Free tool

BCBA fieldwork hours calculator

Enter your pathway, the hours you have already banked, and your weekly pace. This free calculator projects your BCBA fieldwork completion date, the monthly hours you need to stay on track, and your required 60% unrestricted split. No signup, no spreadsheet.

Updated July 20, 2026 · 3 min read · Reviewed by the Ripley team

Application rules

Fieldwork pathway

Hours already banked

Total supervised-equivalent hours logged so far.Hours per week going forward

Your realistic weekly fieldwork pace.

2,000

Hours remaining

July 2028

Projected finish

Months to finish

87 hrs

Required monthly pace

≥ 1,200

Unrestricted needed (60%)

≤ 800

Restricted cap (40%)

Monthly supervision (Supervised, 2027 rules)

Estimates only. Your official totals depend on your supervisor's sign-off and BACB rules for your application date. Ripley tracks the exact figures automatically as you log hours.

How the calculator works

Pick Supervised (2,000-hour) or Concentrated (1,500-hour) fieldwork, enter the hours you have logged, and set a realistic weekly pace. The tool subtracts your banked hours from your pathway total, divides the remainder by your weekly pace, and projects a finish month, keeping the BACB's applicable 20–130 or 20–160 monthly window in view.

Plan the 60% unrestricted split early

At least 60% of your hours must be unrestricted (assessment, program design, data analysis, training others), so aim for that mix from month one rather than backloading it.

Based on a 2,000-hour pathway. The 60/40 split applies to total accrued hours.

See restricted vs unrestricted hours for concrete examples, and the full fieldwork requirements for every rule.

The same math, live in Ripley

The calculator estimates; Ripley does it for real. As you log hours, it keeps your total, your monthly requirements, and your restricted/unrestricted split up to date, and picks your pathway with the same Supervised / Concentrated choice.

Ripley total-hours dashboard showing progress toward 2,000 hours with the restricted and unrestricted split

Ripley bulk-hours entry with the Supervised and Concentrated pathway choice

Calculator FAQ

How many fieldwork hours do I need for BCBA certification?

2,000 hours of Supervised Fieldwork, or 1,500 hours of Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork (each concentrated hour counts as about 1.333 supervised-equivalent hours). The calculator uses whichever pathway you select.

How long does it take to finish BCBA fieldwork?

At the pre-2027 maximum of 130 credited hours per month, 2,000 hours takes about 16 months and 1,500 hours about 12. At the 2027 maximum of 160, the math is about 13 and 10 months. Your actual timeline depends on qualifying activities and supervision, and all hours must fall within the BACB accrual window.

What is the monthly hour limit for BCBA fieldwork?

The pre-2027 range is 20 to 130 hours per supervisory period. For applications on or after January 1, 2027, the range is 20 to 160. Use the calculator's application-rules control to select the correct cap.

How many unrestricted hours do I need?

At least 60% of your total fieldwork hours must be unrestricted activities. For 2,000 hours that is at least 1,200 unrestricted hours; no more than 40% (800 hours) may be restricted.

Primary sources

Calculator limits and pathway totals were reviewed against current BACB publications.

[1]BCBA Handbook · Behavior Analyst Certification Board, accessed Jul 20, 2026
[2]2027 BCBA Eligibility Requirements · Behavior Analyst Certification Board, accessed Jul 20, 2026

Track your real hours free

Ripley does this math live as you log and generates pre-filled verification form PDFs.