Your PDUs Need Receipts: The 2026 Documentation Check for RBTs and Agencies

You finished the training. You learned something useful. You downloaded a certificate. Before you file it under “handled,” there is one more question: Do you have the documentation your credential actually requires?

The BACB’s updated ACE Provider Handbook took effect July 1, 2026. This is an October 28 check-in on rules already in effect—not a new rule announced today. Here is the practical version for RBTs and the agencies supporting them.

First: know which lane you are in.

RBTs entering the new cycle by certifying or recertifying in 2026 need 12 PDUs during their two-year recertification cycle. Start earning after that certification or recertification; check your own BACB account dates. Qualifying university coursework is another route, but this post focuses on ACE events and employer in-service training. BACB overview →

PDUs are for RBT professional development. A BCBA CE event does not automatically count for an RBT. Likewise, an RBT PD event does not award BCBAs or BCaBAs Learning or Teaching CEUs. Ask about the specific event and credential—not just whether the company offers continuing education.

RBTs: check the paperwork before you close the tab.

1. Verify the ACE Provider. Check the BACB ACE Provider Verification Registry. An ACE number authorizes a provider; it does not mean the BACB individually approved that course.
2. Get the correct form. For ACE PDUs, request the current RBT Professional Development: ACE Event form. A branded completion certificate can be an extra keepsake; it cannot replace the required form.
3. Review every applicable field. Check your identifying information, event information, dates, PDU amount, and provider-completed sections against the current official form. Ask the provider to correct omissions or errors.
4. Know the timeline. ACE PDU documentation must be issued within 45 days. Save the completed form, enter the event information, and upload the documentation in your BACB account.

Our recommendation: keep your own folder organized by recertification cycle. A purchase receipt, dashboard progress bar, or screenshot of “100% complete” is useful backup—not the required PDU record. Do not wait until renewal week to discover something is missing.

Our recommendation: put your PDUs on the record.

Use our free RBT PDU Tracker to log completed training, monitor your progress toward 12 PDUs, and keep documentation details organized. It is an Excel workbook you update yourself—not a connection to your BACB account. Keep the official event forms with your records and upload them separately.

Get the Free PDU Tracker ↗

Why the questions and activities? They are doing a job.

Providers must monitor participation throughout an event. For self-paced ACE events, the handbook lists knowledge questions—at least three per PDU—and other active-response activities as ways to demonstrate participation. A login timer by itself is not enough. Providers also need learning objectives, qualified PD instructors, a feedback opportunity, and a complaint process. ACE event records must be retained for three years. Read the current ACE Provider Handbook →

So yes, the course may ask you to do more than press play. The point is engaged learning, with documentation to support it.

Agencies: outside training needs a check-in, too.

Our suggested workflow: before staff register, confirm the event is offered for RBT PDUs and check the ACE Provider’s status. After completion, review the official form, confirm the event falls within the employee’s eligible cycle, and help them resolve missing information with the provider. Keep an agency copy where appropriate, while reminding the RBT to maintain and upload their own record.

Do not relabel an outside ACE course as your agency’s in-service event just because staff watched it together. Identify the route actually used and retain its matching documentation. An LMS report helps you track completion; it does not replace the BACB form.

Doing PDUs in-house? A staff meeting needs more than a new label.

An employer can offer qualifying in-service PD without becoming an ACE Provider, provided it follows the separate BACB in-service requirements. Plan for:

• RBT-appropriate content, a title, and clear learning objectives.
• An actively certified BCaBA, BCBA, or BCBA-D trainer employed by the organization or invited as a guest.
• Structured instruction and documented attendance for the whole event.
• Accurate instructional time: 25 minutes earns 0.5 PDU; 50 minutes earns 1 PDU. Do not round up.
• The current In-Service Event form, completed by the qualified trainer or designated qualified organization contact within 45 days.
• Relevant event documentation retained for three years.

Client-specific programming meetings, company-policy reviews, CPR, software onboarding, and ongoing supervision do not become qualifying PDUs because they are educational. Independent homework on an RBT’s own time is not in-service PDU time. A structured skill-training event is a different activity from reviewing one client’s plan.

Keep the learning creative. Keep the official form official.

The BACB says these forms must match the current version without added or removed content—including added company logos. Software use must follow the BACB’s permission requirements. Link to the current source rather than designing your own substitute.

Good professional development should leave staff with something they can use—and records they can locate. Explore our professional development library, see agency training options, or build your workflow with our agency PDU policy guide.

Requirements checked October 28, 2026 against the BACB sources linked above. This practical guide is not a BACB publication; current BACB requirements and your individual certification dates govern. Provider authorization does not constitute BACB endorsement of individual events.