Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) have a well-earned reputation for being experts in accounting, compliance and finance management. But they’re not the only ones who can help people make sense of tax issues and concerns. If you’re considering a career focused on assisting clients with tax-related issues, you may be weighing your options between an Enrolled Agent vs CPA.
But how does the Enrolled Agent (EA) role stack up against being a CPA? Know how differ and where they overlap so that you can feel confident and informed when planning your career.
Summary
While both Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and Enrolled Agents (EAs) possess comprehensive knowledge of the United States tax codes and can represent clients before the IRS, the CPA designation encompasses a broader scope in all facets of accounting, auditing, and financial management, whereas the EA credential focuses only on tax and is granted by the U.S. Department of Treasury, authorizing unlimited national practice rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS.
What is a CPA vs Enrolled Agent?
Before we dive into the details, let’s discuss the basics between an EA vs CPA.
A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a tax professional who has met CPA state licensing requirements, education, and training requirements that allow them to practice across private and public industries organizations.
An EA is a tax specialist authorized by the U.S. Department of Treasury to represent all taxpayers before the IRS. Their sole focus is being the go-to expert on tax laws to help clients navigate their cases with the IRS, including everything from tax return preparation and counseling to optimize savings, to settling tax debt, to navigating an audit process.
How are EA and CPA roles similar?
Both CPAs and EAs have comprehensive knowledge of the United States tax codes and can use their knowledge to represent clients in audits, appeals, and other matters with the IRS. Also, those with either the CPA license or EA certification must adhere to strict ethical guidelines and requirements, and complete set amounts of continued professional education (CPE or EA CE, respectively) during specified time periods to maintain their credential.
How do CPA and EA roles differ?
CPAs have a broader knowledge base in all facets of accounting while EAs only focus on tax. Not only is this reflected in their background, even their credentials limit their scope. CPAs are granted unlimited representation rights to assist clients in tax-related matters as well as with audits, risk assessment, business valuation and financial planning. However, CPAs are only allowed to practice in the state where their current license is held except for states that accept CPA mobility for limited practice.
EAs have a national credential that gives them unlimited practice rights¹ to represent any taxpayer for any tax case across all IRS jurisdictions. Simply put, EAs can do all the things that CPAs can do when it comes to tax. But that’s where their overlap ends.
Unlike CPAs, EAs can’t certify financial statements and provide public accounting outside of tax, which limits their ability to work in a broader capacity. For example, only a CPA can address a case or scenario with broader financial scope, such as auditing financial statements for the shareholders or reporting information to the SEC, as it is outside an EA’s scope of experience and certification.
What are the EA vs CPA requirements?
The enrolled agent vs CPA journey both require relevant work experience, passing an exam, and fulfilling continued professional education (CPE) requirements. However, Enrolled Agents refer to it as continuing education, or CE. Where they vary is in the time and effort needed to cross their respective finish lines.
| Requirement | EA | CPA |
| Education | None | At least a bachelor's degree with 150 post-secondary college semester hours (Details vary by state) |
| Experience | None | At least one year of relevant, full-time work experience (or the part-time equivalent) |
| Exam |
| Certified Public Accountant Exam
|
| CPE or CE | 72 hours every three year reporting period | Varies by state, but most require an average of 40 hours per year |
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EA vs CPA career paths and salaries
As the table shows, when weighing your options between EA vs CPA, it is more difficult to obtain a CPA license over an EA credential, but you may find the benefits a CPA license offers is worth the effort.
If EAs and CPAs are nearly interchangeable for tax work, how can you tell if you’re better suited for one over the other?
EA
EAs stay in tax and primarily deal with collections, appeals, bookkeeping and tax prep for individuals. So if you’re passionate about tax and aren’t interested in auditing or financial reporting, becoming an EA may be a good fit.
If you want to take it a step further, you can take the Non-Attorney Exam, which would authorize you to represent clients in Tax Court. In this path, you can work at any company or industry and expect to make an average EA salary of $68,000 - $125,000³.
CPA
Variety and scope are the name of the game for CPAs. Depending on your role, tax may only be one part of what you do. With a license to work on any area of accounting, you’ll have the flexibility to work anywhere that needs strategic financial management. Also, the average CPA salary earns between $60,874 - $150,612. For those with greater professional ambitions, being a CPA is the jumping block to leadership and executive roles.
EA vs CPA or both?
Having both your CPA license and your EA credential can improve your career trajectory and help you better serve your clients. However, if you currently meet the EA requirements, it may benefit you to continue on this path before working on your CPA license.
Look at it this way: the EA Exam is focused only on the United States tax code and will have significant overlap with the Taxation and Regulation (REG) core section, as well as the Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP) Discipline section, of the CPA Exam. If you meet the requirements to be an EA, minus passing the exam, this is the quicker path to starting a career in tax accounting; and it's not wasted effort, as it will give a boost in later passing the CPA Exam.
Alternatively, if you already fulfilled your state’s CPA education and work experience requirements, it may make more sense to see it through to CPA licensure because the expertise afforded by CPA licensure would encompass EA proficiency and give you the latitude to practice more comprehensive public accounting.
CPA licensure makes it easier for you to change gears across industries, niches, and responsibilities due to your wider skillset and knowledge. As an EA, you’ll focus on deepening your tax accounting and IRS-related acumen for as long as you’re in the profession.
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