Question from a coach – How can I accumulate hours to apply towards my ICF credential?

Question - How can I get coaching hours to apply for my ICF credential?

Jennifer – You probably know that if you're going for your ACC credential, you need at least 100 hours of logged coaching with a minimum of 8 different clients. What you may not know is that 25 of those hours can be pro-bono (actually 30 right now because of Covid). Leaving seventy-five of paid coaching (currently 70 due to Covid).

Another thing a lot of people don't know is that the ICF allows you to count barter hours as paid hours. Therefore, some of your 75 paid hours can be through barter. So if Bob coaches Bill and then Bill coaches Bob in exchange, they can each count the time that they were the coach as paid coaching hours.
So get coaching! Ask friends, family members, colleagues, neighbors for referrals. If each one of them gives you just two people who agree to a sample session, you’re well on your way. Then, at the end of the session, be sure to ask each person if they’d like to work with you! The hours will start to add up quickly.

I recommend you start to keep a log of your coaching hours starting now. It’s simple - open up a new Excel spreadsheet and add the following columns: name of the person you coached, their email address, start and end date, total number of hours coached, and whether they were paid or pro-bono. (Remember, any sample sessions that you give your clients to see if they're a good fit for your practice should be counted.)

That’s it! Easy-peasy.