Templates and trackers
BCBA Hours Tracker for Fieldwork and Supervision
BCBA hours tracker for Excel and Google Sheets: log fieldwork daily and check supervision %, contacts, observation and monthly hour limits before month end.
For BCBA and BCaBA candidates and supervisors
BCBA Fieldwork Hours Tracker
$29USD · one-time purchase · instant download
Log each day's fieldwork in a minute. The tracker totals every month, checks it against the fieldwork requirements and tells you exactly what is missing before the month closes.
- Pick your rule set: 2022 standards (applying by 12/31/2026) or 2027 standards (applying from 1/1/2027), Supervised (2,000 hours) or Concentrated (1,500 hours)
- Monthly checks update on their own: 20 to 130 or 160 hours, supervision 5%, 10% or 7.5%, contacts (2022 only) and group share
- Logs client observations as Y/N and in minutes, covering the 2022 count and the 2027 60 or 90 minute totals
- A check-both column shows whether each month would also pass under the other rule set, for anyone applying near 1/1/2027
- Dashboard: hours in compliant months, hours remaining, unrestricted share, pace and projected finish month
- Printable monthly log with observation minutes, monthly sign-off summary, 24-month progress record and a 2022 vs 2027 requirements page
You get: Excel workbook · Google Sheets-ready · 4-page printable PDF
Secure checkout by Razorpay. Cards accepted worldwide, charged in US dollars. Files arrive on screen and by email. Refund policy
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What is a BCBA hours tracker?
A BCBA hours tracker is a log where a trainee records every fieldwork session (hours, restricted or unrestricted activity, supervised time, supervision format, contacts and client observations), then totals each calendar month and checks it against the BACB fieldwork requirements, so you can fix a short month before it closes.
This page is for the individual trainee keeping their own BCBA hours. If you are a supervisor or clinic director managing supervision for a whole team of trainees and RBTs, see BCBA supervision tracking for supervisors and clinics instead.
The BACB lets trainees and supervisors design their own documentation system, as long as it shows every requirement was met each month and across all hours (see the BCBA Handbook, Documentation of Fieldwork). The official Monthly and Final Fieldwork Verification Forms (M-FVF and F-FVF) record the result; a tracker is where you keep the daily detail behind them and catch problems early.
Last reviewed: 25 October 2026. Requirements are summarized from the BCBA Handbook (updated 06/2026) and the BACB 2027 transition guidance (updated 01/2026). Always confirm with the current BACB documents and your supervisor.
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BACB fieldwork requirements (2022 standards, in effect now)
These are the BCBA fieldwork requirements in effect since 1 January 2022. They apply to applications the BACB receives by 31 December 2026 (BACB, 2027 requirements announcement). Each supervisory period is one calendar month.
| Requirement | Supervised Fieldwork | Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork |
|---|---|---|
| Total fieldwork hours | 2,000 | 1,500 |
| Fieldwork hours per month | 20 to 130 | 20 to 130 |
| Supervision each month | at least 5% of the month's hours | at least 10% of the month's hours |
| Supervisor contacts each month | at least 4 | at least 6 |
| Observation with a client each month | at least 1 | at least 1 |
| Group supervision | no more than 50% of the month's supervised hours; 2 to 10 trainees per group | |
| Unrestricted activities | at least 60% of all fieldwork hours, measured across your whole fieldwork, not month by month | |
| Time limit | all fieldwork within five continuous years, counted by calendar month | |
Source: BCBA Handbook, Supervised Fieldwork Requirements. A few details trainees often miss:
- Supervision percentage is supervised hours divided by total fieldwork hours (independent plus supervised) for the month, so supervised time counts inside your fieldwork total.
- A contact is a real-time interaction with your supervisor, individual or group.
- The observation must be of you working with a client in the natural environment. In person is preferred; live or recorded video is allowed. Watching a recording without real-time feedback can count as the observation but not as a contact or supervised time.
- One fieldwork type per month per supervision structure, and every requirement of that type must be met for the month's hours to count.
