FIRST ADVANTAGE CORP

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) and Chief Financial Officer (principal financial officer), has evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. The term “disclosure controls and procedures” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely discussions regarding required disclosures.

Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance of achieving their desired control objectives. Based on the evaluation of management’s disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of such date, the disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified in management’s evaluation pursuant to Rules 13a-15(d) or 15d-15(d) of the Exchange Act that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2024 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) and Chief Financial Officer (principal financial officer), and effected by our Board of Directors, management, and other personnel, 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 and includes those policies and procedures that:

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pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of our assets;

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provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally and accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and

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provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our 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. 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.

Our management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024 using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013). Our assessment of, and conclusion on, the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting did not include the internal controls of Sterling Check Corp., acquired on October 31, 2024, which is included in our consolidated financial statements since the date of acquisition and represented 7.1% of our total assets as of December 31, 2024 after excluding goodwill and intangible assets acquired, and 13.1% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024. SEC guidance permits management to omit an assessment of an acquired business’ internal control over financial reporting from its assessment of internal control over financial reporting for a period not to exceed one year from the date of acquisition. We are in the process of integrating the operations of Sterling Check Corp. within our internal control structure. Accordingly, management has excluded controls relating to Sterling Check Corp. in its assessment.

Based on this assessment using those criteria, our management concluded that, as of December 31, 2024, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective. Management reviewed the results of its assessment with the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors. The effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024 has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report, which appears in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K.