- "TX-QM" traces back to the Texas Qualified Manager title, a role DPS eliminated as a standalone license on September 1, 2019.
- The current, active credential is the Company Representative Examination administered by Texas DPS Private Security Program.
- It's a 50-question, open-book exam with a 70% passing threshold, completed in 2 hours.
- One exam attempt is included with the original company license fee; retakes cost $100 each.
What the Letters Actually Stand For
"TX-QM" is shorthand that grew out of the old Texas Qualified Manager designation within the Texas private security industry. In plain terms: TX refers to Texas, and QM refers to "Qualified Manager" - a role once required for anyone overseeing the licensed operations of a security guard company or investigations company under the Texas Department of Public Safety's Private Security Program.
If you searched for "TX-QM" expecting a national certification, a project-management credential, or a quality-management standard, you're in the wrong place - and importantly, none of those unrelated credentials share any facts with what's described here. This site covers exactly one thing: the Texas private security exam historically tied to the Qualified Manager title, now formally tested as the Company Representative Examination.
Legacy Title vs. Current Exam Name
Texas DPS retired the separate qualified-manager registration requirement on September 1, 2019. Before that date, a company had to register an individual specifically as its "Qualified Manager" to meet certain oversight obligations. After the change, that separate registration disappeared, and the underlying responsibilities were folded into a designated role called the company representative.
This distinction matters for anyone researching the credential today:
- Company representative is a designated role tied to a licensed company - it is not a standalone individual license or a separate pocket card.
- The written test associated with this role is officially the Company Representative Examination.
- "Texas Qualified Manager" and "Texas QM" remain in wide use as legacy search terms, which is exactly why this site still addresses them directly - see our companion explainer on TX-QM Meaning for a deeper walk-through of the naming history.
If you want the short version of "what is this thing, really," our page on What Is TX-QM? answers that head-on, and TX-QM Certification covers how the designation fits into a company's overall licensing structure.
Key Takeaway
When you see "TX-QM" anywhere on this site, read it as shorthand for the Texas private security exam formerly tied to the Qualified Manager role and now administered as the Company Representative Examination - not a rebrand of any other industry's "QM" credential.
Who Administers the Exam
The exam is administered by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Private Security Program - the same state agency responsible for licensing security guard companies, investigations companies, and the individuals who work under those licenses. There is no private testing vendor or third-party certifying body involved in issuing this exam; it flows directly through DPS's own licensing pathway, applied for through the TOPS (Texas Online Private Security) system alongside company and representative documentation.
Because DPS treats the company representative as a designated role rather than an independent license, the exam functions as a gatekeeping step for whoever a licensed company puts forward to hold that responsibility - often an owner, operations manager, or senior supervisor at a guard company or investigations firm.
Exam Format and Question Style
Unlike many professional exams, this one is deliberately structured as an open-book test. That single fact changes almost everything about how you should prepare.
- Question count: 50 questions
- Question types: multiple-choice and true/false
- Time limit: 2 hours
- Passing threshold: 70%
- Materials allowed: printed statutes and rules, plus a driver license or state-issued ID
- Supplies to bring: two sharpened pencils with erasers
Because it's open-book, the real skill being tested isn't memorization - it's the ability to quickly locate the correct statute or rule and interpret it under time pressure. That reframes how you should think about difficulty; our breakdown at How Hard Is the TX-QM Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through exactly why open-book format doesn't mean "easy," and TX-QM Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass breaks down what 70% actually requires question-by-question.
Core Legal Topics You Must Know
The exam draws its content from two primary legal sources: Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1702 and Texas Administrative Code Chapter 35. Neither one is optional reading - together they form the entire knowledge base behind every question on the test.
Individual-License Eligibility
Candidates must understand the baseline qualifications required for individuals to hold a license under Chapter 1702, including how eligibility differs across license categories.
- Know the general disqualifying factors DPS applies during review
Pre-Employment Procedures
This covers what a licensed company must do before placing someone into a security or investigative role - background steps, documentation, and timing requirements.