- Forms: the M-FVF must be signed by the last day of the calendar month after the month of supervision, and both of you keep the forms for at least seven years.
What the 2022 standards changed: they replaced the 4th edition experience requirements, swapped the old Experience Verification Forms for the M-FVF and F-FVF, and required first-year BCBAs who supervise trainees to get monthly consultation from a consulting supervisor. Hours earned under the 4th edition rules count only if they also meet the 2022 requirements, such as the number of contacts (BACB, The 2022 Transition).
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What changes for BCBA fieldwork in 2027
New BCBA requirements take effect on 1 January 2027. Your fieldwork must meet the requirements in place when you submit your application, not when you earned the hours (BACB 2027 transition guidance). The hour totals stay the same; four things change, per the 2027 BCBA Requirements and the March 2022 BACB Newsletter:
| Requirement | 2022 standards (apply by 31 Dec 2026) | 2027 standards (apply from 1 Jan 2027) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly hours | 20 to 130 | 20 to 160 |
| Concentrated supervision | 10% | 7.5% |
| Supervised Fieldwork supervision | 5% | 5% (no change) |
| Supervisor contacts | 4 or 6 per month | no longer a separate requirement |
| Client observation | 1 observation per month | 60 minutes per month (Supervised) or 90 minutes (Concentrated), cumulative |
| Group limit and 60% unrestricted | as above | unchanged |
If you are not sure which side of 1 January 2027 you will apply on, the BACB recommends meeting both sets of rules, completing both the 2022 and 2027 M-FVFs each month, and recording both the number and the minutes of each observation. Two traps: Concentrated hours supervised at 7.5% do not count as Concentrated under the 2022 rules, and a 160-hour month must be cut to 130 or fewer to apply under 2022.
How our tracker handles this: pick the rule set you will apply under (2022 standards for applications by 12/31/2026, 2027 standards from 1/1/2027) and every monthly check switches to match: hour limits, supervision percentage, contacts (2022 only) and observation, which it logs both as a count and in minutes. A check-both column shows whether each month would also pass under the other rule set, so you can track both while the BACB recommends it.
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Free printable BCBA fieldwork log (PDF)
Download the free monthly fieldwork log (PDF, 1 page). It has columns for date, supervisor, activity, restricted or unrestricted, fieldwork hours, supervised hours, individual or group, client observation, contact and notes, with page totals at the bottom. Print one or more per month and keep it with your fieldwork records.
The full tracker adds the Excel and Google Sheets workbook that totals every month for you and runs the checks, the monthly summary and sign-off page, the 24-month progress record and a dashboard with hours remaining and your projected finish month. Running behavior programs too? See all our ABA data sheets and BCBA templates.
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What is inside
Daily Log
500 rows with dropdowns for supervisor, restricted or unrestricted, individual or group, contacts and observations. A check column flags typos as you go.
Monthly Summary
24 months side by side with green and red checks and a plain-English note such as "Add 1 supervisor contact. Add a client observation."
Dashboard
Hours that count, hours remaining, months compliant, your 3-month pace and the month you will finish, with charts.
Supervisor sign-off
Pick a month and a supervisor and print a one-page summary of that supervisor's hours and the month's checks, with signature lines.
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How to track BCBA hours each month
Set up before your first hour
Confirm you have a qualified supervisor and a signed supervision contract, and (pathways 1 and 2) have started your qualifying coursework. Hours before these are in place do not count. Then enter your fieldwork type, start date and supervisors in the tracker.
Log every session the same day
Record date, hours, restricted or unrestricted, and whether your supervisor was present. For supervision, add individual or group and a one-line summary. For observations, add the setting and the minutes.
Check the month at the halfway point
Around the 15th, look at the monthly summary. If supervision is under 5% (or 10%), contacts are short or there is no observation yet, book it now while there is time.
Close the month
Make sure the month is between 20 and 130 hours, then print the monthly summary and review it with your supervisor.
Sign the official form
Complete the BACB M-FVF with each supervisor by the last day of the following month. Keep a copy of every signed form.
