Accreditation renewal
Accreditation or membership renewed on the cycle the awarding body sets, usually against a logged number of coaching hours and completed CPD.
For life coaches
Keeping accreditation, coaching hours and client records straight
Sessions end, but accreditation, professional indemnity and the notes behind each client run on their own calendar.
No account needed to see the proposed desk.
The recurring work
What life coaches have to keep on top of
Every one of these has a date attached, a document behind it, and somebody who notices when it slips. This is what goes on the desk.
CPD and supervision hours
Continuing professional development, and mentor coaching or supervision where the credential requires it, logged across the cycle.
Professional indemnity renewal
Professional indemnity cover renewed before the policy date, since a corporate client asks for the certificate before a contract starts.
Coaching agreements
Written agreements refreshed with each new client, covering the scope of the work, confidentiality and the number of sessions booked.
Session notes and retention
Notes written up after each session and held under the retention rule the client was told about when the agreement was made.
Data protection
ICO registration and a privacy notice covering client records, because session notes and contact details are personal data.
Enquiry pipeline
Enquiries chased through to a discovery call and a signed agreement, since a coaching practice runs on the next few clients rather than the last one.
Packages and payments
Package payments, instalments and refunds reconciled monthly, with the terms agreed at contracting applied in the same way every time.
Boundaries and referrals policy
A written boundary and referral policy reviewed each year, covering what sits outside coaching and where a client is passed on.
What it costs to carry it
The coaching hour is the product, and everything supporting it is unpaid: the notes typed after the session, the enquiries that go cold, the records that keep a credential and a corporate contract alive. The usual failure is not dramatic, with a renewal missed because the hours were never logged, a package never invoiced after the third session, or a client file that cannot be found when a buyer asks. Losing an accreditation means the next corporate contract cannot be signed, and the hours cannot be rebuilt after the fact.
What the desk takes over
The desk works this list to its own schedule and reports what it did.
Hours and CPD log
Logging coaching hours and CPD against the accreditation cycle and preparing the renewal when it falls due.
Enquiry follow-up
Chasing enquiries, arranging discovery calls and following up the ones that went quiet.
Invoices and terms
Raising package invoices, tracking instalments and applying the agreed terms to cancellations and refunds.
Client records
Keeping session notes and consent records in order and holding them to the retention rule the client agreed.
What stays with the life coach
The coach still runs the sessions and still decides what the client is working towards and when the work is finished, because that is the relationship. The desk handles the hours, the invoices and the record keeping behind it.
Questions
How are coaching hours recorded for accreditation?
Each session is logged against the client and totalled for the cycle the awarding body sets. The desk keeps the log and prepares it for the renewal.
Are session notes required?
No law requires them, but a corporate buyer or a credentialing body may ask for evidence of the work, and a written note is what answers that. The desk keeps notes to the retention rule the client was told about.
Does the desk bring in clients?
It works the enquiries already in hand and keeps the follow-up going. It does not generate leads.
Put the life coach's recurring work on the desk
Start with a name, a website and one sentence about what the business does. The desk proposes the list; the life coach corrects it.