Credential · National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB), US-based professional body

Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB)

The Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB) is a license, not a one-time certificate, issued by the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) after passing multiple exam modules plus an experience or education requirement, a background check, and a signed code of conduct.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30

NACPB is explicit that the Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB) is a license, not a one-time certificate: it comes with an annual renewal application and a continuing professional education (CPE) requirement, ongoing obligations the AIPB CB designation does not carry in the same form.

The bookkeeping certification exam, one step in the path

The CPB license path runs through NACPB’s Consortia Accounting School CPB Program, and the Bookkeeping Certification exam is one required prerequisite step in that program. That specific exam covers 13 topic areas (accounting fundamentals, journal entries, financial statements, payroll computations, and more), costs $80 for NACPB members and $100 for nonmembers, and a retake costs $40 (member) or $50 (nonmember). Candidates need a minimum score of 75% on the course and exam to pass. NACPB’s public CPB license page does not itself publish the full license’s own separate application fee or the complete list of every prerequisite module, so those figures stay unpublished here rather than estimated.

Membership

NACPB annual membership dues are $100/year. Members get a 20% discount on CPB licensing, license renewal, and CPE, which strongly suggests but does not explicitly confirm whether membership is required to hold the license itself, so that specific yes/no is still pending confirmation on this site.

Staying licensed

Once you hold the CPB license, NACPB requires completing an Annual Application for License Renewal and obtaining 24 hours of CPE each year, starting the year after you obtain the license, plus agreeing to and following NACPB’s Professional Code of Conduct. The dollar cost of that annual CPE is not published on NACPB’s public pages and is not estimated here.

What it is not

The CPB is broader than a single bookkeeping exam: it is positioned by NACPB as covering bookkeeping, payroll, and accounting-principles competency together, not just journal-entry mechanics, and it is a maintained license with yearly upkeep, not a credential you earn once and hold forever with no further obligation.

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