EA Initial Enrollment Cycle ends 12/31/24
Initial Enrollment Cycle if your:
- Social Security number ends in 0, 1, 2 or 3 and
- Initial enrollment date is between 11/01/21 and 10/31/24
Important Dates
Due date of renewal: 01/31/25
Effective date of renewal: 04/01/25
CPE Reporting period: 11/01/21 to 12/31/24
Partial months
Enrollment for any part of a month is considered enrollment for the entire month.
Ethics requirement
You must take 2 hours of Ethics CPE per calendar year. The Ethics CPE hours count towards your total required hours.
Only 2 hours of Ethics CE per year will count toward your total CE requirement.
Prior period
We have the prior period information here if your
- Social Security number ends in 1, 2 or 3 and
- Initial enrollment date is between 11/01/18 and 10/31/21
How do you calculate how many hours you need?
During the initial enrollment period you add 2 hours CE per month (or or partial month) to the total needed. For example, if you enroll in July, you will need 6 months x 2 hours = 12 hours by year end.
Scroll down this page to the box containing the month of your initial enrollment date (the issue date on your EA card).
Follow across the line containing your enrollment month to find the hours needed for each year and the total hours needed for your enrollment cycle.
When do you need to complete your CE hours?
You must complete all the calculated hours by December 31st on the last year of your cycle.
You must complete a minimum of 16 hours per year, including the 2 hours of ethics.
Most students find it less confusing to complete the annual requirements of each year by the end of the year. This means you finish the pro-rated first year requirements the first year, then 24 hours for any remaining years in your cycle.
2021 Initial Enrollment Date
Enroll 2021 2022 2023 2024 TOTAL
Date CPE CPE CPE CPE HOURS
11/21 4 24 24 24 76
12/21 2 24 24 24 74
2022 Initial Enrollment Date
Enroll 20ss 2023 2024 TOTAL
Date CPE CPE CPE HOURS
01/21 24 24 24 72
02/21 22 24 24 70
03/21 20 24 24 68
04/21 18 24 24 66
05/21 16 24 24 64
06/21 14 24 24 62
07/21 12 24 24 60
08/21 10 24 24 58
09/21 8 24 24 56
10/21 6 24 24 54
11/21 4 24 24 52
12/21 2 24 24 50
2023 Initial Enrollment Date
Enroll 2023 2024 TOTAL
Date CPE CPE HOURS
01/23 24 24 48
02/23 22 24 46
03/23 20 24 44
04/23 18 24 42
05/23 16 24 40
06/23 14 24 38
07/23 12 24 36
08/23 10 24 34
09/23 8 24 32
10/23 6 24 30
11/23 4 24 28
12/23 2 24 26
2024 Initial Enrollment Date
Enroll 2024 TOTAL
Date CPE HOURS
01/24 24 24
02/24 22 22
03/24 20 20
04/24 18 18
05/24 16 16
06/24 14 14
07/24 12 12
08/24 10 10
09/24 8 8
10/21 6 6
11/24* 4 4
12/24* 2 2
* If your initial enrollment in beween November 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024:
- Your renewal is not due until 01/31/27
- Your CPE period is 11/01/24 – 12/31/27 or 12/01/24 – 12/31/27
- You still need to accumulate CPE hours, including 2 hours of ethics per calendar year. Your total CPE hours will be either 72+4=76 (November enrollment) or 72+2=74 (December enrollment) when you file your renewal.
- This provision allows you to have a 3 year and 1 month or 3 year and 2 month cycle. This benefits you because you don’t have to pay the EA renewal fee almost immediately after you receive your EA status.
Questions? Comments?
We know the CPE requirements for the initial enrollment period can be confusing--please email us or call us (877-738-6273) if you need any clarification. The information we need will be:
1) last digit of your social security number or whether you have a social security number
2) issue date of your Enrolled Agent license
3) how much CPE has been reported so far to your account on the IRS PTIN system