RBT Supervision Log Template and Tracker for 2026

An RBT supervision log has one job: prove, months or years later, that each RBT was supervised the way the BACB requires. This post gives you a field-by-field log, example rows, and a three-tab spreadsheet layout with the monthly check built in. It is written for RBT supervisors, requirements coordinators and the operations people who keep the records.

Authority and as-of date. Everything below about the requirements comes from the BACB's RBT Handbook (the copy dated 10/2026 on bacb.com, read on November 2, 2026) and the BACB's Supervision Checklist for RBTs (version 7/2025). The BACB revises these documents, and the BACB is the authority, not this post. Read the "Ongoing Supervision" section of the current handbook before you build or change a tracker. Payers and state licensing boards can add their own supervision rules on top; those vary, so check yours.

RBT supervision requirements for 2026: what the log has to prove

As the 10/2026 RBT Handbook states them, the ongoing supervision requirements are:

• Amount. Supervision for a minimum of 5 percent of the hours the RBT spends providing behavior-analytic services each calendar month.
• Contacts. At least two face-to-face, real-time contacts per month. Phone and email do not count.
• Observation. The supervisor must observe the RBT providing services in at least one of the monthly meetings. On-site is preferred, but web cameras or video conferencing can be used, provided internet-based supervision complies with applicable laws. The handbook adds that video monitoring on its own, without real-time interaction or feedback, may not count.
• Individual versus group. At least one of the two sessions must be individual, with no other RBTs or trainees present. The other may be a small-group meeting of 2 to 10 RBTs, and the number of RBTs may not exceed 10 regardless of how many supervisors are present.
• Separate from professional development. One event cannot cover both ongoing supervision and professional development.
• Each organization separately. An RBT who works at two organizations must meet the requirements at each. The handbook gives the example that 3 percent at one organization and 2 percent at another does not add up.
• Records. The RBT and the supervisor or requirements coordinator must retain supervision documentation for at least 7 years, even after the relationship ends.

The handbook's documentation list is effectively your column list: days and times the RBT provided behavior-analytic services; dates and duration of supervision; format (one-on-one or group); dates of direct observations; names of supervisors who provided supervision; proof of the supervisor's relationship to the client; and additional documentation if records are discrepant, such as session notes. For the competency side, see RBT competency assessment and supervision.

The log, field by field

Keep one row per supervision contact. Fields marked (BACB) map directly to the handbook's documentation list; the rest make the log usable.

Field	Why it is there	Example
Supervision date (BACB)	Places the contact in a calendar month	2026-10-08
Start and end time (BACB)	Gives duration; supports the monthly total	15:30 to 16:30
RBT name	One row per RBT. For group sessions, one row per attending RBT	Dana Okafor (fictional)
Organization	Requirements are met per organization	Example ABA Clinic (fictional)
Supervisor name and credential (BACB)	Who provided it, and that they are qualified	M. Lindqvist, BCBA (fictional)
Format (BACB)	Individual or group; this proves the "at least one individual" rule	Individual
Group size	Proves a group stayed within 2 to 10 RBTs	blank, or 6
Modality	In person or video; supports the real-time rule	Video conference
Direct observation? (BACB)	Records the monthly observation	Yes
Client observed (BACB)	Ties the observation to a client the supervisor is responsible for	Client code, not a name, if the log is shared
Supervisor-client relationship (BACB)	The handbook lists proof of the relationship to the client	Supervising BCBA on the treatment plan
Topics and feedback	Shows supervision was substantive	Prompt timing; transitions; data accuracy
Follow-up action	Closes the loop for the next contact	Re-score prompt timing at next observation
Signatures	Supervisor and RBT both sign, with date	Initials and date

Do not log what you cannot defend. A ten-minute hallway chat is not a supervision contact. Phone calls and emails are useful communication but, per the handbook, do not satisfy the face-to-face, real-time requirement.

Example rows

All names fictional; times and hours invented.

Date	RBT	Supervisor	Format	Mode	Time	Observed?	Topics
10/08	D. Okafor	M. Lindqvist, BCBA	Individual	Video	60 min	Yes, client C-114	Prompt timing; first-then board at transitions
10/22	D. Okafor	M. Lindqvist, BCBA	Group (6 RBTs)	In person	45 min	No	Preference assessments; data-sheet accuracy
10/22	T. Brandt	M. Lindqvist, BCBA	Group (6 RBTs)	In person	45 min	No	Preference assessments; data-sheet accuracy

In this example, Dana's October contacts are one individual session with an observation and one group session, which has the shape the handbook describes for the two required contacts. Whether the hours also reach 5 percent is a separate calculation, below.

The 5 percent check, with the arithmetic

The requirement is a percentage of service hours, so it moves every month. Suppose Dana provided 118 hours of behavior-analytic services in October. Five percent of 118 is 5.9 hours. Her logged supervision of 60 plus 45 minutes is 1.75 hours, so she would fall well short even though she had two compliant contacts.

