About the Enrolled Agent Exam

Ensure a balanced approach to studying that includes adequate rest to maintain focus, productivity, and ultimately your well-being throughout the exam process. In addition, enlisting in a reputable EA review course can be invaluable, providing structured learning materials and guidance from experienced instructors. Stay engaged with professional forums and groups that focus on the EA exam to remain abreast of insights and tips from peers who are also on the journey to becoming Enrolled Agents. Various topics on each section of the EA exam are weighted differently, so you should factor that into your exam preparation. You may want to study more for those topics that are weighted the most, and spend less time on material that appears on the exam with less frequency. The best way to ensure success is to create an exam study schedule to keep you on track.

When can I take the Enrolled Agent exam?

There are no education or experience requirements you need to meet in order to take the EA exam. You should be able to pass all three parts ea exam pass rate within one year, but you have two years to pass if needed. The IRS extended this period Opens in new window to three years to provide added flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EA also greatly expands the number of services a tax preparer can offer to potential clients. An EA is someone who has passed the EA exam and earned the highest credential awarded by the IRS. You should expect to spend anywhere from 5 to 12 weeks studying for 1 part of the EA exam, putting in at least 10 study hours each week.

Enrolled Agent Exam Pass Rates Compared to Other Accounting Certification Exams

This includes a criminal background check and tax compliance check to make sure you meet the IRS’s standard and they can feel good about listing you on their public directory of tax return preparers. The 100 multiple-choice questions that make up each exam include 15 experimental questions. The topics of the experimental questions cannot be known, so this breakdown accounts for the remaining 85 questions. Each exam part covers major topics the IRS calls “domains.” The IRS releases Exam Content Outlines Opens in new window detailing these domains and the content tested in them.

• One obvious reason is the overlap of the testing window’s beginning and end with the tax busy season.
• Registering is required before you can schedule your exam appointment.
• The intent behind these questions was to test for the skills an EA with two years experience should have.
• Enhancing your breadth and depth of knowledge increases your scoring potential, effectively safeguarding against the unpredictabilities of the adaptive testing format.
• The IRS sets a scaled passing score at 105 out of the available 130 points.
• In addition, enlisting in a reputable EA review course can be invaluable, providing structured learning materials and guidance from experienced instructors.

Using an Enrolled Agent Course = Best EA Passing Score

The three parts of the EA exam cover individual taxes, business taxes, and bookkeeping representation, practice, and procedures. It delves very deeply into this subject matter by touching upon individual and business tax along with matters of representation. For EA exam candidates with major commitments to work and family, knowing the difficulty level of the EA exam (officially known as the IRS Special Enrollment Exam or SEE) is very important. The foundation of your EA score is the number of the 85 operational questions you answer correctly. The IRS mathematically transforms your number of correct answers into a standardized scaled score.

Comparing the Enrolled Grocery Store Accounting Agent (EA) exam to the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, it is generally considered that the CPA exam is more comprehensive and rigorous. The IRS provides scaled scores and a score report that indicates your performance in each exam part. If you do not pass a particular part, you can retake that section separately without needing to repeat the entire exam.

• Instead, check out what’s tested on each part of the EA exam to get the best idea of which exam part will be the most challenging for you.
• If you still haven’t passed, you can take it again in the next testing window; however, passing scores are only valid for three calendar years before they expire8.
• Some data suggest that there are slight seasonal trends for Part 1 and Part 2, with dips at the beginning and end of the testing window (May and February, respectively).
• After all, if you’re a tax accountant hoping to enhance your career, you can’t go wrong with the enrolled agent designation.
• Each part is taken individually and consists of 100 questions, with a 3.5-hour duration allocated.
• Candidates have the flexibility to take these sections in any order, but must pass all three to earn the esteemed EA designation.