With the new financial year comes an update to the NDIS pricing arrangements and price limits or, as we just call it, a new price guide.
This means there are updates to some of the rules and to the maximum price that you're allowed to bill for support codes under the NDIS. So, if you're watching this, I'm guessing your services have been affected by this price increase, which is always a welcome help.
So let's have a look at some of the things you need to do admin and billing wise, to increase your prices.
In this video, I am not going to discuss which specific services have had an update, just so this stays useful for whenever you're watching.
I do cover four tips that you will need to look at in terms of making sure that you're invoicing at the new rates and keeping everything running smoothly.
**(See 2024 update below about service bookings)
Update Your Service Agreements
My first tip has to do with your service agreements with your participants. Your Schedule of Supports lists the rate and total amount of services you will be providing, so if you DON’T have a line in there saying that pricing will increase in line with the new 2023 NDIS price guides, then you’ll need to update your service agreements to get consent from your participant to increase your rates.
Provide Notice to Your Clients
Secondly, after you have updated your service agreements or if you did already have that line already in your agreement, it is a good idea to send a courtesy email to your participants, advising that you now will be updating your rates to be in line with the new NDIS price guide.
So to recap:
Check your service agreement is correct and update if needed to include mention of your pricing increasing in line with the new NDIS price guide release.
Send email to advise clients of the upcoming price increase.
Update Your Practice Management Systems
The third important task is to update your practice management system or whatever software you're using to track your time and calculate your billing. Some software providers will provide an automatic update for the NDIS pricing changes, so check with your software provider if needed to ensure updates have been made.
If your software does not automatically update your rates, you will need to do it manually. This is typically found in the settings for your service pricing, however if you have trouble locating it, contact your software’s support for assistance.
Update Your Service Bookings for Agency Managed Participants
Finally, once you’ve invoiced everything up to 30th of June, and before you invoice for July, you need to also update your service bookings for any agency managed participants. Their plan will be adjusted to account for that increase in the rate, so you don't need to worry about eating into more of their funding.
However, you will need to end your existing service booking at the 30th of June and create a new service booking for however many hours are left in your service agreement at the new rate. And that will be obviously be a higher total amount.
2024 Edit: This step is no longer needed! With your service bookings still at the old price, as long as your support dates are within the new pricing period, you can claim or invoice at the higher rate and it will work.
Looking for more in depth help with NDIS Billing?
These are my top tips to ensure smooth transition to the new NDIS price guides. If you are looking to take back more control and confidence in your NDIS billing with more in-depth step by step information, you can find this inside my Nail your NDIS billing course. Learn efficient workflows for your NDIS client intake and billing operations and get back precious time to spend on growing your business, helping more clients and spending time with your loved ones.
See you next time, with more tips to help you simplify, outsource and grow.
