Filling taxes and maintaining the book of accounts and other finance related matters in business is an area that stresses many businesses especially small enterprises without enough budget to have an accounting department, given government mandatory requirements to file taxes the best way to make sure they meet deadlines is to outsource this service read more here. Large corporations in most cases can maneuver accounting matters with less hassle because they have accounting department stipulated with financial tasks, however, small enterprises because of their inadequate capital they have to outsource, this leaves them exposed to confusion between picking certified public account (CPA) or Enrolled Agent (EA) view here for more. This article outlines some information that can help you pick the right professional for your accounting or tax matters especially if you run a small business.
One of the principle differences between certified CPA and EA are CPA agent is a certified financial professional who authorized to offer myriads of financial assistance, EA agent on the other hand focuses mainly on tax matters, the differences also exist in licensing where in some countries CPA are state-licensed while EA agents are licensed by the federal government, regardless of whom you pick they are both authorized to represent your business on tax-related issues more about CPA and EA here!
To become a CPA professional is a lengthy process and require someone to have a BSC degree in accounting with between 120 to 150 credit hours for one to be allowed to take a CPA certification exam, and once you pass your CPA certification you are required to work under experienced CPA professional for a given period before becoming a licensed CPA professional, but to become an EA the process is relatively easy as you are not mandated to have a degree, however, one must complete a three part exam to demonstrate their understanding in these areas taxation, ethics, and representation EA professionals are also required to renew their taxation knowledge after every three years to keep their status active read more here.
The confusion may arise when it comes to picking between CPA or EA, but in case you have a big business the law expects you to prepare and present a financial statement annually which must be verified by an impartial auditor, this is why you need the services of CPA agent, it is also good to hire them for tax-related matters because of the complexity of financial matters in big corporations, but the small enterprise is not required to audit their accounts, but they have to file their tax returns a service they can receive from EA professionals. Those are some differences between CPA and EA professionals.