6 Mistakes to avoid with EA CE

Mistake # 5: Courses are not reported to the IRS

What can go wrong with the CPE credit reporting?

Quite a few things can go wrong in the process of reporting the courses completed to the IRS PTIN system. When we report your credits, your first name, last name and PTIN number must match what is in the IRS PTIN system exactly. The types of errors we commonly see are:

  1. Typos in the name or PTIN
  2. PTIN entered in the wrong format or not enough digits entered. The must be in the format of the letter “P” followed by eight numbers, for example “P12345678.”
  3. An EA number is entered instead of the PTIN
  4. Name change has occurred, usually due to marriage or divorce, and the name entered in our course system does not match the name in the PTIN system

Fun CPE automatically sends an email to the student using the student’s email address in our course system, if records submitted to the IRS PTIN system are rejected.

Compounding the error, students sometimes use an email address in our course system that is not an email address they check frequently. We sometimes have a large number of items that are never corrected by the student, and in fact even after repeated attempts to contact the student, we never receive any response.

How can I prevent these reporting errors?

We recommend to every student that after first enrolling, and every time they sign up for a new course or courses, they verify the information in their student profile.

Check the spelling of your first and last name, the PTIN you have entered and your email address.

When you first enroll in a course, it is a good idea to login to your PTIN account at the IRS website to view the name you have recorded in the PTIN system.  You must enter your name exactly as it is when you create your user profile.

We use only your first and last name, so anything entered in the “middle name” field is ignored for PTIN reporting.  Any suffixes (Jr, Sr etc) should be entered after your last name, with no punctuation.

Reporting schedule

The IRS requires approved CPE providers to report credits earned on a periodic basis to the IRS PTIN reporting system. The reporting schedule required is as follows:

Credits earned:Should be reported by:
01/01 – 03/31 March 31
04/01 – 06/30June 30
07/01 – 09/30September 30
10/01 – 12/31Within 10 days
Note:  there is a 10-day grace period at the end of each quarter

This reporting schedule insures that courses taken in the last quarter of the year are promptly reported. At the end of each of the first 3 quarters of the year, the 10-day grace period allows the provider to report the courses completed on the last day of the quarter, for example within 10 days.

FunCPE routinely electronically reports all courses completed every Monday for the week just ended the prior Sunday (i.e. the Sunday before that Monday). The IRS takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to post the credits reported to your PTIN account.

Reporting corrections

We can report a correction to your reported CPE at any time during the year. Corrections can be reported for either the current year or the immediately prior year.

Here is an example of CPE that was reported, rejected and resubmitted:

  • 06/05/20 course completed
  • 06/08/20 CPE reported
  • 06/08/20 CPE submission is rejected by PTIN system
  • 06/08/20 email notification of rejection sent to student
  • 08/15/20 student sends correction
  • 08/17/20 CPE resubmitted to PTIN system

Deadline for reporting corrections

After 12/31/21 we would be unable to submit CPE earned in 2020.

Read about another mistake

Mistake # 1

CE provider not authorized by IRS

Mistake # 2

Courses not for approved subject

Mistake # 3

Course format not acceptable

Mistake # 4

CE taken in wrong time period

Mistake # 5

CE Courses not reported to the IRS

Mistake # 6

EA fails to review PTIN account