[primuspaul]

I passed all three parts of the EA exam and applied with the online form (where you pay $30). I assume I now need to wait 60-90 days for the license to arrive?

1. Is there anything else I need to do until that letter arrives?

2. I read you have to get 2 CPE / month (incl. 2 CPE in ethics for the year). Does this start after I get the license letter? Also, if for example I am licensed in July, is it OK to just get 12 credits (incl. 2 in ethics) in December of that year or does it literally have to be 2 in each month?

[turo9992000]

16 per year, 2 must be in ethics. 72 every 3 years.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5186.pdf

[primuspaul]

I mean in the year of licensing. The requirements for that year are different and I had specific questions about those requirements (see my post above).

[Jennica]

It's an average of two hours per month. So yes, you could do them all in December.

[primuspaul]

And the first month to which this applies is the one when I receive the letter saying I am enrolled, correct? So at this point I don't need to do anything except wait for a letter from the IRS?

[Jennica]

It goes by the date of your certificate. My certificate is dated 3/24/2017, so I had the CPE requirement starting in March of that year.

This website does a good job explaining the requirements:

EA Initial Enrollment Cycle Overview

[Recked]

You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be.
Regardless of the minimum requirements, I would still attempt to do the full 72 in 3 years, and at least 16 each year with 2-ethics.
No point in falling below the minimum and then potentially getting hit with a CPE audit.
FYI – CPA specific CPE does not always qualify, you need to make sure it qualifies for EA as well.
EA qualifying CPE is reported to the IRS and you can see your credits in your PTIN account login.
Always check your CPE to make sure it is properly reported (sometimes takes 3 months or longer to post to the IRS website).
If you fall below the threshold, you should expect problems with renewing your PTIN. I know a guy (retired IRS agent actually) who was doing CPA CPE and ended up having to fax all his CPE forms to the IRS to get renewed. It worked out for him in the end, but avoid the headache. Do the 72.
CPAAcademy.org has free one to 2 hour sessions on an ongoing basis. Easy credits during non-busy season.

[Jennica]

I agree with the suggestion to use CPA Academy's free webinars! Just make sure the webinar you are taking has the IRS enrolled agent logo on it. Some courses they offer qualify for CPAs but not EAs. You can filter your search results to only include EA qualified courses.

You do not have to do the full 72 hours when you first become an Enrolled Agent. I became an EA two months into the enrollment cycle, so I only have to do 68. But you are right that it doesn't hurt anything to do the full 72 hours, even if you are technically required to do less.

[Author]

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