The ICF Coaching Log, Explained (With a Free Template)
The ICF coaching log is the least glamorous document in a coach's business and the one most likely to decide whether a credential application goes through. It is also widely misunderstood. Coaches build elaborate spreadsheets with session topics and outcomes, and then discover that the ICF wants something simpler and that it never wanted the spreadsheet at all. It wants you to be able to produce a person.
This is what the log has to contain, what the ICF does with it, how an audit actually works, and a template you can download and start using today. Every rule is from the ICF's own log template and the 2026 ACC Candidate Guide, checked on 11 September 2026.
Download the template
Two formats, same columns. The spreadsheet has a totals row and a second sheet with the rules; the CSV opens anywhere.
Delete the two example rows before you use it. There is no sign-up and no email capture; it is a spreadsheet.
What the ICF actually asks you to record
The ICF publishes its own client coaching log template, and it asks for very little. Per client:
- Name and contact details. An email address or phone number you could still use.
- The dates you coached them. Start and end.
- Hours, paid and pro bono in separate columns. The ICF checks the paid minimum separately from the total, so mixing them defeats the purpose.
- Whether the coaching was individual or group.
That is the whole list. No session notes, no topics, no goals, no outcomes. Everything else coaches add is for their own practice, and it belongs in a different document, because the log may one day be seen by someone other than you.
The template above adds two columns the ICF does not require but an audit will make you glad you kept: a total, and a notes column for the date you obtained consent to store the client's details and, for internal or third-party coaching, the name of the person at the organisation who can verify the hours.
You do not submit the log. Here is what happens instead.
This is the part that surprises people. The 2026 ACC Candidate Guide says that applicants selected for audit "will not submit client logs directly to ICF." Instead, coaches selected for audit "will be required to access the contact information for their clients or, for confidential internal or third-party coaching, an individual within the organization who is authorized to verify their coaching hours."
Read that as the ICF intends it. The log is not evidence. It is the index that lets you find the evidence, and the evidence is a person who will confirm that you coached them for the hours you claimed. A perfect log with an email address that bounces is worth nothing in an audit.
The guide adds three obligations that most coaches have never thought about. You "should obtain and document clients' consent to store their information, have a policy on how that information will be protected and maintained, and have a system in place for tracking relevant data." Consent, a privacy policy, and a system. The template handles the third. The first is a line in your coaching agreement. The second is a paragraph on your website that says where client data lives and who can see it. If you use a platform, its privacy policy covers most of it; if you use a personal spreadsheet, you are the policy, and you should write it down.
Which hours go in, and which do not
The log is only as good as the rules you apply when filling it. These are the ICF's, not ours.
Only hours after your training started. The ICF counts client coaching delivered after the start of coach-specific education, defined as an ICF-accredited programme of at least 30 hours, or a non-accredited or CCE programme of at least 30 hours where at least 80 percent is on the Core Competencies. Find the enrolment date of your first qualifying programme and do not log anything before it.
Paid is broad. Direct payment, barter, internal coaching you do as part of your job, and coaching delivered through a third party such as a coaching company or an employer programme all count as paid. Pro bono is coaching you gave away or volunteered. If you are unsure, the test is whether anyone gave you anything of value for that session.
Group coaching counts once. Groups of 15 or fewer count in full. Larger groups need a co-coach, and with a co-coach present the time is split between you. An hour with twelve people is one hour in the log, not twelve. Record the group as one row with the group size in the name.
Some things that feel like coaching are out. Mentor coaching, coaching supervision, and going over an assessment's results with a client are not client coaching hours. Practice sessions inside your training programme with fellow students, trainers or mentors are excluded unless the session was outside the classroom, with a real client, and separate from your training credits.
How much you actually need
The totals the log has to support, as of September 2026:
| Credential | Total hours | Paid hours | Clients | Recent hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 100 | 75 | 8 | 25 in the last 18 months |
| PCC | 500 | 450 | 25 | 50 in the last 18 months |
| MCC | 2,500 | 2,250 | 35 | none published |
The recency column is why the log needs dates and not just totals. A coach with 600 lifetime hours and a two-year gap can fail the PCC's 50-hour window while passing everything else, and the only way to see that coming is a log with a date on every row.
A routine that takes ten minutes a month
The log fails when it is reconstructed. Memory is generous and calendars are not, and the gap between them is where audits find problems. The fix is a small habit rather than a big effort.
- Once a month, add or update one row per client you coached. Dates from your calendar, hours from your session records, paid or pro bono from your invoices.
- Check the contact column still works. If a client changed email, update it now, while you can still ask.
- Note consent. If a new client signed your agreement this month, the date goes in the notes column.
- Glance at the totals row against the table above. That is the whole review.
If your sessions are booked and run in Coachful, steps one and two are mostly reading, not typing. Every completed session is already on the client's record with its date and duration, the client's email is on the same record, and the Coach development panel under My Data shows your running hours and client count against all three thresholds. The panel does not know which sessions were paid or when your training started, which is exactly what the log's paid and date columns are for. The longer version of that method is in our guide to tracking ICF coaching hours, and the click-by-click steps are in the help article.
Five mistakes the log will not save you from
- Multiplying group hours by participants. One row, one set of hours, group size in the name.
- Logging sessions from before your first qualifying programme. Draw the line at the enrolment date.
- Putting paid and pro bono in one column. The ICF checks them separately.
- Keeping a client whose contact details are gone. If you cannot reach them, an auditor cannot either.
- Storing client details without consent or a policy. The candidate guide names all three obligations. A log that breaks your own privacy promise is a bigger problem than a missing hour.
Frequently asked questions
What should an ICF coaching log include?
Per client: name and contact details, the start and end dates of the coaching, hours with paid and pro bono in separate columns, and whether the coaching was individual or group. That matches the ICF's own client coaching log template. Session notes and topics are not part of the log.
Do I have to send my coaching log to the ICF?
No. The 2026 ACC Candidate Guide states that applicants selected for audit will not submit client logs directly to the ICF. Instead you must be able to produce contact information for your clients, or an authorised person at the organisation for confidential internal or third-party coaching, so the hours can be verified.
Does the ICF contact your clients?
If your application is selected for audit, the ICF requires you to provide client contact details so the hours can be verified. The candidate guide also expects you to have your clients' consent to store their details and a policy for protecting that information. Not every application is audited, but every application is subject to it.
Do group coaching hours count in the ICF log?
Yes, for groups of 15 or fewer. The time counts once per session, not once per participant. With a co-coach present, the time is split between the coaches. Larger groups do not count without a co-coach.
Can I count coaching hours from before my training?
No. Only hours delivered after the start of coach-specific education count, which the ICF defines as a qualifying programme of at least 30 hours. Sessions before that date are excluded regardless of how good they were.
Is there a free ICF coaching log template?
Yes. The ICF publishes its own template on its website, and the Excel and CSV versions at the top of this article use the same fields plus a totals row and a notes column for consent. Neither requires an email address to download.
Join Coachful now
The log is ten minutes a month if the dates, durations and client emails are already somewhere you can read them. Coachful keeps every session on the client's record and counts your hours and clients against the ACC, PCC and MCC thresholds as you go, so the log stops being a reconstruction and becomes a copy.
