Finance & Accounting
Tax and finance professional credentials — starting with the IRS Enrolled Agent exam, the highest credential the IRS awards.
Which exam are you taking?
Exams are grouped with their close relatives — the other tiers of the same licence, the same exam in other states. Open a group to see each exam with its free practice questions, study guide and cheat sheet.
- Financial planning1 exam60 free questionsThe CFP certification examination — the standard credential exam for personal financial planners.CFP ExamExplore Financial planning →
- HR certifications2 exams122 free questionsHuman-resources professional certifications — HRCI and SHRM credentials.aPHRSHRM-CPExplore HR certifications →
- IRS credentials & tax practice1 exam152 free questionsThe IRS Special Enrollment Examination (Enrolled Agent exam) and the path to unlimited practice rights before the IRS.Enrolled AgentExplore IRS credentials & tax practice →
Which finance, tax or HR credential are you actually after?
The five exams here lead to five different kinds of standing. The Enrolled Agent credential is a federal licence to represent taxpayers before the IRS, with the same unlimited practice rights attorneys and CPAs hold. The CPA is a state licence to practise public accounting, examined by the AICPA but issued by a state board. The CFP mark is a professional certification for financial planners, owned by CFP Board. The aPHR and SHRM-CP are human-resources certifications from HRCI and SHRM. Nothing here is a securities licence — the FINRA and NASAA exams have their own section.
Eligibility is the sorting question. The Enrolled Agent exam has no education requirement at all: anyone may sit it, and the credential follows a pass on all three parts and a suitability check. The CPA exam requires you to declare eligibility with a state board before applying for a section, and the boards set the education and experience the licence needs. CFP Board requires its education coursework before you may register for the exam. HRCI's aPHR asks for a high-school diploma or equivalent and no HR experience; SHRM-CP does not require an HR title, a degree or previous HR experience.
Format differs as much as eligibility. The Special Enrollment Examination is three separate parts, each scheduled and passed on its own within a rolling window. The CPA exam is four sections scored on a scale that is not a percentage and not curved. The CFP exam is one sitting split into two sessions, offered in three windows a year. The HR exams are single sittings.
Start from the standing you want
Links go to the exam guide, where parts, question counts, fees and the passing standard are verified against the credentialing body's own page.
The Enrolled Agent credential, granted by the IRS after you pass all three parts of the Special Enrollment Examination within the rolling window and clear a suitability check. No degree required. Registration and scheduling run through the IRS's testing contractor, and the credential is kept with continuing education from IRS-approved providers, including an ethics requirement.
The Uniform CPA Examination — written and scored by the AICPA, administered through NASBA, licensed by your state board of accountancy. You declare eligibility with the board before applying for each section, and the board's education and experience rules decide when the licence follows the exam.
CFP Board's exam, sat in one of three annual windows across two sessions. Coursework through a CFP Board-registered program is required before registration, and the certification also needs a bachelor's degree, qualifying experience and the ethics commitment. The pass standard is set by the Board, not published as a percentage.
HRCI's entry-level HR certification: a high-school diploma or equivalent, no HR experience required. Delivered by Pearson VUE at centres or by online proctoring.
SHRM's certified professional exam. SHRM does not require an HR title, a degree or previous HR experience to sit it; recertification runs on professional development credits.
What comes before the exam, and after
- 01Confirm eligibility with the body: none for the Enrolled Agent exam, a state-board declaration for the CPA, completed coursework for the CFP, a diploma for the aPHR, nothing beyond registration for SHRM-CP.
- 02Schedule with the body's testing provider — Prometric for the Enrolled Agent exam and for the CPA, CFP Board's provider for the CFP, Pearson VUE for the HR exams — and for multi-part exams, one part at a time. The IRS re-tenders the Enrolled Agent contract periodically, so the exam page carries the provider in force for the current testing year.
- 03Pass every part or section inside the rolling window the body allows before earlier passes expire.
- 04Complete the non-exam requirements — IRS suitability, state-board education and experience, CFP Board's degree, experience and ethics — and then keep the credential with the continuing-education cycle each body sets.
