Finding the best enrolled agent prep course is one of the most important steps you’ll take on the way to becoming an enrolled agent. By some estimates, the enrolled agent exam can take over 250 hours to pass all three parts of the exam! The best enrolled agent review courses will help you pass the exam on your first try, so isn’t it worth figuring out which course is the best fit for you?
While I’m not an EA myself, I am a CPA and I’ve worked with several EA’s over the course of my career. I know how complicated and rigorous this exam can be, so I sat down and reviewed each of the best EA prep courses and study materials on the market so that you can get to studying as quickly as possible.
Let’s dive in and find the best EA review course for you!
CPAExamMaven has been featured in:
- Best Overall: Surgent EA Review
- Best Value: Fast Forward Academy EA Review
- Most Comprehensive: Gleim EA Review
- Most Efficient: Fast Forward Academy EA Review
- Most Mobile-friendly: Fast Forward Academy EA Review
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Contents
- 1 Learn More About the Best EA Review Courses in 2023!
- 2 6 Steps to Become an Enrolled Agent
- 3 Enrolled Agent Exam FAQs
- 4 Conclusion
Learn More About the Best EA Review Courses in 2023!
Best Overall EA Review Course: Surgent EA Review
Surgent EA review offers all the bells and whistles you could ask for in an EA review course, and more than the competition. Surgent EA Review Ultimate Pass comes with a load of features, including:
- 1,800+ practice questions
- Unlimited practice exams
- Unlimited customer support
- Audio lectures
- 1-on-1 coaching
- Printed + digital textbooks
- Printed flashcards
- True access until you pass
Surgent EA review uses Surgent’s A.S.A.P. adaptive technology to give you a dynamic and highly-customized EA review experience that tracks your progress and focuses your attention on the areas that need it the most as you move through the course.
What’s also nice about Surgent is they offer 3 different price tiers, so there’s a course package for nearly everyone.
The main downside to Surgent EA review is it comes with less practice questions than the other courses out there. 1,800+ practice questions is still more than enough to get you to the finish line, but if hammering out practice questions is your thing then Gleim or Fast Forward Academy might be a better fit.
Pros
- Adaptive approach and A.S.A.P technology
- Unlimited practice exams
- 1-on-1 coaching and unlimited customer support
- Mobile friendly + Audio lectures
- Available in Spanish
- Unlimited access until you pass
- Financing available
Cons
- Less practice questions
Bottom Line
Surgent EA Review has been designed to save you time and get you to the finish line as efficiently as possible. That means no wasted effort on topics that you already know. It also offers something for everyone.
Surgent is great for self-directed students that may already have some decent work experience to rely on and/or just need a CMA review course to prepare them for the exam as efficiently as possible.
Surgent EA Review Discounts
Best Value and Most Comprehensive EA Review Course: Gleim EA Review
Gleim is an established exam prep company with more than 45 years of experience preparing accountants for a variety of professional exams. They have a reputation for offering some of the most thorough and comprehensive review courses in the industry, and the EA exam is no different.
Gleim EA offers a comprehensive CMA review course with over 3,900 practice questions, 1,200+ true/false questions, thorough textbooks and study materials, unlimited practice exams, and more than 450 short video lessons to prepare you for the CMA exam.
What I like most about Gleim’s EA review course is that they combine the largest practice library in the EA exam market with Gleim’s SmartAdapt technology, which quizzes you on each lesson’s core concepts before each lesson. If you’re already fairly strong or experienced in several topics, the SmartAdapt approach can cut dozens of hours off of your review time and let you focus your study on the areas you need the most improvement on.
Gleim also offers a wide range of support options and personal coaching at all course levels. Gleim truly cares about it’s students and wants them to succeed, so this is a great personal touch for anyone who might need a little outside encouragement.
Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons I see with Gleim’s EA review course:
Pros
- BIGGEST test bank
- SmartAdapt technology saves time
- Personal counselors
- Final review course
- Access Until You Pass
Cons
- Premium-only access to videos and digital flashcards
- Adaptive learning tech is limited
Bottom Line
Gleim EA has everything you need in an EA review course and their SmartAdapt software will easily tailor the course around the topics you need the most improvement on. There aren’t many downsides to this course, making it an excellent option for most students, especially those who want to cover all of their bases during their EA exam prep and save time where possible.
