1.2 Exam Format & Logistics

Exam Format & Logistics

Quick Answer: The current CPB exam has 135 multiple-choice questions, a 4-hour time limit, and a 70% passing score. AAPC sells exam attempts in bundles - approximately $425 for one attempt or $499 for two attempts - and active AAPC membership is required. You may bring only the current-year CPT, ICD-10-CM, and HCPCS Level II code books, nothing else.

Exam Format at a Glance

The CPB is one of AAPC's longer "core" exams; AAPC's own support pages note that CPB, CIC, and CPPM run a full 4 hours but with differing question totals from the standard 100-question exams. Common trap: older study materials still quote a 200-question, 5-hour-40-minute paper exam - that was the pre-2024 format and is obsolete. AAPC moved all certification exams to computer delivery beginning in 2024.

Fee Structure - Read This Carefully

AAPC changed how it sells attempts. Instead of one fee plus an automatic free retake, you now buy an attempt bundle:

• One attempt - lowest upfront cost, but a fail means buying again.
• Two attempts - a modest premium that builds the retake into the purchase. If you have any doubt about passing the first time, the two-attempt bundle is usually the better value.

Because pricing and bundle terms are revised periodically, confirm the exact current fee on AAPC's checkout page before you pay. Treat any single dollar figure in third-party study material as a planning estimate only.

Membership Requirement

You must hold current AAPC membership to register for and sit the CPB exam, and membership is also what keeps your credential active after you pass. Budget the annual membership fee separately from the exam attempt fee - the exam price does not include membership.

How the Exam Is Delivered

The CPB is an electronic exam offered two ways:

1. Live Remote Proctored (LRP) - you take the exam on your own computer while a proctor monitors you by webcam and microphone. This requires a stable wired internet connection, a working camera, a quiet private room, and a cleared desk. Run AAPC's system and equipment check days in advance.
2. Meazure Learning testing center - you sit the same electronic exam at an approved physical location with on-site proctoring.

Choose the format that matches your equipment and environment; LRP failures on exam day are almost always avoidable connection or webcam problems.

Allowed Code Books - and Nothing Else

The CPB is an open-code-book exam. You may use only the official manuals for the current code year:

• CPT (Current Procedural Terminology)
• ICD-10-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification)
• HCPCS Level II (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System, Level II)

You may not bring study guides, printed notes, practice exams, textbooks, or any other reference. Tabbed and highlighted code books are generally permitted, but handwritten notes added to the margins are not - confirm AAPC's current annotation rules before exam day. Because reference is limited to code books, your billing, payer, and compliance knowledge must come from memory and reasoning.

Calculator and Pacing

CPB scenarios involve arithmetic - allowed amounts, coinsurance, deductibles, and patient balances. Confirm the current calculator policy with AAPC; remote-proctored exams typically restrict external devices and may provide an on-screen calculator, so do not assume a physical calculator is permitted. For pacing, 135 questions in 240 minutes is roughly 1.8 minutes per question, leaving a buffer to flag and revisit hard case items at the end.

A reliable pacing checkpoint system keeps you on track without watching the clock constantly:

If you fall behind, answer your best guess immediately, flag the item, and move on - there is no penalty for guessing, so never leave a question blank. The single most common time sink is hunting through a code book for a detail that a scenario does not actually require; read the question stem first to decide whether you even need the book.

Live Remote Proctoring: Day-of Requirements

LRP candidates fail on logistics more often than on content. Before exam day, confirm you have met AAPC's environment rules:

• A private, well-lit room with a clear desk - only your computer, your code books, and a permitted scratch tool if allowed.
• A working webcam and microphone; the proctor will ask you to pan the room to prove no one else is present.
• A stable internet connection - use a wired connection if possible, and close all other applications.
• Government-issued photo ID matching your AAPC registration name.
• No phones, smartwatches, second monitors, headphones, food, or other people in the room.

Run AAPC's system check several days early, not the morning of, so you have time to fix a camera-driver or bandwidth problem. A disconnection mid-exam can cost you time and, in the worst case, the attempt.

Scoring and Results

The CPB is scored as the number correct out of 135, and 70% is the pass line. Because every question counts equally and there is no deduction for wrong answers, your strategy is simple: answer everything, secure the questions you know cold, and spend remaining time on the case-analysis items that combine multiple domains. AAPC reports a pass/fail result; AAPC does not publicly publish an official CPB pass-rate percentage, so treat any specific pass-rate figure from third-party sites as an estimate rather than fact.