Becker EA CPE Review: Is This CE Subscription for You?

You’d think passing the Special Enrollment Exam would mean you’re done with the IRS.

Not quite.

To keep your EA credential, the IRS expects 72 hours of continuing education every three years—16 per year, with 2 in ethics. The good news is… those hours can do more than just keep the IRS happy; they can boost your career, too. Strada reports that nearly half of adults with certifications reached their career goals, and 69% say it was worth the grind.

The challenge? Sitting through outdated slideshows or clunky course portals is enough tedium to make you put it off until the last minute.

Enter Becker. With 60+ years in professional education and both NASBA and IRS approval, the Becker EA CPE is organized, flexible, and frankly more engaging than most. But is it worth the price tag? How does it stack against other top EA CE courses like Fast Forward Academy, Surgent, and Gleim?

Let’s break it down.

Is the Becker EA CPE Right for You?

• If you want IRS-approved content developed by credentialed tax experts, Becker checks that box across the board.
• If you prefer to learn on the go, Becker’s downloadable materials and 24/7 on-demand access make it easy to fit CE into your day.
• If your schedule only allows learning nights or weekends, Becker’s live webcasts outside regular work hours will work perfectly.
• If you’re looking for variety beyond tax, Becker offers industry-specific and career-focused learning paths.
• If you need ethics courses included, Becker has you covered. Becker includes them in their EA CE subscription.
• If you want highly interactive learning tools, Becker might feel more traditional than some competitors.

Becker EA CPE Overview

Becker’s enrolled agent CPE subscription is built for enrolled agents who want to stay compliant without wasting time on fluff. The focus here isn’t on exam prep; it’s about making ongoing learning efficient, relevant, and easy to track.

The courses are IRS-approved, so your credits are securely recognized without uncertainty. Every course is designed to meet the full 72-hour CE requirement for enrolled agents. And while the reliability was great, my favorite part was the flexibility; some days I want to watch, other days I just want to listen while I zone out on the treadmill. Becker’s wide range of formats gave me the freedom to choose and to work credit consumption into my schedule more easily. But there’s more to Becker’s EA CPE subscription than flexibility alone.

What makes it stand out?

• IRS-approved CE credits for Enrolled Agents
  • 75+ courses, or 160+ credit hours
• On-demand courses you can take anytime
• Live webcasts for those who prefer real-time learning
• A compliance tracker that helps you stay on top of your hours
• Direct IRS reporting within 24 to 48 hours after completion

A special nod to the experienced instructors who consistently deliver valuable, practical, and up-to-date content, making studying a little less intimidating.

One candidate summed it up nicely:

Pros

IRS-Approved and EA-Specific: You’re not guessing whether a course counts. The Becker EA CPE catalog is built for enrolled agents and meets IRS CE requirements.
Flexible Formats: Live webcasts, on-demand video, and self-study options mean you can learn on your terms, even if your “office” is your kitchen table.
Experienced Instructors: Many Becker instructors have earned 20+ years of experience in tax and accounting. They don’t just teach—they’ve lived it.
Built-In Compliance Tracker: No spreadsheets, no math. You’ll always know how many credits you’ve earned and what’s left to complete.
Automatic IRS Reporting: Finish a course, and Becker sends your credits straight to the IRS. You don’t have to do a thing.

Cons

Limited Bundling Options: Unlike Becker’s CPA or CMA subscriptions, the EA CE plan doesn’t offer tiered bundles or pricing flexibility.
Still Relatively New: The EA CE subscription is newer than Becker’s other programs, so the course library isn’t as deep, yet.

Becker EA CPE Subscription Contents

When you sign up for the Becker EA CE subscription, you get year‑round access to a mix of Becker CPE course options designed to keep you learning, no matter how you prefer to study.

Here’s what’s included:

• Unlimited Becker’s EA CPE catalog access for the full length of your plan (usually 12 months). New courses are added regularly, so the library keeps growing.
• Multiple formats. Becker has also started rolling out CPE podcasts in its broader subscription, and while not yet confirmed for the EA version, it’s likely on the way.
• Subject coverage that goes beyond just tax law so that you can expand your expertise in related areas.
• Critical updates whenever new legislation or IRS guidance is released. These are designed to keep you current, especially during tax season.
• Downloadable course materials you can reference anytime, whether for a quick refresh or during a client meeting.

And, while there are pros and cons to subscriptions, I appreciated Becker’s unlimited consumption. Though I would’ve liked to see more courses and webinars specifically for enrolled agents (only ~11% of their 700-course CPE catalog is IRS-approved), I loved having the ability to jump from a quick 1-hour update to a deeper, multi-hour course without paying extra.

The trick? Set a reminder in Google Calendar to renew or cancel your subscription by the deadline.

Becker EA CPE Subscription — At a Glance

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Why Becker EA CPE Works

Becker keeps its EA CPE course clear and efficient. The course catalog is easy to navigate, setup takes only a few minutes, and credit hours are tracked automatically with little room for error. Pricing feels fair for what’s included, and support proved responsive.

Now, that’s just the broad impression; there is more to why it works! So, let’s get to the details, starting with course design.