This is the most common surprise. The contacts rule and the percentage rule are separate, and a log that checks only one will report green while the RBT is out of compliance. A second trap: the percentage is of hours the RBT provides behavior-analytic services, so the denominator has to come from timesheets or session records, not from scheduled hours. If the handbook says nothing about how to round a fraction of an hour, round up and keep a note; do not guess at a rule the BACB has not written.

Questions of whether a given activity counts toward the supervision minutes belong with the BACB or your requirements coordinator. The handbook lists supervision activities such as developing performance expectations, observing and giving feedback, behavioral skills training, modeling, and reviewing written materials like session notes and data sheets.

RBT supervision tracker: a three-tab spreadsheet layout

If you track in a spreadsheet, three tabs are enough and keep the denominators honest.

Tab	Columns	Purpose
1. Service hours	Date, RBT, organization, client code, start, end, hours (formula: end minus start, times 24)	Source of the denominator; export from timesheets or session records, do not retype
2. Supervision	The fourteen fields above, plus a computed Month column (for example, =TEXT(date,"yyyy-mm"))	One row per RBT per contact
3. Monthly check	RBT, Month, Service hours, Required hours (service hours times 0.05), Supervised hours, Percent met, Contacts, Individual contacts, Observed this month, Status	One row per RBT per month, built from tabs 1 and 2 with SUMIFS and COUNTIFS

Status logic for tab 3, in plain terms: Green only if all four hold: supervised hours at or above required hours; contacts at 2 or more; at least one individual contact; and at least one observation. Otherwise show which test failed. Add a mid-month column showing hours still needed, because a check done on the 31st cannot be fixed.

Mistakes that break supervision records

• Counting group hours as individual. The format field exists to stop this.
• Forgetting the second organization. An RBT split across two employers needs a separate row set and a separate percentage for each.
• Logging the plan, not the event. Log supervision when it occurs, with the actual times.
• Missing observations. Observation is easy to schedule and easy to lose when a client cancels. Track it as its own pass or fail.
• Short retention. Seven years is the handbook's minimum, and it applies even after someone leaves. Do not purge a departed RBT's rows.
• Supervisors who are not on record. The BACB checklist reminds RBTs that without a qualified supervisor on record with the BACB, an RBT may not practice, bill or represent themselves as active.

Supervisor structures and who signs the log

The handbook describes two organizational structures, and the log looks slightly different in each. In the RBT Supervisor structure, one or more supervisors provide all of an RBT's supervision and are responsible for the services the RBT provides. Where several supervisors share an RBT, they have to collaborate so that the requirements are met in total at that organization. In the RBT Requirements Coordinator structure, a coordinator makes sure the RBT's supervisors collectively meet the requirements each month and keeps the BACB records current; the coordinator may also serve as one of the supervisors. An RBT may have only one requirements coordinator per organization.

What this means for your log: add a column for the supervisor who delivered each contact, and add a coordinator review step (a monthly sign-off on tab 3) if you use a coordinator. The handbook also says supervisors must have completed supervisor training based on the BACB's Supervisor Training Curriculum Outline (2.0) before supervising, and the supervision checklist refers to an 8-hour training. Record each supervisor's credential and the date their training certificate was uploaded, and set a reminder for credential expiry so a lapse is seen before it affects a month of records. Qualifications and any changes belong to the BACB; read the supervisor requirements table in the handbook rather than relying on a summary.

A worked month, start to finish

Here is how the log is used, using fictional numbers, in a month for one RBT.

1. Day 1. Tab 1 is empty for the month. Pull the RBT's scheduled service hours and estimate the target: if the schedule shows about 120 hours, 5 percent is about 6 hours of supervision to plan for. That is a planning figure; the actual requirement uses actual hours.
2. Week 1. Book the individual session and decide now when the observation will happen. Tying them together avoids a second meeting.
3. Midpoint. Run the monthly check. The mid-month view shows hours logged so far against the 5 percent target for hours worked so far, so a shortfall is visible while there is time to add a session.
4. Week 4. Hold the group session if you use one, and make sure the roster, with group size, is saved.
5. Last day. Close the month: tab 1 is final from timesheets, tab 3 turns green or states what failed, supervisor and RBT sign. If a requirement was missed, the handbook says to report it to the BACB under its self-reporting section and to discuss how to meet the requirements going forward. Do not edit the log to hide a gap.

Cancellations are the main threat. If a client cancels the session on the day the observation was planned, you need a second client or a second date. Practices that treat the observation as a task with its own due date, rather than a note on the calendar, lose fewer of them.

Related reading

RBTs moving toward their own certification should also see BCBA supervised fieldwork hours; that is a different set of rules with its own monthly structure. For the tooling side, our page on ABA supervision tracking software explains how a system can keep these records.

In Wilma, supervision is logged with one tap by the supervisor, and she then tracks toward the BACB hours and ratios automatically from there; she does not log supervision for you, and she is not a substitute for reading the handbook. A spreadsheet built as above works fine for a small team, and our page on software for small practices covers when it is worth moving off one.