AAPC certification
How to Become a Certified Professional Medical Auditor (CPMA) in 2026
To become a Certified Professional Medical Auditor (CPMA) you pass the CPMA exam set by AAPC. Chart auditing and compliance review, usually taken after several years of coding work.
On cost, exam vouchers start at $425, and AAPC's prep course starts at $1,295.
There is no licence and no state board in medical coding, so the credential is the qualification. What follows is what the CPMA covers, what it costs in total, who can sit it, what keeps it current, and when it is the right one to choose over CPC or COC.
Exam
exam vouchers start at $425
Awarded by
AAPC
Renewal
active AAPC membership plus 40 continuing education units every two years, four more than AAPC’s other credentials require
What is the CPMA certification?
The CPMA, or Certified Professional Medical Auditor, is a certification awarded by AAPC that validates the ability to audit coded medical records for accuracy, compliance and reimbursement risk. In practice it is the step up from production coding, usually taken a few years in rather than at the start.
AAPC points the CPMA at three groups in particular:
- Coders with production experience moving into audit work
- Compliance staff who need a coding-side credential
- Coders whose employers have asked them to review others’ work
What does the CPMA exam cover?
The CPMA exam covers 5 areas, as AAPC describes them:
- Medical record auditing standards and scope
- Compliance, fraud and abuse rules
- Evaluation and management auditing
- Reimbursement and payer risk analysis
- Communicating audit findings to providers
What that means in practice: auditing is judged on judgement rather than speed. The exam assumes you can already code, and tests whether you can decide if another coder's work was defensible, then explain that decision to the person who did it.
How much does the CPMA exam cost?
The CPMA exam costs exam vouchers start at $425, and AAPC's prep course starts at $1,295. Nothing else is included in that figure: expect to buy the current code books, and to pay tuition separately if you take a programme.
The CPMA is taken online at home with a live remote proctor, or at a testing centre.
Compare that with tuition before deciding it is expensive. Programmes we rank charge between about $1,100 and $10,100 a year, so the exam fee is a small share of what you will actually spend getting to it. See the ranked programmes.
Who can sit the CPMA exam?
Anyone meeting AAPC's stated conditions can sit the CPMA. AAPC warns that the CPMA is a difficult, high-level examination and not intended for anyone without training or experience, and expects candidates to have audited physician services and to be well versed in audit types, including evaluation and management.
Treat this as an admission rule rather than a standard. AAPC decides who sits the exam; the exam itself, and then the hiring manager, decide the rest. A programme built specifically around the CPMA is worth more than one that merely leaves you eligible for it, which is why our ranked programmes record the exam each one names.
How do you keep the CPMA?
Keeping the CPMA takes an active AAPC membership plus 40 continuing education units every two years, four more than AAPC’s other credentials require. This is the part people miss when they compare exam fees, because a credential carries a running cost as well as a purchase price.
What sets the CPMA apart
- Requires 40 CEUs every two years where every other AAPC credential on this site requires 36
- An after-experience credential rather than an entry one: auditing means judging other coders’ work
How does the CPMA compare with other coding certifications?
The CPMA compares most directly with CPC and COC, and the choice between them follows the employer rather than the credential. The CPMA is the step up from production coding, usually taken a few years in rather than at the start.
| Credential | Body | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| CPC | AAPC | the default first credential for physician-practice and outpatient work, and the foundation the other AAPC credentials build on |
| COC | AAPC | the facility-side counterpart to the CPC, for people whose employer is a hospital outpatient department rather than a practice |
| CIC | AAPC | AAPC's answer to the inpatient hospital market, where AHIMA's CCS has the longer history |
| CCA | AHIMA | AHIMA's entry credential, and the usual first exam for a graduate of a PCAP-approved certificate |
| CCS | AHIMA | the inpatient hospital standard, and the credential most worth working toward if acute care is the goal |
What jobs and pay does the CPMA lead to?
The CPMA leads to medical coding auditor roles. Those roles sit under Medical Records Specialists in federal wage data (SOC 29-2072), at a median of $51,140 , with the bottom tenth at $37,000 and the top tenth at $81,150, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. No credential guarantees a wage, and the tenth percentile is closer to what a first job pays than the median is.
Common questions about the CPMA
How much does the CPMA exam cost?
Who is eligible to sit the CPMA exam?
How do you keep the CPMA once you have it?
Is the CPMA worth it?
Sources
- AAPC's own CPMA certification page, read 2026-08-18. Every fee, coverage and renewal detail on this page comes from it.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Median and percentile pay for SOC 29-2072.
- Which programmes prepare you for the CPMA: our ranked list and what accreditation actually means.
We re-read these pages periodically, but AAPC can change a fee or a CEU count at any time. Check before paying.