Successful completion of certain examinations for professional licenses or designations can qualify as CE hours towards your CFP designation. One such designation is the Enrolled Agent (EA). The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards grants CE hours for passing the enrolled agent exams, not for attending or completing an enrolled agent review course.
A certified financial planning practitioner (CFP) must complete 30 hours of continuing education during each reporting period, including 2 hours of ethics. Each part of the enrolled agent exam counts as 16 CE credits towards CFP continuing education. The most one could earn for passing all three parts of the EA exam is 48 credits.
To qualify, the practitioner must pass an exam during the current reporting period, which is a two-year period ending the last day of the renewal month. Only 30 hours are required each period, and hours in excess of the requirement do not apply to future years. A CFP holder cannot split CE hours earned for any one program between two reporting periods. If you pass separate exams in separate reporting periods, each exam would count in its respective reporting period.
You can report your credit hours to the CFP Board once you successfully complete the enrolled agent exam by logging into their website, entering ”Designations & Licenses” as the CE Sponsor name, and finding the EA exam part in the list. Make sure you save a copy of your score report and maintain it in your records.
Major changes for all tax professionals are just around the corner. Enrolled agents are exempt from the mandatory competency testing and federal continuing education requirements imposed on all tax preparers by the new law. If you have earned the CFP credential and plan to prepare tax returns in the future, there has never been a better time to become an enrolled agent.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
Tags: ea exam, Enrolled Agent, Enrolled Agent Exam, enrolled agent review, enrolled agents