Fee, format and passing standard
All 5 exams on this page. Each figure is that exam's verified fact, cited to the regulator's page on the exam guide it links to. A blank cell means the regulator publishes no fixed figure.
| Exam | Fee | Questions | Time | Passing | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled Agent | — | — | — | Pass all three SEE parts within three years | Internal Revenue Service (IRS) |
| CPA Exam | — | — | — | Minimum 75 on each section (0-99 scale) | AICPA (content and scoring) with NASBA and state Boards of Accountancy |
| CFP Exam | — | — | — | Pass/fail standard set by CFP Board Standard Setting; no published percent-correct threshold | CFP Board |
| aPHR | $300 | 65 | 1h 45m | — | HR Certification Institute (HRCI) |
| SHRM-CP | $399 | 134 | 3h 40m | — | Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) |
Who writes these exams
- Internal Revenue Service
- Grants and renews Enrolled Agent status, sets the three-part exam and the continuing-education rules, and defines the practice rights the credential carries.
- AICPA, NASBA and state boards of accountancy
- The AICPA writes and scores the CPA exam; NASBA administers eligibility and delivery for the boards; each state board licenses CPAs and sets the education and experience behind the licence.
- CFP Board, HRCI and SHRM
- Private certifying bodies. Each owns its exam, its eligibility rules and its recertification cycle; none is a government licence.
Official pages this section is drawn from
- Internal Revenue Service · Become an Enrolled Agent
- Internal Revenue Service · Maintain Your Enrolled Agent Status
- AICPA & CIMA · CPA Exam
- AICPA & CIMA · CPA Exam scoring and pass rates
- NASBA · CPA Exam
- CFP Board · About the CFP Exam
- CFP Board · CFP Exam Format
- HR Certification Institute · aPHR — Associate Professional in Human Resources
- SHRM · Eligibility Criteria — SHRM Certification
What you'll find on every Finance & Accounting exam
Each exam has up to four pages, one per job to be done: practice the questions, understand the exam, study the outline, or revise the morning of. Flashcards and glossary terms sit inside the study guide rather than on pages of their own.
- Practice tests5
- Free question banks with a worked explanation on every answer.
- Exam guides5
- Cost, format, eligibility and difficulty, straight from the official outline.
- Study guides5
- Full outline coverage, plus the exam's flashcards and glossary terms.
- Cheat sheets5
- One-page summaries built for the last review, with a PDF download.
Finance & Accounting articles
All articles →Pass-rate breakdowns and independent prep-course comparisons for finance & accounting exams. Every figure links back to the body that publishes it.
- IRS EA Exam (SEE) Moves to PSI: What Changed in 2026Effective March 1, 2026, the IRS Enrolled Agent SEE moved from Prometric to PSI. New 500 passing score, $317 f…
- CPA Exam Changes 2026: New Blueprints Effective Jan 1Effective January 1, 2026: the new Uniform CPA Exam Blueprints. What moved in FAR, BAR and TCP, plus the July …
- CFP Exam Changes 2026: OBBBA Questions, New StandardsWhat changed on the CFP exam in 2026: OBBBA tax questions from the March sitting, the 2026 Competency Standard…
Frequently asked questions
CPA exam sections, the CFP certification exam, IRS credentials like the Enrolled Agent, and HR certifications — each with free practice questions, a study guide, and a cheat sheet grounded in the official outlines.
Series exams license you to sell securities and are gateways to specific jobs; the CFP is a professional certification in financial planning competence. Advisers often hold a Series license first and add the CFP as their practice matures.
Yes — free with answer explanations and no signup, for every exam in this field. The AI tutor adds 10 free questions a day when you want something explained differently.
Every fee, format, and passing-score claim on these pages cites its official source — the regulator or certifying body — together with the date it was last verified.
Official sources
Every exam number on this page traces to a document published by the body that sets or administers the exam. These are the primary publishers cited across Finance & Accounting.
- CFP Boardcfp.netcited by 1 exam
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)irs.govcited by 1 exam
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)shrm.orgcited by 1 exam
- HR Certification Institute (HRCI)hrci.orgcited by 1 exam
- AICPAaicpa-cima.comcited by 1 exam
Last verified against these documents: