About Executive Coach Training

The goal of most beginning coaches is to complete the International Coach Federation Accredited Training requirements, become certified by their coach training school, and ultimately seek an independent credential from the International Coach Federation (ICF).

As a resource for such coaches, we provide the following definitions and terms related to coach training and coach credentialing:

Associate Certified Coach (ACC)

The ICF Associate Certified Coach credential is for coaches with at least 100 hours of client coaching experience. There are two ways to apply for the ACC: an ACTP application and a Portfolio application. The ACTP application is a streamlined application only for those who have completed an entire Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP). The Portfolio application is for all other applicants and requires more documentation, additional mentoring, and an additional independent oral examination. Most applicants prefer to become graduates of an ICF accredited Coach Training Program because the current turn-around time for receiving the credential is two weeks versus the four to nine months needed for the portfolio application path.

Professional Certified Coach (PCC)

The Professional Certified Coach credential is for a coach with at least 750 hours of client coaching experience. As with the ACC, there are two ways to apply for the PCC: an ACTP application and a Portfolio application. Again, the ACTP application is a streamlined application only for those who have completed an entire Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP). The Portfolio application is for all other applicants, and requires considerably more documentation and being placed on the waiting list for an independent oral examination. Most applicants prefer to become graduates of an ICF accredited Coach Training Program because the current turn-around time for receiving the credential is two weeks versus the four to nine months to complete the portfolio application path.

Specialized training in executive coaching is available through ICF Accredited Coach Training Programs such as the College of Executive Coaching, which is a post-graduate institute and the first accredited coach training program to focus on executive coaching.

Client Coaching Hours

For purposes of individual credentialing for an ACC, PCC, or MCC, a client coaching hour is 60 minutes of coaching time with a person who has hired you as a coach, with whom you have a formal coaching agreement, and who you coach rather than providing any other service such as consulting or therapy. If you perform coaching and other services for a client, you may only count the actual time spent coaching toward certification.