On Friday 1 March 2024, the NDIA announced that it is taking steps to strengthen the NDIS, by reducing fraud and non-compliant behaviour. The NDIA will now take more time to check and approve claims made by all providers and plan managers. They advised that claims that used to take 1 business day to be paid, may now take 1 to 3 business days and up to 10 days. As from 18 March, the NDIS will no longer be paying claims on the next business day, but will now take a minimum of 48 hours to make payments. This means that ALL payments will be delayed as we are unable to pay invoices until we have been paid by the NDIS. Unfortunately this is completely out of our control.
Where a specific claim is being reviewed by the NDIA, they may request to obtain further information relating to the claim. The NDIA will not pay the claim until it receives enough information to approve the claim. We are unable to resubmit the claim as this will be deemed to be fraudulent behaviour, so please do not resubmit invoices during this time.
To assist us in continuing to provide payments as quickly as possible, please ensure that invoices meet all ATO Tax Invoice and NDIS claiming guidelines.
Please check that invoices contain the following:
- Date the invoice was issued.
- Unique invoice number.
- Business details – name of business or provider, contact details (phone and email) and the ABN at a minimum.
- Full name and/or NDIS number of the client – if the client is the representative of a participant and the invoice is made out to them, it should also show details of who the participant is. We cannot claim payment for an invoice that does not clearly show who the NDIS participant is.
- Dates the services were provided to the client – listed as individual dates, not as a bulk time period. In some cases, we will need to return invoices for amendment if they do not list individual dates.
- The rate charged per hour, the amount of hours claimed, and the total amount of the invoice. Most NDIS services have a maximum hourly cap applied, and have to be claimed as a unit per hour. If a bulk amount is stated (e.g. Gardening for $100) then we will most likely need to request an amendment, or will only be able to partially pay it.
- GST amount (if any) payable. This can be shown separately or if it is exactly 1/11th of the price, a statement which says, “Total price includes GST”. Also the amount/s that are taxable and non-taxable where applicable.
- Description and/or support item codes of the services that were provided. For example, “Access community”, “Assistance with self-care activities”, “House cleaning” or “Provider travel – Kms”. It’s quicker for us to process invoices with relevant support item codes stated. If the invoice has to be submitted to the NDIS for manual payment, it must include a support item code, as they will not process it without codes.
- Any services other than regular ‘face to face’ supports have to be claimed as such with the NDIS, so we need this information on the invoice. Relevant types of services are Travel, Non-Face to Face, Report Writing, Cancellation, Irregular SIL supports
- Provider bank details on the invoice so we can make payment. Any payments made to an incorrect account will incur bank fees to try and retrieve. These fees will need to be deducted from the payment (assuming it can be retrieved by the bank).
- A remittance advice will be emailed once we have made payment. We cannot state invoice numbers on our deposit into bank accounts, so please ensure a valid email address is listed.
A Note on Rounding
When a dollar amount has more than two digits after the decimal point (e.g. $20.3456), amounts are rounded up if they are $.005 or higher. So if you have $.005, $.006, $.007, $.008 or $.009, they would each be rounded up to $.01. If the third digit is a 4 or lower, it does not round. This means if it is $.004, $0.003, $.002 or $.001, these all stay at $.00. This is common convention for anything financial, and the NDIS works under this principle as well. We have become aware that if a provider invoice needs to be submitted directly to the NDIS for payment, they will refuse to pay it if the rounding has not been worked out correctly. In this case we will need to return your invoice to you for amendment, and all of this will greatly delay payment.
General Invoicing Tips
- The NDIS (and clients) need to know which days you are invoicing services for. If you give us a date range with a bulk lot of hours, we may ask you to amend your invoice to show exactly which days you provided services on, and how many hours on each day. In some instances, the NDIS needs to see the actual shift hours provided on that day (e.g. 7am-9am), but if this is required, we will let you know.
- Different rates apply for services provided on weekdays, weekends and public holidays. There are also different rates for times of day, or overnight shifts. Then there are rates depending on the complexity of the support provided. It is up to you to work out which of these rates your services fit into. We cannot pay more than the maximum rates set by the NDIS for each of these support items. You can find information on their website here: https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-arrangements.
- Public holiday rates are only paid for gazetted public holidays in the area where your client is located. You can check those here: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/public-holidays and make sure to follow the links to check for regional differences. For example, the Melbourne Cup holiday applies statewide in VIC, unless there is a regional exception. Bendigo (amongst others) has its own Cup Day holiday instead of Melbourne Cup, so Public Holiday rates for Bendigo clients cannot be claimed on the Melbourne Cup day, but can be claimed on Bendigo Cup day.
- The NDIS also allow for certain other claims to be made as a part of providing support – such as charging for kilometres driven when providing a client with transport. Once again, this information is on their website, at the above link. We can only pay for items the NDIS has listed as being approved to claim under a participant’s NDIS plan.
- If you are claiming a charge for kilometres for providing transport to your client, this can only be charged while providing a service of “community access”. If you list “Assistance with self-care activities” then these are deemed to have been provided at your client’s home, and therefore should not have kms charged as well.
- As kms can be charged when transporting a participant, or as part of provider non-labour travel costs, we need to know which one you are claiming for. Please state this clearly on your invoice, or use the relevant support item code, otherwise we will need to contact you which will delay processing.
- Independent contractors / self-employed business owners can negotiate an agreed rate of pay with their client, and the minimum number of hours of service. As long as your claim does not exceed the NDIS maximum recommended rates we can process it, but it is still up to your client to approve it, or we cannot pay it.
- If you are acting as an employee of a business providing services to a client, then you will be paid by that business under the applicable award, for example the SCHADS award for support workers. Awards to do not apply to self-employed business owners. We do not process invoices according to any awards, only under the guidelines and requirements of the NDIS.