A 16-week EA exam study plan covers all three SEE parts at ~8 hours per week (~135 total hours). The sweet spot for working tax professionals. 8 hours per week is sustainable and leaves buffer for real client work interruptions during tax season.
A visual preview of how exclam.ai turns this 16-week EA plan into daily IRS publication coverage, flashcards, quizzes, review, and mock streaks.
A 16-week EA plan covers all three SEE parts across Individuals, Businesses, and Representation & Procedures. Upload IRS publications (free) or your commercial prep materials and exclam.ai schedules the phases automatically.
Pub 17 as the backbone. Work through filing status, dependents, income recognition, deductions, credits, and AMT. Daily practice questions on Schedule C, retirement income, and itemized deductions. Take Part 1 at the end of this phase or schedule 1–2 weeks after.
Pub 334, 15, 541, 542, 946. Focus on entity choice decision framework, partnership K-1 mechanics, S corp reasonable compensation, and MACRS depreciation. This is the longest phase because Part 2 is the densest.
Circular 230 line-by-line. Pub 947, 556, 594. Learn the examination, appeals, and collection processes. Memorize section-number references from Circular 230. Short phase because Part 3 is narrower.
Full-length mock exams for all three parts. Same-day error review. If planning to take all three parts in a single testing window, schedule 4–6 weeks apart with mocks concentrated in the final week before each part.
All three SEE parts in a single plan. Each part has its own exam date and its own set of IRS publications that form the free corpus.
Upload free IRS publications or your own prep notes — exclam.ai builds the plan for you. Free to start.