Do BCBA Fieldwork Hours Transfer If You Change Jobs?
By the Ripley Fieldwork Tracker team · Published September 9, 2026 · Reviewed September 2, 2026 · 4 min read
Yes, your fieldwork hours transfer when you change jobs or clinics. Hours belong to you and your documentation, not to your employer, so the hours you correctly logged and verified under a qualified supervisor stay valid no matter where you work next. The risk isn't the move itself. It's a gap in paperwork created by the move: an unsigned final month, a new supervisor logging hours before a contract exists, or records you can't access once you've left.
Job changes are normal across a two-to-three-year fieldwork timeline. Here's how to switch without losing a single hour.
Do I lose my fieldwork hours if I change employers?
No. Verified hours are yours and stay valid after you leave.
The BACB ties your hours to documented supervision, not to a particular workplace. Any month where you met the requirements and your supervisor signed the verification form is banked permanently. Changing clinics doesn't reset your total or invalidate past months. What people call "losing hours" in a job change is almost always one of two fixable failures: a final month at the old job that never got a signed form, or hours logged at the new job before the new supervision contract was in place.
What has to be in place before I log hours at a new job?
A signed supervision contract with the new qualified supervisor, before hour one.
This is the rule that protects the transition. Every new supervisory relationship needs its own signed contract in place before you log any hours under it. Don't let enthusiasm or a fast start date push you into logging week-one hours on a handshake. Hours accrued under a new supervisor with no contract yet in place are the ones genuinely at risk, and there's no retroactive fix that satisfies an auditor.
What's the checklist for switching jobs cleanly?
Close out the old relationship and open the new one in the right order.
| Before you leave the old job | Before you start at the new job |
|---|---|
| Get the final month's M-FVF signed | Confirm the new supervisor is BACB-qualified |
| Download and save copies of every signed form | Sign the new supervision contract |
| Confirm your running totals are recorded | Don't log any hours until the contract is signed |
| Verify your supervisor's contact info is current | Set the pathway (standard or concentrated) for the new relationship |
The most-missed item is the first one: people give notice, work their last weeks, and never circle back for the final signature. That month becomes a hole. Get it signed by the deadline, the end of the calendar month following the supervision month, before you lose easy contact with your old supervisor.
Can I have more than one supervisor or work two jobs at once?
Yes. Multiple concurrent supervisors are allowed if each relationship is documented.
You can accrue hours under more than one supervisor in the same month, including across two jobs, as long as each has a signed contract and each signs off on the hours they oversaw. This is common and fully compliant. The catch is bookkeeping: every supervisor's percentage, observation, and monthly forms have to hold up independently. Mixing two supervisors' hours into one mental tally is how a shortfall hides until audit.
How do I keep my records portable across jobs?
Keep your hours in a system you own, not a clinic's internal tracker.
The cleanest protection against a messy transition is keeping your own continuous record that doesn't get switched off when your employee badge does. If your only log lives in a former employer's spreadsheet or internal system, a job change can cut you off from your own history. The Ripley Fieldwork Tracker is your account, not your employer's. It carries your full history across jobs, supports multiple supervisors at once, and lets you bulk-import hours you accrued elsewhere so everything lives in one verifiable place. When you switch jobs, your record just keeps going.
FAQ
Do I keep hours from a supervisor I'm no longer with? Yes, as long as those hours were documented correctly and the forms were signed at the time.
Can I log hours at the new job while my contract is still being finalized? No. Wait until the supervision contract is signed. Hours logged before that are at risk.
Can I work two ABA jobs and count both? Yes, if each has its own qualified supervisor and signed documentation. Each relationship must independently meet the requirements.
What's the most common way people actually lose hours in a job change? An unsigned final month at the old job, or starting the new job before the contract exists.
Does switching from standard to concentrated mid-fieldwork cause problems? No, but set the pathway clearly for each relationship and track the differing supervision percentages and observation minutes accordingly.
Ripley is independent and is not affiliated with the BACB. Always verify requirements against current BACB documents.
Sources
- BACB: FAQs About Supervised Fieldwork Requirements
- BACB: Documenting Fieldwork - Helpful Answers to Your FAQs
- BACB: BCBA Handbook
Ripley Fieldwork Tracker is a comprehensive, free online platform designed to simplify the process of tracking Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) fieldwork hours for aspiring Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and their supervisors. With features like real-time progress dashboards, BACB-compliant verification forms, and support for multiple supervisors, Ripley simplifies the certification process with secure, cloud-based tools.