Gleim EA Review Discounts
Most Mobile-Friendly EA Review Course: Fast Forward Academy EA Review
Fast Forward Academy’s EA review course is intelligently designed to give you exactly what you need in an EA review course:
- Variety of study materials to match your learning style
- Smart analytics to focus your attention on your weak areas and
- 3,500+ practice questions to reinforce concepts
Fast Forward Academy’s course comes with a range of study materials and integrations that enable you to optimize the course for your learning style. Aside from the standard video lectures and study guides, FFA’s course also comes with digital textbooks integrated with the latest IRS regs, completely customizable digital flashcards, is mobile-friendly and works seamlessly across all of your devices.
FFA also utilizes real-time analytics to constantly track your performance and identify which areas your strongest vs. which ones you need to improve on as you move through the course. This is more of an adaptive approach than other courses take, which typically only check your knowledge before you start a new topic or chapter.
What I like most about FFA’s EA review course though is it connects you with an online community of fellow FFA students also taking the course, allowing you to connect and resolve questions right inside the course. This sense of community and having a shared common goal helps keep students engaged and motivated toward passing the EA exam.
Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons I see with Fast Forward Academy’s EA review course:
Pros
- Variety of study materials for all learning styles
- Real-time adaptive learning
- Integrated IRS publications
- Affordably priced
- Lots of practice material
Cons
- Less lecture content than competitors
Bottom Line
Fast Forward Academy is an excellent EA review course that has everything you want in a course.
If you want a review course that can track your progress as you go along and guide you to the finish line, give Fast Forward Academy’s EA Smart Bundle a try.
Fast Forward Academy EA Discounts
6 Steps to Become an Enrolled Agent
- Obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN).
- Visit Prometric’s Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) webpage to schedule your test appointments, review the SEE Candidate Information Bulletin PDF, sample test questions, and other test preparation resources.
- Choose an EA review course that fits your learning style and budget
- Pass all three parts of the EA exam within three years.
- Apply for enrollment and pay enrollment fee electronically using Pay.gov Form 23 or by downloading Form 23, Application for Enrollment to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service (PDF) and mailing the completed form and a check to the IRS.
- Pass a suitability check, which will include tax compliance to ensure that you have filed all necessary tax returns and there are no outstanding tax liabilities; and criminal background.
Enrolled Agent Exam FAQs
The IRS, which oversees the Enrolled Agent credential, defines an Enrolled Agent as:
“a person who has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service by either passing a three-part comprehensive IRS test covering individual and business tax returns, or through experience as a former IRS employee. Enrolled agent status is the highest credential the IRS awards. Individuals who obtain this elite status must adhere to ethical standards and complete 72 hours of continuing education courses every three years.
Enrolled agents, like attorneys and certified public accountants (CPAs), have unlimited practice rights. This means they are unrestricted as to which taxpayers they can represent, what types of tax matters they can handle, and which IRS offices they can represent clients before.”
The IRS recognizes that you don’t need to be a tax attorney or a CPA to be a great tax preparer or represent the public. You simply need to have a comprehensive understanding of the IRS’ rules and regulations and pass the EA exam to prove that you’re worthy of serving the taxpaying public.
The Enrolled Agent exam, officially known as the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) is a three-part comprehensive IRS test that tests a person’s knowledge of IRS rules, publications, and tax preparation practices covering both individual and business tax returns. Each part is a 100 question exam that must be completed in 3.5 hours and tests a separate set of topics, as follows:
EA Exam Part 1: Individuals
Preliminary Work with Taxpayer Data
Income and Assets
Deductions and Credits
Taxation and Advice
Specialized Returns for Individuals
EA Exam Part 2: Businesses
Business Entities
Business Financial Information
Specialized Returns and Taxpayers
EA Exam Part 3: Representation
Practices and Procedures
Representation before the IRS
Specific Types of Representation
Completion of the Filing Process
According to Payscale, the national average salary for an Enrolled Agent is over $51,000, but typically can range from $29,000 – $81,000 per year. Several factors, including education, experience, part-time / full-time status and the local job market may influence these figures though.
Keep in mind that as enrolled agents gain more experience during their career, they can eventually qualify for management and director roles where salaries can reach well beyond the top end of the scale noted above.
At the end of the day, the best enrolled agent course is the one that offers the best combination of study materials that fits your learning style at a price you can afford. Every student is a little bit different, so the ideal course for one person may be a terrible choice for someone else.
Even so, I can honestly say that any of the top 3 courses discussed above, Surgent EA review, Gleim EA review and Fast Forward Academy EA review are all excellent choices and all of them can be a great fit for most students. If I was forced to pick one though, I would probably choose Surgent EA Review Ultimate Pass simply for its range of study materials and their true adaptive learning technology.
Conclusion
Still undecided on which EA prep course to go with? Leave a comment or email us at csmith@cpaexammaven.com and we’ll help you figure out which course is best for your needs!
