Failed EA (Enrolled Agent)? Here's Your Recovery Plan

Pro tip: Contact the exam provider directly for their specific retake policy.

• Studying from a prep course built for the Prometric-administered exam and its 40 to 130 score scale.
  PSI Services took over administration on March 1, 2026, and the scale is now 200 to 800 with a passing mark of 500. Registration, scheduling, rescheduling and score reports all run through PSI, so any instruction pointing you to Prometric is out of date.
• Bringing a personal financial calculator to the test centre.
  PSI provides an on-screen calculator and personal calculators are not permitted. Practise every computation using an on-screen calculator during your mock exams so the interface is not a surprise on a depreciation or basis question.
• Studying current-year tax figures when the exam is frozen at an earlier reference date.
  For exams taken from July 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027, everything references the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, forms and publications as amended through December 31, 2025, and current tax year means calendar year 2025. Legislation and court decisions after that date are not tested.
• Treating the three parts as equally difficult and giving them equal study time.
  Part 2 carries 30 questions on business entities and 37 on business tax preparation, which is the heaviest technical load on the exam. Candidates who prepare individual returns for a living usually need the most hours on partner basis, S corporation basis and the qualified business income deduction.
• Assuming you can go back to earlier questions after a scheduled break.
  The exam locks each section once you acknowledge completion. After questions 1 to 34 the first section closes, and after questions 35 to 67 the second closes. Review your answers inside a section before you acknowledge it, because there is no return path.
• Taking an unscheduled bathroom break during a remote proctored exam.
  Unscheduled breaks are not permitted when testing remotely, and leaving the room or the camera view terminates the test. At a test centre unscheduled breaks are allowed but the exam clock keeps running, so plan your fluid intake around the two scheduled 10-minute breaks.
• Rescheduling inside 48 hours of the appointment.
  PSI charges no fee to reschedule or cancel at least 48 hours before your appointment. Inside 48 hours you pay another full $317 examination fee. Missing the appointment entirely, or arriving 30 or more minutes late, also forfeits the whole fee.
• Letting a passing part expire before finishing the other two.
  A passing score carries over for three years from the date you passed that specific part, not from the date you started. If you passed Part 1 on November 15, 2025, you must pass the remaining parts by November 15, 2028 or lose the Part 1 credit and pay $317 to sit it again.
• Waiting to apply for enrollment after passing the third part.
  Form 23 must be filed within one year of the date you passed the third examination part. Processing generally takes 60 days, or 90 to 120 days for former IRS employees, and the IRS runs a suitability check on your personal tax compliance and criminal background, so any unfiled return or outstanding liability needs resolving first.

• Three-part exam (SEE)
• Unlimited IRS representation rights
• Faster path than CPA for tax focus
• Study individual and business tax
• Gleim or Fast Forward Academy
• Great for tax preparation careers