Quote:In 2012, the average accountant brought home $71,040 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). CPAs with fewer than three years of experience earned anywhere from $45,413 to $61,600 per year, those with three to five years of experience made $56,963 to $77,550, while CPAs with five or more years of experience earned $69,018 to $92,675, according to the Robert Half Finance agency.

Quote: According to the BLS, tax examiners and revenue agents earned nearly 27 percent less than accountants, at an average of $56,050 per year, as of 2012. Like the CPA designation, earning the enrolled agent status can improve salaries for these tax professionals. In 2013, enrolled agents brought home an average of $75,000 per year, reports the job site Indeed. According to Robert Half, enrolled agents with one to three years of experience earned anywhere from $51,450 to $85,800, depending on the size of the accounting firm. Those at the senior level started at $61,950 at small firms and earned upward of $107,800 at large firms.

sanantone Wrote:On the other forum, Maniac Craniac asked which certifications could quickly lead to a job. Someone brought up the IRS' Enrolled Agent. Certain former IRS employees can apply to become enrolled agents if they worked in that position for at least 5 years, but everyone else needs to pass a 3-part exam that is administered over 2 days. Enrolled agents can represent taxpayers before the IRS just like CPAs and attorneys. EAs are required to complete 72 hours of continuing education courses per 3 years.
Enrolled Agent Information

After doing some further research, I found out about the tax court exam. This allows non-lawyers to represent people in federal courts. This exam has a 5-10% pass rate.
http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/forms/Admission_Nonattorney.pdf

EAs can open up practices or work for someone else preparing taxes during tax season and representing people year-round. An EA sounds inferior to an attorney or CPA, but these professionals are often more knowledgeable about tax law than the other two professions because that's all they focus on. CPAs have a very broad education that covers little about the tax code and a tax attorney could be representing you with little training on tax laws. EAs are also cheaper to hire. This profession has been around since 1884.
Hiring Protection From The IRS - Forbes




Certified Public Accountant vs. Enrolled Agent Salary | Chron.com

When researching actual job openings, I found that the major law firms require a CPA or an enrolled agent designation. I thought it was interesting how they considered them to be equal. However, these jobs also required a bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, or a business-related field. Many of the positions also prefer a graduate degree related to law, tax, or accounting and experience. But, I'm sure one can be competitive at smaller firms with just a bachelor's degree (or maybe less if you have a lot of preparing experience) and the EA designation; and, you won't have to worry about having 150 credit hours with a certain number of hours in accounting.

The National Association of Enrolled Agents seems like a good organization to join since you would be searchable in a database. They require 30 hours of continuing education per year.
NAEA | Powering America's Tax Experts

P.S. The IRS is considering regulating tax preparers in the future. Currently, anyone can prepare taxes.

soliloquy Wrote:It's the same with the SSA Disability and select few other types of gov't administrative hearings. Of course the knowledge required here is very specialized but the hearings themselves are much less formal than civil hearings/trials. It helps to be aware of the UPL statutes so that you don't get yourself in trouble but this can be a very lucrative opportunity if you have the aptitude for this type of thing and market yourself properly. Great post!