Getting your invoices right for payment

If your business hasn’t done a lot of work for the disability sector, or you’re new to the NDIS – it’s important you understand how to invoice correctly under the NDIS, so that the participant (or their Plan Manager) can make a claim for your payment and pay you as soon as possible.

To make sure your invoice is paid quickly, please include the following information:

•  The correct name of the NDIS participant
• Your sole trader, business or company name
•  Your Australian Business Number (ABN)
•  An invoice number
• Date the invoice has been issued
• Date the service was delivered (where possible)
• Basic description of service or product (including units* or hours of service delivery)
• Relevant NDIS line item/s for service or product
• Whether GST was applied to the product or service
• Total amount owing
• Details for payment
• Contact details (including a telephone number)

You are required to have an ABN in order to submit an invoice. If you do not have an ABN then you get more information on this by visiting the Australian Business Register page.

Choosing the relevant NDIS line item for your invoice

To understand how to invoice correctly, we first need to understand how a participant’s support is categorised within their plan. Their funding is split up into three different support categories. These are:

• Core Supports for things that assist in daily living, and with community participation
• Capital Supports for investment into bigger items such as assistive technologies, equipment, home or vehicle modifications, or for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).
• Capacity Building supports designed to help a participant to build their independence and skills in different areas of their life

So your funds can be claimed without confusion, it’s important to understand where your services or support fits in within these categories – because it will affect what you put on your invoice.

NB. if this is all too much and you just need help with this, just drop us an email at invoices@planguard.com.au and we will assist.

Charging correctly on the invoice

The NDIS Support Catalogue helps you find the maximum rates you can charge, and provides you with a ‘support line item’ that the participant will use to claim your payment from their funding pool. Among other things, the NDIS prices take into account:

• Increases in price for higher intensity or outside normal hours support
• Higher delivery costs for support in regional or very remote areas
• Travel costs for providers and therapists
• Cancellations, co-payments and GST considerations

It’s a document worth getting to know!

Common examples of service providers and their related NDIS line items are outlined in the following:

Paul wants to use a pool cleaner to assist him to maintain his pool. You are a pool cleaner and charge $120 per service our to see Paul. All services are to be charged at an hourly rate.

A relevant line item for this would be Assistance with self-care activities – standard, weekday, daytime: 2 hours @ max rate of $50.03/hr. Line # 01_011_0107_1_1 (Assisting with, and/or supervising, personal tasks of daily life to develop skills of the participant to live autonomously as possible).

Gina employs you as her support worker to help her at various times to maintain her independence, such as in the evenings between 6pm and 9pm to assist with meal preparation and showering etc. Her duties are not classed as high needs care.*

According to the Price Guide, Daytime rates start at 6am and finish at 8pm, meaning you would invoice for 2 hours of support at the daytime rate, and 1 hour at the evening rate, each night you help. As you don’t assist on weekends, but may on public holidays then you would refer to the public holiday rates to guide around the hourly rates for these times.

In this instance as Gina’s support worker, you can invoice for:

• Assistance with self-care activities – standard, weekday, daytime: 2 hours @ max rate of $50.03/hr. Line # 01_011_0107_1_1 (Assisting with, and/or supervising, personal tasks of daily life to develop skills of the participant to live autonomously as possible)
• Assistance with self-care activities – standard, weekday, evening: 1 hour @ a max rate of $58.31/hr. Line # 01_015_0107_1_1 (Assisting with, and/or supervising, personal tasks of daily life to develop skills of the participant to live autonomously as possible)

On public holidays the hourly rate may increase to $118.34, however it should be noted that these rates are the maximum as set by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). Participants can negotiate lower hourly rates as required. The Price Guide also doesn’t list all possible supports for a full list, find them in the Support Catalogue.

If you’re unsure which ‘support line items’ apply to your services or support, the NDIA recommend using a “best fit” approach. You should invoice for payments against line items that most closely match with the service you’ve delivered.

Or again, if this is too much to think about and need some help, just drop us a line at invoices@planguard.com.au