Enrolled Agent Exam Pass Rate: Understand the EA Pass Rate

If you can do the same, you’ll have 60 minutes (1 hour) to review your answers before time runs out. To complete the enrollment process after you’ve passed the exam, you have to simultaneously pay the IRS $140 and submit Form 23. This fee is your enrollment to practice fee, and you must pay it and submit the form within 1 year of passing all 3 exam parts. Unlike other professional accounting certifications, there are no education or experience requirements you have to meet to become an EA.

• We recommend sitting for Part 1 or 2 first because some of the content tested in Part 3 builds off of content tested in Parts 1 and 2.
• High level data and analytics to give you an edge on the SEE with a dynamic study plan, AI projected exam, score, community performance, and much more.
• The Special Enrollment Examination, also known as the “IRS exam,” is the test for enrolled agents.
• It’s something most tax preparers should be able to pass if they study, which makes the short list of requirements pretty great news.
• Remember, only 85 of the EA exam questions are scored, which means you don’t have an excess of opportunities to prove yourself.

Furthermore, the IRS does not score the 15 experimental questions. Rather, the IRS includes these questions in order to test their suitability for future exams. The experimental ea exam pass rate questions spread throughout the exam, and you will not be able to identify them as such. Therefore, you must answer all of the EA exam questions to the best of your ability.

Failing the Enrolled Agent Exam: EA Score Report

The EA exam is available for most of the year, but the exam does include a brief blackout period. So, you can sit for the exam during the testing window of May 1-February 28 of the following year. However, you can’t sit during March and April, as the IRS uses these months to update the test according to the most recent tax laws. Managing your time on the EA exam gives you the best chance at success. So, to finish all 100 EA exam questions before your 3.5 hours run out, you should answer each question in 2.1 minutes.

Therefore, only the 85-scored questions contribute to your Part 2 EA exam score. After you complete the EA exam scheduling process, check your email to make sure you receive your appointment confirmation, which contains other useful information about your exam. If you notice any issues, reach out to Prometric as soon as possible to correct your appointment information. If you have your PTIN, you’re ready to create your account with Prometric and register for the EA exam. Prometric administers many different exams, so make sure you’re registering for the Enrolled Agent exam specifically. Prometric calls the EA exam the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), so when you see this instead of “Enrolled Agent exam” or “EA exam,” don’t panic!

Pass Rate: Enrolled Agent Exam Part 1 Pass Rate

Don’t worry if you don’t pass the first time, or if a particular topic is confusing. Many tax professionals have to take the exam multiple times to pass all three parts. You can register to take the exam on the Prometric website and schedule a time to take each part of the special enrollment exam. You do not have to take all the parts at the same time or even in a particular order. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) to tax practitioners who want to become enrolled agents.

If you need info about the schedule of EA exam dates and the enrolled agent exam testing locations, please see my post about enrolled agent exam dates and scheduling. You can get a score report just like this onsite immediately after the EA examination. You also will receive a printed score report in the mail within 60 days of the test date.

What Does an EA do?

The price of a review course can vary, but $600 to $800 is standard for most providers. Some providers will charge a bit more if they offer additional services, so be sure to look beyond the price tag to see what you’re actually getting.

Even though the Enrolled Agent exam has a higher pass rate than other accounting credential exams, plenty of candidates still fail every year. However, you can take some concrete steps to make sure you pass on your first try. For example, the total number of test-takers for Part 1 is nearly double the number of candidates taking either Part 2 or Part 3.

What kind of questions are on the EA exam?

As a result, you will not be allowed to test and forfeit your examination fee. You are not allowed to access notes, books, reference materials, or electronic devices at any time during the examination or during breaks. Unauthorized access to notes, books, reference materials or electronic devices may result in your test results being nullified by the IRS. You will be provided scratch paper and pencils at the test center and you are not allowed to leave the testing room with notes taken during the examination. Most people find the most challenging part of their application process to be part 1 of the business. Current EA pass rates show that only 65% of test takers do well on this part of the Enrolled Agent examination.