How to Fill Out and Submit the BSA Advancement Report Form

The BSA Advancement Report, Form 34403, is how your unit tells the local council which scouts have earned ranks, merit badges, or awards. The same form covers every program — Cub Scout packs, Scouts BSA troops, Venturing crews, and Sea Scout ships — but who signs it and how it gets submitted depends on the program. Most units now file electronically through Scoutbook Plus at advancements.scouting.org, and the paper PDF remains an accepted alternative from Scouting America’s forms page.

What to Gather Before You Start

A few details collected ahead of time keep the council from sending the report back:

Your pack, troop, crew, or ship number; district name; unit leader’s name and mailing address; and the unit charter’s expiration date. Lapsed charters stall processing.
Each scout’s name spelled exactly as it appears in council registration records, so staff can match the entry to the right profile. The form has one “Name” column and no separate field for a membership ID.
The date each award was earned, and for ranks that require a board of review, the date of that review.
The specific rank, merit badge, or award for each line. One achievement per line, with all of a single scout’s achievements grouped on consecutive lines before you start the next scout.

The form also asks when you are forwarding the report and when you need the physical awards. That second date helps if you are planning a court of honor or pack ceremony on a particular night.

Filling Out the Form

Start with the header block. Check the box for your unit type (Pack, Troop, Crew, or Ship), write in the unit number, and fill in the district, leader name and address, and charter expiration date.

Move to the main table. Each row is one achievement for one scout: name, date earned, description of the award, and if a board of review was required, the review date in the far-right column. Keep each scout’s entries together on consecutive lines.

Below the table is a line for listing any youth who were interviewed by the unit advancement committee but are not advancing. Writing their names in makes clear to the council that they were considered.

The Certification Block

Under the table is a certification statement to the Council Advancement Committee: “I certify that the following record of advancement is correct and that it meets the standards and requirements of Scouting America.” The person completing the form signs this line and writes their title — Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor, Skipper, or similar.

Board of Review Signatures

For Scouts BSA troops, the report “must be signed by at least three members of the board of review, including its chairman.”¹ This requirement applies to troops only.

Because electronic reporting through Scoutbook Plus often happens days after a review, collecting three signatures on the system-generated report can be awkward. The Guide to Advancement allows board members to sign a blank copy of Form 34403 at the time of the review; that signed sheet can then be attached to the electronic report submitted to the council.²

How Program Type Changes the Procedure

The form is universal. The pipeline into it is not.

Cub Scout packs. Den leaders compile den advancement first, and the pack consolidates everything onto a single Form 34403. Cub Scouts have no board of review, so those signature lines and the review-date column do not apply.
Scouts BSA troops. Every scout advancing in rank must appear before a board of review of at least three members. The report goes to the council promptly after each board of review, signed by the three board members including the chair.
Venturing crews and Sea Scout ships. The Venturer or Sea Scout gives an advancement application to the Advisor or Skipper, who takes it to the crew or ship committee for approval. The Advisor or Skipper then signs and forwards the report to the council.

One cross-program rule: no Scouts BSA advancement may be earned by a scout who has turned 18, while Venturers and Sea Scouts may earn advancement through age 20.¹

Filing Through Scoutbook Plus

Scouting America recommends electronic reporting, and most councils now expect it. The platform is Scoutbook Plus at advancements.scouting.org, and you log in with the same credentials you use for my.scouting.org.³

Before anyone in the unit can record advancement, the unit leader, committee chair, or chartered organization representative has to log in and designate a unit advancement coordinator (or delegate that authority).² Once that is in place, the coordinator approves completed advancements inside the system. There is no separate “submit to council” step; approved items go straight into Scouting America’s official database.⁴

The Guide to Advancement recommends reporting at least monthly, with a final annual report in December.² Falling behind causes real problems when a scout transfers to another unit or submits an Eagle Scout application, because the receiving council and the Eagle reviewers rely on the database being current.

Filing on Paper

If your unit does not use Scoutbook Plus, print the PDF from scouting.org, complete it by hand or on a computer, and deliver it to your local council service center. The form itself directs that it be sent “promptly following each board of review if advancement is not reported electronically.”¹ You can drop it off in person or mail it. If you mail it, use a trackable method.

Some councils accept the paper form at the Scout Shop counter when you come in to buy awards. Policies vary, so check with your service center on whether they want the original or will take a copy.

After You Submit: Buying Awards and Fixing Mistakes

Electronic submissions update the council database immediately. Paper submissions take longer, because staff must enter the data by hand, and turnaround depends on the office’s workload.⁵

Scout Shops will not sell restricted items like rank badges and merit badge emblems without proof that the award has been recorded. For units on Scoutbook Plus, the simplest route is to generate a purchase order inside the platform: open the “To Purchase” tab, select the scouts and items, and click “Create PO.” Download the purchase order and bring it to the Scout Shop or add the items to a scoutshop.org cart. If your council will not accept the purchase order format, generate a formal Advancement Report from the History tab instead.⁶

Errors happen. A misspelled name, a missing merit badge, a wrong date. For straightforward data-entry mistakes, contact the council service center and ask them to correct the record. A copy of the original signed advancement report, or the completed blue card for a merit badge, makes the correction simple, which is reason enough to keep your paper backups.

A Note on Eagle Scout

Form 34403 is not sufficient on its own for the Eagle Scout rank. Eagle candidates complete a separate Eagle Scout Rank Application (Form 512-728) and reference the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, and Scouting America updated its policies on Eagle Scout letters of reference effective January 1, 2025.⁷⁸ If you are reporting Eagle advancement, treat Form 34403 as one piece of a larger package rather than the whole submission.

1
Scouting America. Scouting Advancement Form
2
Scouting America. Guide to Advancement 2025
3
Scoutbook Knowledge Base. Introduction to Scoutbook Plus for Cub Scout Packs
4
Northern Star Scouting. Log on to Internet Advancement Reporting 2.0
5
Northern Star Scouting. Recording Scouts BSA Advancement
6
Scoutbook Knowledge Base. Creating a PO Report to Bring to the Scoutshop from Scoutbook Plus
7
Scouting America. Eagle Scout Rank Application
8
Scouting America. Guidance for Updating Council Policies on Eagle Scout Letters of Reference