[Anonymous]

I am 42 years old and about 6-8 years away from being able to retire and draw a pension from state government. I have no business experience and my undergraduate degree is non-business related. I am taking accounting courses through a community college because I was thinking about taking the CPA exams as I got closer to retirement. Never really considered EA until recently. I am now starting to have second thoughts about the CPA route, primarily because my ultimate goal is to work seasonally in tax. I am not really interested in leaving my current career just to work full-time elsewhere, and the CPA route seems like it may be a fairly large commitment for a seasonal gig.

I have read threads here where the OP’s ask the CPA vs. EA question and it appears the responses are more “CPA all the way”. However, would such advice really apply to my situation? FYI – not looking to have my own tax business and would be fine being a grunt at a CPA firm, so long as I am a seasonal, or part-time, grunt. Granted, I could just go to work for Block, but I guess I am looking for advice on the best path to take, leading to the most successful, but seasonal, post-retirement tax gig.

[Study Monk]

There has been a couple posts on this topic if you google EA verse CPA. Most people agree EA is not even close to CPA. My theory is that with EA you will make a lot less money and will either work for lower quality firms or end up working for a company like H&R Block.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

There has been a couple posts on this topic if you google EA verse CPA. Most people agree EA is not even close to CPA. My theory is that with EA you will make a lot less money and will either work for lower quality firms or end up working for a company like H&R Block.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Anonymous]

Is EA ever better? Yeah, definitely! Given that 99.9% of the people on here are sweating their guts out for the CPA, of course they're going to think it's the best option…but it does vary.

If I'm not mistaken, EA gives you all the same rights to practice before the IRS as the CPA. (Been awhile since I've studied that stuff, though, so could be wrong). CPA seems to be more focused on auditing and compliance rather than taxes to be honest. But the big thing that the CPA offers that isn't offered by the EA is recognition. If you tell a tax client you're a CPA, most of the time they'll know what that means; if you tell them you're an EA, most of the time they won't know.

If your goal is to work part-time in taxes, and you would have to take several classes, log experience hours, etc., to become a CPA, then I would honestly think seriously about the EA. In some states, in order to be a CPA, you have to work in audit, and it sounds like that is definitely not of interest to you! Even without the experience requirement, though, the CPA designation is most useful if you're trying to build a career around accounting. Even having the EA may be slightly overkill for a part-time/seasonal position, but will definitely make you more qualified.

All of that being said, though, the CPA would be a more valuable credential, if you think that the added value will be worth the added cost, stress, time, etc. I'm guessing from your post that you probably have 10+ classes ahead of you, plus 4 exams, plus a year of experience, before you can become a CPA; all of that seems to me like it is a lot of effort for a retirement gig!

[Anonymous]

Is EA ever better? Yeah, definitely! Given that 99.9% of the people on here are sweating their guts out for the CPA, of course they're going to think it's the best option…but it does vary.

If I'm not mistaken, EA gives you all the same rights to practice before the IRS as the CPA. (Been awhile since I've studied that stuff, though, so could be wrong). CPA seems to be more focused on auditing and compliance rather than taxes to be honest. But the big thing that the CPA offers that isn't offered by the EA is recognition. If you tell a tax client you're a CPA, most of the time they'll know what that means; if you tell them you're an EA, most of the time they won't know.

If your goal is to work part-time in taxes, and you would have to take several classes, log experience hours, etc., to become a CPA, then I would honestly think seriously about the EA. In some states, in order to be a CPA, you have to work in audit, and it sounds like that is definitely not of interest to you! Even without the experience requirement, though, the CPA designation is most useful if you're trying to build a career around accounting. Even having the EA may be slightly overkill for a part-time/seasonal position, but will definitely make you more qualified.

All of that being said, though, the CPA would be a more valuable credential, if you think that the added value will be worth the added cost, stress, time, etc. I'm guessing from your post that you probably have 10+ classes ahead of you, plus 4 exams, plus a year of experience, before you can become a CPA; all of that seems to me like it is a lot of effort for a retirement gig!

[univegabw]

I don't know the exact requirements for EA, but I believe you don't even need a degree to take and pass the 3 part test.

I hear its similar to studying for one section of the CPA exam. And nowadays with the desire for people with tax knowledge the EA has gained a lot of traction since it is more focused than Reg is for CPA. I'm going the CPA route, but my GF who is an accounting major is strongly considering EA because she is just burnt out on school and doesn't want to go for the 150 hr requirement if she can just become an EA and do taxes.

Look up salaries for EA's and oddly enough they are very comparable to CPA's now. They won't top out like a CPA, but they can range between $45-85k.

A- 53, 55
B- Passed!
F- Not Yet Taken
R- 1/17/2015

[univegabw]

I don't know the exact requirements for EA, but I believe you don't even need a degree to take and pass the 3 part test.

I hear its similar to studying for one section of the CPA exam. And nowadays with the desire for people with tax knowledge the EA has gained a lot of traction since it is more focused than Reg is for CPA. I'm going the CPA route, but my GF who is an accounting major is strongly considering EA because she is just burnt out on school and doesn't want to go for the 150 hr requirement if she can just become an EA and do taxes.

Look up salaries for EA's and oddly enough they are very comparable to CPA's now. They won't top out like a CPA, but they can range between $45-85k.

A- 53, 55
B- Passed!
F- Not Yet Taken
R- 1/17/2015

[Author]

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