- Understand sequencing: what must happen before work begins versus after
Applications and Company Documentation
Expect questions on how companies and representatives apply through TOPS, what supporting documentation is required, and how additional service categories can trigger the need for additional qualified representatives.
- Know when a single company needs more than one designated representative
Employee and Business Records
Recordkeeping obligations are a recurring theme - what records a company must maintain, for how long, and in what form.
- Distinguish employee-level records from business-level records
Disciplinary Actions and Administrative Fines
This area covers how DPS enforces violations, the range of administrative penalties available, and the process a company or individual faces when a complaint or violation is identified.
- Study the escalation path from warning to fine to license action
For a full, exam-mapped walkthrough of how these topics translate into test content, see TX-QM Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 0 Content Areas. And if you'd rather practice against realistic scenario questions before committing hours to statute reading, ../ offers a practice-test environment built specifically around this material.
Eligibility to Sit for the Exam
Eligibility depends on which type of company the representative will serve.
Guard-company representatives generally need:
- Minimum age of 21
- Three years of relevant accumulated employment experience
- At least one year of managerial or supervisory experience
Investigation-company representatives can qualify through one of several paths:
- Three consecutive years of investigative experience, or
- A qualifying criminal-justice or related bachelor's degree, or
- Specified combinations of degree plus experience, or
- A qualifying university-affiliated specialized course of at least 200 instructional hours
A full walkthrough of every qualifying path, including how DPS evaluates mixed education-and-experience combinations, is available in TX-QM Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Fees, Retakes, and Cost Mechanics
Unlike exams that charge a standalone testing fee, this one is bundled into the company licensing process. One examination attempt is included with the original company license fee. The posted company fee schedule (including subscription charges) looks like this:
| Company Class | Fee (includes subscription charges) |
|---|---|
| Class A | $361 |
| Class B | $412 |
| Class C | $556 |
Keep in mind that applicant fees, fingerprint processing, and insurance costs are billed separately from the company license fee above - they are not included in the figures shown. If a retake is needed, each additional attempt costs $100, and availability depends on scheduling within the 90-day application window, so don't assume you can retest whenever convenient. A complete cost breakdown, including how these pieces stack up against each other, is covered in TX-QM Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Because only one exam attempt is bundled with your original company license fee, failing on the first try adds a real $100 cost plus scheduling risk inside a fixed 90-day window - treat your first attempt as the one that counts.
Building a Study Plan Around the Acronym
Because the exam is open-book, your prep time is better spent building navigation speed through Chapter 1702 and Chapter 35 than trying to memorize statute language word-for-word. A short, spaced approach works well here specifically because the test rewards familiarity with structure over rote recall:
Statute Familiarization
- Read through Chapter 1702 once for structure, tabbing sections on eligibility and pre-employment procedures
Rule Cross-Referencing
- Work through Chapter 35, tabbing records-retention and disciplinary-action sections; practice locating answers to sample scenario questions
Timed Practice
- Run full 50-question practice sets under a 2-hour clock to build the speed your open-book lookup requires
For a more detailed week-by-week study framework mapped to this exact exam, see TX-QM Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And before you schedule, confirm your testing window using TX-QM Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling so your 90-day application timeline lines up with your study plan.
If you want to gauge readiness before test day, running through timed practice questions on ../ is a low-risk way to see whether your tabbing system and pacing hold up under the same 2-hour, 50-question structure you'll face at the DPS testing site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not as a standalone license. The separate qualified-manager registration ended September 1, 2019. The role's responsibilities now sit with a designated company representative, and "TX-QM" survives mainly as a legacy search term for that history.
They're related but not identical. Company representative is a designated role tied to a licensed company rather than an independent license or pocket card, whereas the old Qualified Manager registration was a separate credential in its own right.
Yes - this is an open-book exam. You can bring printed statutes and rules, along with a driver license or state-issued ID and two sharpened pencils with erasers.
Each retake costs $100, and you'll need to schedule within the 90-day application window, so availability isn't guaranteed if you wait too long.
See Is the TX-QM Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 for a breakdown of the tradeoffs, and TX-QM Jobs for a look at which roles typically require this designation.