Course Design & Flow

Becker keeps its EA CPE training simple. Everything’s online, yours for a year, and 100% self-paced. No travel. No awkward group icebreakers. Just log in and go.

A subscription gets you 75+ IRS‑approved courses. That’s over 160 hours of potential credit. When I took the Tax Update for Individuals 2025 course, the new law changes were explained clearly. No legalese and recycled slides from last year with a fresh date. Plus, I could actually hear and understand the instructor, and the video quality was top-notch. Production value can make a major difference in a learning experience, so I was pleased to see Becker deliver on their reputation.

If you’re used to massive course libraries from larger platforms, Becker’s EA content is more curated. For me, that was a plus as I spent less time digging through irrelevant material.

Smooth Tech, Smart Video Options

Becker’s EA CPE platform doesn’t try to dazzle you with fancy bells and whistles; honestly, I’m fine with that. I moved between devices without losing my spot, and everything loaded fast without hiccups.

Where Becker’s CPE really shines isn’t their tech; it’s their excellent video library, featuring must-watch classes for maintaining tax compliance, like:

• On-Demand or Webinar: Annual Federal Tax Update 2025 (2 parts, 5 credits per part)
• On-Demand: IRA Mastery (2.5 credits)
• Webinar: The One Big Beautiful Bill (2 credits)
• Webinar: Preparing Form 1040 for Tax Year 2025 (3 credits)

I love that a lot of the content is stuff you really need to learn anyway, so you get to kill two birds with one stone.

The instructors have clear voices, high-quality video, well-designed presentations and slides, and the handful of question breaks are extraordinarily easy to answer—honestly, even if you haven’t been listening. I did a few “speed run” watches for the sake of this article, and could clear the questions without watching the content. Obviously, with my CPA history, I’m more familiar with the content than most, but I think even newbies would find the questions and final quizzes extremely fair.

Value, Savings, and Flexibility

Becker is higher-priced than competitors like Sequoia and MYCPE ONE, and has fewer courses to choose from. So, why would anyone choose Becker’s subscription instead?

Becker certainly isn’t perfect, and the price is a little higher than I’d like to see, but it was easily the most dependable of the options I’ve tested. Plus, the classes are engaging, and I never had to strain to try to get what the speakers were saying, which certainly isn’t the case with some competitors.

Ultimately, value is so much more than price, and Becker is a safe choice I knew would work, report my credits, have up-to-date content, and hold my attention—even after a long day of staring at screens. While the price isn’t feasible for everyone, I personally think it’s worth the investment.

Support and Access When You Need It

Becker’s support team is quick and easy to reach. I had a CE course reporting question handled within hours. You can reach them by phone, email, or online form, seven days a week. And, throughout several attempts to test the team, I never came across a representative who acted impatient or annoyed, even when I asked some—admittedly—silly questions.

Plus, where some companies require you to report your credits to the IRS to confirm your compliance, Becker automatically reports your progress within 48 hours after you’ve completed a course. So, even if you’re wrapping up last-minute courses, as long as you’re two full days away from your deadline, you’ll be good to go.

Becker EA CPE: Head‑to‑Head with the Competition

Becker EA CPE vs Surgent

Surgent offers a very large catalog—115 live webinars and 236 self-study courses—and on paper, that looks like more volume than Becker. The catch is that Surgent doesn’t have a dedicated EA subscription. Instead, EAs have to buy into the same package that CPAs and CMAs use, which drives the cost up significantly. For someone who only needs EA CE credits, it’s hard to justify paying for content that isn’t relevant.

• Choose Surgent if you want the biggest catalog and don’t mind paying for a package built for CPAs, CMAs, and EAs all together.
• Choose Becker if you’d rather pay for a focused EA subscription with a streamlined course mix and built-in IRS reporting.

Becker EA CPE vs Gleim

Gleim keeps its EA CE program small. Their catalog includes just 31 courses (96 credit hours) for enrolled agents, roughly half of what Becker offers. You can buy a smaller 16-hour CE package, but that isn’t close to the 72-hour requirement. Pricing ends up high compared to the limited coverage, making it a lesser value. As a result, due to a per-hour pricing model, if you only want to buy a few hours at a time, Gleim is best for a limited number of credits if you just need a few more to reach the threshold.

• Choose Gleim if you want a lightweight, one-off package and don’t need a full subscription.
• Choose Becker if you want a broader EA catalog designed to meet the entire IRS requirement in one place.

Becker EA CPE vs MYCPE ONE

MYCPE ONE is one of the larger platforms on the market, with 5,000+ EA CE hours and even a mobile app. The problem is quality. In my testing, the site was glitchy, video and audio quality were inconsistent, and the platform felt disorganized. Instructor clarity also varied a lot—some were solid, others were difficult to follow. Beyond that, I’ve read multiple student reviews citing issues with unexpected auto-renewals, which is concerning.

• Choose MYCPE ONE if you want the absolute largest library of EA CE hours and don’t mind dealing with tech quirks or uneven content quality.
• Choose Becker if you’d rather have a smaller, curated library with consistent production quality and reliable IRS reporting.

Also, check out my review of other Becker CPE subscriptions.

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