[Kay12345]

I did not know my license was suspended(which is no excuse). I had a speeding ticket out of state when I was in college. I ended up paying the ticket a month late. By then my license was suspended.

I got a misdemeaner for it. That was in 2011.

I just completed a tax internship at BDO last week. When I applied for the internship, I went through a background check. I was asked a similar question and i said no, and HR cleared me. Not that I was trying to hide anything, It simply did not occur to me that traffic violations are considered criminal offenses.

[Anonymous]

You are supposed to include it on your application. Whether or not you do is up to you. Some employers will run a background check and wonder why you didn't include it and others won't run a background check at all. If they know about it, it's very likely they won't hold it against you as it's not a serious offense per se, but it's really up to you. If you have a strong resume and interviewing skills and perform well on the job, it's possible it won't ever be brought up.

[MasterOfTaxation]

Do not disclose traffic tickets. You should have disclosed the misdemeanor as it will show up on a background check. Big four will definitely run a background check and it's likely something like this, even though it seems minor, will exclude you from being hired. Ethics are a huge part of accounting and your CPA license. To them, you were trying to hide something right from the start. I wouldn't hire you and I don't even work at a CPA firm.

There are certain things that are red flags. You now are a risk in their eyes. You should have disclosed it. Just move on and apply other places but make sure to disclose exactly what happened. Don't be too wordy about it. Just the facts.

[Matt]

Realistically speaking it's a driving misdemeanor from six years ago, if your concerned call up whoever you need too.

If it were me, I would be more concerned if it was suspended for a DUI.

You finished an internship at BDO, you'll probably be alright.

FAR 74

[Kay12345]

I emailed the recruiter yesterday and told him about all my traffic violations including the misdemeanor. Hopefully it is not too late to disclose it

[accountspayable25]

Did you ever get an update on this?

[rwilliam55]

I got a DUI in college.

I have a job in the big 4, and had no problem with CPA application as well (nearly done with all four parts). Best thing you can do is be honest. They're going to find out anyway, and if they see that you lied then that looks 100% worse.

[Kay12345]

Update: The firm did fuss about it, but I explained the situation and they seem to be okay with my answer.

[LonelyRonPaul]

I would imagine they fussed about the misdemeanor but did they give you a hard time about the failing to stop and speeding tickets? I can't imagine they would care about those too much lol.

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[Author]

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