r/enrolledagent

Long story short: Why are so many of the job listings for Tax Managers or Senior Tax Accountants requiring a CPA and not an EA. Very few of them do say 'CPA or equivalent'.

I am trying to justify at my job that EA is a relevant certification for my postion and to tax.

My company reimburses for education including certifications with manager approval. I am a senior accountant at a private company and my job involves 60%+ tax work (only individual responsible for taxes).

I told my manager that I would like to be reimbursed for EA exam that I plan on taking and the coursework. Manager said that EA isn't really relevant to my position, if it was a CPA it would be a different story. I was planning on pulling up job postings to prove how other companies require an EA for a tax position but barely found any. BTW - I did argue that CPA is not relevant to my position either because I don't sign statements, audit anyone and barely do any accounting.

Any advise on how can I justify the importance of EA in a private company for someone who does tax (not public accounting)?

Change the sub rules so that it requires a minimum amount of Comment Karma, from commenting within this sub, before one is allowed to create a post.

This sub gets tons of low effort posts from users who don't even interface with discussions outside of their one question: "with no prior experience, should I work in Tax Preparation or start my own company?"

We see it over and over again.

Requiring comment karma forces users to interface in discussions rather than post one-time, low-effort, and repeated questions. It also requires no extra work on the mods. Other professional subs have even stricter requirements.

Hey all, do you think now is a good time to start a tax preparation business? I am apart of a family business that has been doing individual tax prep and business returns. I am studying for my EA to join the business and hopefully obtain clients myself. However, I always hear the negativity about the future in AI software and that people won’t need tax preparers anymore… also, everyone says shift into advisory but there isn’t much advising anymore with middle/middle upper class taxpayers.
My question is, is it worth my time to learn and start a business in tax prep and almost be a 1040 mill?

Are there any EAs here that live and work outside of the US? I’m considering the exams and working at a tax firm. I already have a job offer to train while I study for the exams.

I was excited about it until I heard the pay and hours. The hours seem to be really long and all in-office. Also, the pay isn’t anywhere close to the salary in the states, and also feels low for such a specialized field with credentials (and again a lot of hours.)

Any relevant comparisons, personal anecdotes, or tidbits of advice would be most welcomed! :)

Took a test today and failed. Any advice??

I’ve been using Hock International. Study material seems all over the place compared to the real test. Any recommendations for other study materials that are more accurate?

Edit: *Failed, sorry I was pissed. I was literally 3-5 questions away from passing…

I’m a CFP and am considering pursuing the Enrolled Agent (EA) designation to deepen my tax knowledge and become more well-rounded from a planning perspective.
For those who have completed the EA, especially anyone who was already a CFP:
● How long did it take you from starting to study to passing all three parts?
● Roughly how many hours did you study for each exam?
● Which part did you find the most difficult?
● What study program/materials did you use?
● Did your CFP/tax planning knowledge make the exams noticeably easier?
● Looking back, do you feel the EA was worth the time and effort?
I work full-time as a wealth advisor, so I’m trying to get a realistic idea of how quickly I could knock out all three parts while working.
Appreciate any insight!

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After passing Part 1 using just Hock and feeling GROSSLY over-prepared, I figured I'd try Part 2 with just Tom. Here's my first pass through the absolute entirety of his available MCQ library.

I've poked at the things I got wrong, and am taking the exam tomorrow morning. Will update with how it goes.

I have an annual pension of 80k a year and free healthcare and own multiple homes so I can take a risk. I currently work in government IT and meh, looking for something else.

I studied for a few weeks and got my real estate license to save on commission of my next house. Looking to now do EA exams, and then finish a WGU accounting BA and then possibly masters and eventually CPA if I ever need it.

My goal is to start doing simple tax returns on my own after maybe a year of VITA and go from there and branch into other areas. Any suggestions or input?

Tempted to focus on real estate photography during the summer, and tax prep during the winter... I have owned multiple LLCs and have gathered random certifications along the way. Want to try this and if it sucks move on.

Hi everyone, I’m an ACCA member with around 6 years of corporate accounting experience, currently working with LG Electronics in Saudi Arabia.

I’m thinking of enrolling in an EA course, and hopefully go full time remote.
before i enrol in any course, I wanted to get some advice from someone who has already gone through it.

Do you guys think EA is worth doing in terms of career opportunities, especially for someone based outside the US? And has it helped you in your career?

Would really appreciate your honest opinion.

Many Thanks!

A long long time ago in this very galaxy I worked my way through college in accounting functions. I was an accounting manager at a small ($5M) business (responsible for AR, AP, credit & collections), and after that I became a bookkeeper at a business management firm for HNWI in entertainment (responsible for chart of accounts, reconciliations, account creation, we did mostly S Corps but some clients had LLCs for side business ventures). I eventually went into exec support and project management, so the accounting stuff is not on my resume currently.

I think I want to go back to a role in the bookkeeping world but I’m looking to really formalize/“double down”. I don’t have an accounting degree, only experience from 2006-2012 which I’d figure is virtually irrelevant now. Since then I’ve worked in executive support, was last reporting to a CFO and VP, FP&A. That said:

Should I get an EA license first and see how I like it? Should I go back to college and get an accounting associates (I have a bachelors in Anthro)? Grad school? Realistically what advice would you have that would make me sustainably employable at the end of the road?

Hi all will like to get some guidance. I’m Ex Gov procurement manager and Director of Finance. Reached a dead in government career the rest of the path doesn’t really interested me. BS Administration and Management. Entrepreneur through acquisition.

Becoming a small business owner realizes that I have an interest in tax law. Any avise if I take the EA route?

Is it normal to not have any available date for taking part one online ?

Where do i start? I dont know where to start and would love to hear from people using their software.

Should i watch all videos take notes then do MCQ’s and repeat? Or is there a better way? Thank you in advance!

For last year's tax filing, I used TurboTax for myself and my parents and it was just too easy and fast. I got this feeling that "for most individuals and small businesses", tax filing has become MUCH easier due to those software tools.

Now with this trend, do you think there would be much less demand for enrolled agents??

I have been using Tom’s questions for level 1 and consistently getting 90%. I just took a 10 question quiz on free fellow and got 50%.

Think Toms questions reflect the test?

If Free fellow reflects the test I have a lot of studying to do.

I took the online proctored exam and passed this morning! It was a smooth process and honestly, if you don’t fidget too much, it’s better than going to a center.