[DiXing82]

Hi everyone, I am still seeking a full-time tax associate exam for an CPA firm. I am graduating on May, 2016 with my degree and hopefully I could pass my lass two sections of CPA exam on Feb. 2016. I heard from one of my friend that passing the E.A exam will help me find my dream job if I want to focus on tax field. Since I have already passed the REG section, is that worth taking the E.A exam? It has three parts and each part costs $109. Any advice will be appreciated, thank you and good luck for the 2016 exams!

FAR---79
REG---85
AUD---Fail on Jan 2016 Retake on 4/30/2016
BEC---75

[TheHoundThatRides]

Are you getting a bachelor's degree? Having any section done at all before graduation is impressive.

The EA is a lesser designation than the CPA. People don't usually get both. I think you're already fine enough having passed the two most difficult sections of the CPA. REG already says that you know your tax fundamentals. And if you can graduate with all 4 CPA exams done you will pretty much have your pick of where to get recruited. Just prepare for Spring interviewing once you finish off BEC.

BEC - 78 (August 2015)
FAR - 80 (November 2015)
AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
REG - August 27th, 2016

[DiXing82]

@TheHoundThatRides, thank you for your advice! I tried my best for the last Fall interviewing season but unfortunately I haven't landed a job yet. I will hammer my interview skills while studying for the AUD and BEC exams and maybe not to worry about E.A exam for now. Thanks again and happy new year!

FAR---79
REG---85
AUD---Fail on Jan 2016 Retake on 4/30/2016
BEC---75

[Anonymous]

I don't think the EA will help for a new grad unless you're looking at firms that are so small they don't have any CPAs at all in them.

[Anonymous]

I am an EA and in process of attaining my CPA.

EA and CPA are separate designations. Apples and oranges. There are some overlapping of the two, since there are some CPAs that do the same work as an EA. The CPA requirements are much more stringent, which is where I believe the common thought of CPA>EA has been created. If the aforementioned is true, it must then also be true that: Attorney>CPA. Attorneys and CPAs can all practice in the area of taxation, but all EAs practice in taxation. With that said, I don't think an attorney, CPA, or EA are meant to be compared as to which is better.

In my opinion, on average, an individual will demand a greater salary when that individual has greater investment in: education, designation, experience etc. There is greater demand for entry-level positions in tax in those large CPA firms, so having CPA would likely be more advantageous than EA in this scenario. However, I am reluctant to make bold statements such as “CPA>EA”. I believe it's important for professionals to respect other professionals.

If you're merely looking for an entry-level job in tax, and you're already a CPA, chances are the EA won't do too much for you. You may want to consider a Masters in Taxation if looking to further your education in tax. I think it makes more sense to go from EA to CPA. Or EA/CPA to Attorney. Just my opinions.

[Anonymous]

For what its worth, I got my EA first and it absolutely helped me in my latest job. My CPA is not complete and I did have REG passed, but the EA is what they noticed. I have no regrets getting my EA done. Tax is my preferred direction as well. Best of luck!

[Dave71]

@DiXing82 – I took the EA because there was a bump in pay to obtaining this certification and my employer paid for the materials and testing fees. It took me three weeks while working full time to pass all 3 of the exams. The pass rates are between 55 and 85 percent. Its broken down into three categories: ethics, business tax and individual tax. All of them are easy tests compared to the CPA. Acquiring the EA to produce more marketability for employment purposes will probably have little effect on you since you are halfway done with your CPA. The CPA trumps the EA. I would suggest you put something like this on your resume: “CPA Candidate – FAR and REG – PASS” which will let potential employers know you are pro actively seeking your CPA and passing the exams.

REG - 10/12/2015 77
AUD - 01/06/2016 75
BEC - 01/16/2016 75
FAR - 02/27/2016 68 Retake 05/13/16 70 Retake TBD

[lysol12345]

I looked at a couple of tax returns prepared by EAs….I thought they were from HRBlock. I am not joking.

[Author]

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