Watch the running totals
Check your unrestricted share stays at 60% or more across all hours, and use the dashboard pace to plan your finish date inside the five-year window.
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Worked example: one month of supervised fieldwork (sample)
This is a fictional sample to show the math. A trainee on Supervised Fieldwork logs the following in March:
| Item | March (sample) | Check (2022 rules) |
|---|---|---|
| Fieldwork hours | 112 (106 independent + 6 supervised) | between 20 and 130: met |
| Supervised hours | 6.0 | needed 5% of 112 = 5.6 hours: met (5.4%) |
| Individual vs group | 3.5 individual, 2.5 group | group 2.5 / 6.0 = 42%, at most 50%: met |
| Supervisor contacts | 5 | at least 4: met |
| Observation with a client | 1 (45 minutes) | at least 1: met |
| Unrestricted hours | 70 of 112 this month | running total 622 of 1,012 = 61.5%, at least 60%: met |
Running total: 900 hours before March plus 112 makes 1,012 hours, leaving 988 to reach 2,000. At a three-month pace of 110 hours a month, that is about 9 more months.
The same month under the 2027 rules: hours, supervision and group share all pass, but 45 minutes of observation is short of the 60 minutes required. One more 15-minute observation before 31 March would make the month count under both sets of rules.
A Concentrated example: 90 hours with 8 supervised hours is 8.9%. That fails the 2022 Concentrated minimum (10%, so 9 hours) but would pass the 2027 minimum (7.5%, so 6.75 hours). Under the 2022 rules, one more hour of supervision fixes it.
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Restricted vs unrestricted hours, and mixing fieldwork types
Unrestricted activities are the tasks a BCBA is most likely to do: observation and data collection, training staff and caregivers, conducting assessments such as functional analyses or preference assessments, meeting clients about behavior-analytic services, graphing and analyzing data, researching the literature for a current client, and writing or revising programs. Restricted activities are delivering therapeutic and instructional procedures, and may be no more than 40% of your total. There is no minimum for restricted hours (BCBA Handbook).
Because the 60% rule is measured across all your hours, a heavy direct-therapy month is fine as long as you make it up later. The risk is finding out at hour 1,800 that you are at 52%. A tracker that shows the running share every month avoids that.
Combining Supervised and Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork: multiply your Concentrated hours by 1.33 and add your Supervised hours; the result must be at least 2,000. For example, 600 Concentrated hours x 1.33 = 798, plus 1,202 Supervised hours = 2,000. Record only actual hours on the BACB forms, not the adjusted number.
| Activity (examples) | Usually |
|---|---|
| Running a client's skill acquisition program | Restricted |
| Writing or revising a behavior plan | Unrestricted |
| Graphing and analyzing client data | Unrestricted |
| Training a caregiver on a procedure | Unrestricted |
| Collecting data only as part of a client's treatment session | Can be restricted |
| Billing, general admin, non-client role-play, podcasts | Does not count as fieldwork |
Your supervisor decides how a specific activity is categorized; the BACB does not rule on individual activities.
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Which tool to use for BCBA supervision hours
| Tool | Who it is for | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| BACB M-FVF and F-FVF | Trainee and supervisor | The official monthly and final verification. Required; the F-FVF goes in your application. |
| This BCBA hours tracker | One trainee | Daily log, monthly checks, running unrestricted %, pace and finish month, printable sign-off summary. |
| Supervision tracking for clinics | Supervisors and clinic owners | Supervision across many trainees and RBTs in one system. |
| ABA practice management | Practices | Scheduling, sessions, authorizations and reporting built around your clinic. |
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Common mistakes that cost fieldwork hours
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BCBA hours and fieldwork questions
How many hours do you need for the BCBA?
How many BCBA supervision hours do I need per month?
What is concentrated supervised fieldwork?
What are the BACB fieldwork hours rules changing in 2027?
Is there a BCBA fieldwork tracker in Excel?
What counts as unrestricted hours?
How long do I have to complete BCBA fieldwork?
Does this replace the BACB fieldwork verification forms?
I supervise several trainees. Can I use it for all of them?
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