My EA Exam

[dsi]

Congratulations Dany, it is a very challenging exam. Whiz, it is equally as challenging as the CPA exam IMHO. Of course, when I sat for the exam years ago there was almost nothing about taxes on the CPA exam.

[Gretel]

Want to add my congratulations, Dany. I remember well how nervous I was when I took the test 3 years ago. Will be a nice Christmas present when you pass the test tomorrow.

[geekgirldany]

Would be a great Christmas present if I pass tomorrow
As I have said before I really don't see how you guys did it when it was a 2 day exam. I've spent my whole year studying but I know it will be worth it.

It is hard to remember everything there is so much in this Part 2. I really wish they would have kept it at 4 parts. Crossing my fingers here

[ChEAr$]

refresh my memory

Would be a great Christmas present if I pass tomorrow
As I have said before I really don't see how you guys did it when it was a 2 day exam. I've spent my whole year studying but I know it will be worth it.

It is hard to remember everything there is so much in this Part 2. I really wish they would have kept it at 4 parts. Crossing my fingers here

You mean it's only TWO parts these days? (three parts in two days when I took it in Hotlanta)

Looking forward seeing you at the Georgia Association of EA's next May.

[erchess]

Whiz

I have seen on lists of convention speakers that some of them have EA in addition to CPA or JD and I think I once saw a person with all three. The only reason I can think of why someone would get EA in addition to either of the other two is that one gets EA faster. Now that you have your CPA I can't see that you would benefit by becoming an EA. If you work in pretty much all areas of taxation you could undoubtedly brush up for and pass the EA Exam. If there are areas of taxation with which you do not work, it may take you longer to prepare but I am sure you can do it. I assume you know that the two ways to be enrolled to practice before the IRS are to pass the requirements to be an enrolled agent or to send to the IRS proof that you belong to the Bar Association or the CPA Association of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia.

[Uncle Sam]

My EA Exam

The reason one would want the EA credential in addition to the CPA credential is - the CPA license is a state license where each state has its own reciprocity rules and a good chance exists that you can't get relicensed in another state without taking the exam again.
The EA license is Federal - so it should be recognized no matter which state you're a resident of. True - each state's Board of Accountancy rules are different - but Federal taxation is the same no matter which state you reside in.

[geekgirldany]

You mean it's only TWO parts these days? (three parts in two days when I took it in Hotlanta)

Looking forward seeing you at the Georgia Association of EA's next May.

I think before it was a 4 part test. Individual, Business & Partnership, Estate, Ethics. It is 3 parts now with Business, Partnership and Estates being in Part 2. No longer 4 parts it is just 3.

Where does the Georgia Association meet?

[wizbang30]

Interesting...I knew

that to practice before the IRS you had to be a CPA or a JD, I didnt know about the EA. It might be good to take it as a challenge, I feel rusty when I rely on the software to do all of the calculations. When I started doing taxes most of it was manual....I could recite standard deductions, personal exemptions, phaseouts, etc. Now I have to look it up....

[Golden Rocket]

Whiz Bang

I can't imagine there being any more "clout" to it - speaking as someone who has sat for both. There are no "rights" or "priveleges" endowed upon an EA than a CPA. IRS treats them with no preference for either.

The focus for each exam is different. The CPA touches on all phases of the economy, such as banking, insurance, manufacturing, merchandising, auditing, etc.and how the theory of GAAP applies to each. The scope of the exam is overwhelming. What happens, however, is there is less than a 10% focus on taxation, certainly much less than half a day. A big problem here is that far more than 10% of the CPA work is dedicated to taxes.

The EA exam would probably be termed as "easier" but only because the scope is so much less. The EA exam goes into much more depth in taxation. So the difference might be akin to a horizontal continuum versus a vertical drill-down.

If you were to take the EA exam, you would need an understanding of what is meant by a "partnership with receivables" "hot assets", "basis" etc. as these things are defined differently in tax discussion than they are in GAAP.

For one, I believe there is a need for both GAAP and tax in common practice. For every entity client I have, I provide a "book-to-tax" difference for each such item that exists. These differences are subdivided into "timing" differences and "permanent" differences. Any CPA providing financial statements must already account for "timing" differences in the deferred tax account.

Welcome to the board Whiz. GAAP is quite often part of tax matters, and we often need that perspective in our posts.

Golden Rocket

[ChEAr$]

the test

[QUOTE=geekgirldany;46873]I think before it was a 4 part test. Individual, Business & Partnership, Estate, Ethics. It is 3 parts now with Business, Partnership and Estates being in Part 2. No longer 4 parts it is just 3.

Where does the Georgia Association meet?[/QUOT

which you took today! How was it?

No, before it was a 4 part test, it was a three part test. Really. (long time ago.)

GA association meets in May, about... May 20th or thereabouts at Jekyll Island.
Hope you can make it so I can introduce you. (grin

[geekgirldany]

Part 2 PASSED!!!!!

I passed part 2

I can't believe it... I really can't. I sat down for the test and I felt like every answer I put was wrong. I marked about 30 to go back an review. Some I changed others I did not. I just really wasn't confident that I passed at the end. So after the review I said to myself.... "just finish it you've failed anyways. get it over and go home". So prometric always does a little survey before they let you know. It done its little calculating and then is saw it "Congratulations! You've Passed Part 2." I couldn't believe. I asked the person up front if it really said that he smiled and said yes.

I'm sooooo happy! I'll give you guys more details tomorrow on how the questions were.
Thanks for the support.

[Valarie]

Congratulations

on your passing Part 2, Dany!!

It's so nice to get the immediate results now, and stop fretting over it for months. Whe I took the exam in 1989 in Buffalo NY, it was the two-day, 4 part test. I took the test in September, and had to wait till December 31st for the results to be mailed to us... talk about a really long time saying, "I know I failed at least one part..."

PS: It was a very Happy New Year, I passed all 4 the first try :-)

Valarie

[DTS]

Dany

In one word, Super!!!

Dennis

[S T]

Great Job

Congratulations Dany!

Sandy

[Golden Rocket]

Holding Off

Dany, I've been holding off congratulating you until the success was assured, but I knew the success would be inevitable. So now comes a big "HOORAY!" for one of our finest!!
Thanks for hanging out with us here on the forum!

GR