EA exam syllabus, schedule, results and fees

EA exam fees and application costs

Budget using these last-verified USD fees, checked 10 October 2026. Confirm the charge when paying, especially for a later year. Exam fees, annual PTIN fees and enrollment are separate transactions.

Booking deadlines and publication dates

There is no single registration closing date listed for every candidate. Book against appointment availability and the end of the current window. The minimum booking lead time is not a recommendation to wait until the last day.

Other timing rules to put in your plan

Keep these candidate-specific dates alongside the exam calendar. An exam result, the validity of a passed part and final IRS enrollment have different timelines.

What to study inside each syllabus domain

The allocation charts answer how the scored questions are distributed. This map answers what you should inspect inside the domains. The topic prompts summarize selected areas of the verified outline; they are not a replacement for its detailed subtopics, and they do not predict which questions you will receive.

Keep the full domain label in your checklist, then break it into manageable tasks. “Income and assets” is too large for a single completion tick. Separate income classification, retirement items and property transactions, and attach different evidence to each. A candidate who handles wages confidently may still need substantial work on basis or retirement distributions.

Turn the syllabus into a coverage map

A domain heading is too broad to use as a completion check. Split it into the actual skills in the detailed outline, then attach evidence: a solved question, a brief explanation and an unfamiliar retest.

Keep three statuses: not studied, learned with notes, and applied without notes. This makes a gap visible even when a chapter has been read. One strong topic must not hide an untouched one in the same domain.

1. 01

   Map

   Copy the detailed topic labels into your study checklist.

2. 02

   Learn

   Connect the rule to a worked example and its assumptions.

3. 03

   Apply

   Try a fresh problem without consulting the example.

4. 04

   Retest

   Return to the missed rule after a delay and with changed facts.

Worked checklist: turn one broad domain into testable skills

Consider a candidate who has marked the entire Part 3 practices-and-procedures domain complete after reading a chapter. A short check shows that they can define competence but cannot distinguish a consent requirement from the conditions for handling a conflict. The broad completion label hides a specific gap.

Replace the single tick with evidence rows like the example below. The statuses are your own study labels, not official IRS achievement levels. Change a status only when the corresponding task has been performed. This makes the next study session a targeted repair instead of another reread of the whole chapter.

Worked allocation: start with counts, then diagnose

For an initial Part 2 content budget of 60 hours, allocate in proportion to 30, 37 and 18 scored questions. Reserve separate time for mocks and error review. This is a planning example, not an IRS recommendation.

Check the tax year before reusing a resource

A current-looking cover is not enough. Check the stated testing cycle, effective tax year and errata. An example from another year can still teach a method, but its thresholds or deductions may not be valid for your sitting.

The calendar rolls forward, but a new date does not establish a new syllabus. The charts show the verified 2026-27 outline. For a later sitting, compare the replacement bulletin with your study materials and check its tax-law cutoff before using year-sensitive examples.

Carry the study method forward when a new cycle is published

A later testing date does not, by itself, identify the tax law that will be tested. When IRS or PSI publishes the next bulletin, record the testing cycle, revision date, tax-law cutoff and any changes to the outline. Compare those details with the stated coverage of your course and its updates.

Keep durable methods such as identifying the taxpayer, choosing the entity rule and checking authorization. Recheck year-sensitive values, filing thresholds and revised procedures against the new source. Mark older worked examples with their assumptions so they can still teach a method without being mistaken for current amounts.

For planning through 2027 and beyond, use the rolling calendar to see the annual pattern and testing pause. The dated status in the schedule distinguishes verified windows from future projections. Appointment availability and new-cycle content still require an official update; neither is established by the year printed on a study calendar.