Lumary DC - This article explains how to set up a service agreement for billing and claiming for NDIS services.
NDIS service agreements can be set up to claim funding from the NDIA. They can also be used to claim funding for NDIS services from a participant or their nominee, or through a registered plan management provider. Services in NDIS service agreements typically use the pricing arrangements and price limits set by the NDIA.
If you're setting up a client with SIL funding, the SIL submission process includes the creation of service agreements. The system uses the client's funding information to add SIL services and other service agreement items to the appropriate agreements.
Before you begin...
Your client's NDIS number must be included on their client record before you can set a service agreement to current. We recommend you take a moment to check this number before you start setting up the agreement. To check the NDIS number:
- Go to the client's record.
- Check under the Details tab and make sure the NDIS Number field has been completed.
If your client's contact record doesn't include a details panel or NDIS Number field, they may need to be converted from an intake to a client.
- If the NDIS Number field is empty, click on the Edit button at the top of the record.
- Type the client's number into the NDIS Number field and click on the Save button.
To help guide you through the first part of creating a new service agreement, we've divided the process into:
- initial setup
- funding information
- consents and charges
- additional information and reporting
- service bookings, and
- saving and creating the agreement.
Initial setup
To start setting up an NDIS service agreement:
- Go to the client's record.
- Click on the Funding tab. You may need to click on the More drop-down list to find this tab.
- Scroll down to the Individual Service Agreements section.
- Click on the New button.
- This will open a New Service Agreements form. The Client field will auto-fill with the client's name and the Status will default to to New.
- Click on the Funding Type drop-down list and select NDIS. This will reveal fields specific to NDIS funding.
- Put a tick in the PACE Plan checkbox if the agreement is for an NDIS Plan on the NDIA's PACE system. The agreement will use PACE categories if this checkbox is ticked.
- Set the Start Date and End Date of the service agreement. These will usually match the dates on the participant's NDIS plan.
- Put a tick in the Program of Support Agreement checkbox if the agreement is for a Program of Support (POS) arrangement.
- If the agreement is for a PACE Plan, and the client's plan starts before the agreement's Start Date, enter the NDIS Plan Start Date. This will ensure funding periods are generated according to the client's plan dates.
- The Contract Number and Notes fields are optional, depending on your business's practices.
What are programs of support?
Programs of support
A provider of group-based supports in the following categories can enter into an agreement with the participant called a program of supports:
- Assistance in Shared Living Arrangements - Supported Independent Living section
of the Assistance with Daily Living support category - Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation support
category, including supports in employment, or - Any of the capacity building support categories.
Under this approach, providers can claim against a client's plan for all agreed supports, whether the client attended or not, as long as the provider had the capacity to deliver the instance of support. Supports delivered as part of a ‘Program of Support’ are not subject to the short notice cancellation rules.
Providers can claim agreed programs of support against the related support items, using the typical pattern of support to determine the frequency of support within a defined time period, usually a week, which is then claimed as a multiplier of the unit price. This typical pattern of support, when recorded and agreed with a participant, forms the basis of the service agreement and the program of support between the provider and participant. The agreed program of support enables the provider to claim a regular weekly amount for delivering supports during a specified period, for no longer than 6 months.
Funding information
The funding information section affects how the system responds to the amount claimed from an agreement and how that funding is claimed.
- The Total Allocation Limit is the total amount that the client has allocated for services in this agreement. This limit must be set if you plan to apply overclaim settings that prevent or warn users about claiming over the limit.
- Use the Service Agreement Overclaim field to determine what happens when users try to add service delivered (SD) records that will cause the agreement to exceed the allocation limit. By default, this is set to Warn. Setting this to Prevent is the safest way to prevent overclaims. The following table describes how each setting behaves.
| Setting | Behaviour |
| Prevent | The user will receive an error when attempting to add an SD record that will cause the total delivered to exceed the total allocation limit of the agreement. They will be prevented from adding the SD record. |
| Warn | The user will receive a warning when adding an SD record if the total delivered is or will be more than the total allocation limit of the agreement. |
| Allow | SD records can be added without warnings or errors when the total delivered is more than the total allocation limit of the agreement. |
- Use the Funding Management field to show who manages the client's funding. To generate extracts to submit claims directly to the NDIS, set this field to NDIA. If you'll be invoicing the client directly, select Participant. If the funding will be managed by a participant's nominee or registered plan management provider, an additional field will appear so that you can identify the nominee or funding manager.
You can change Funding Management up until you start claiming funding or invoicing for services. However, once you've generated NDIS or financial extracts, you won't be able to change the Funding Management, Funding Manager or Participant's Nominee settings on your agreement. You may need to unlink extracted SD records or make a new service agreement if this information changes.
Consent and charges
The NDIS service agreement can also capture a client's consent and agreed rates for some supports. These include provider travel, activity based transport and centre capital costs. Consent is captured by setting the corresponding claim type to Allow.
By default, the rates fields use the NDIA's usual rates if the field is left blank. Your system administrator can set global rates for your entire organisation, which will then be applied if these fields are left blank.
| Field | Purpose and behaviour |
| Provider travel - consent and charges | |
| Travel Labour Cost Claims | Prevent or allow the claiming of a worker's labour cost for travel. |
| Agreed Travel Labour Rate | The rate agreed with your client for travel labour. Leaving this blank will use rate of the service provided. |
| Travel Non-Labour Cost Claims | Prevent or allow the claiming of a worker's non-labour costs for travel. |
| Agreed Travel Non-Labour Rate | The rate per km agreed with your client for non-labour travel costs. Leaving this blank will use default rates as described above. |
| Activity based transport - consent and charges | |
| Transport Non-Labour Cost Claims | Prevent or allow the claiming of activity based transport non-labour costs. |
| Non-Modified Vehicle Transport Rate | The rate per km agreed with your client for using a non-modified vehicle to transport a client. Leaving this blank will use default rates as described above. |
| Modified Vehicle Transport Rate | The rate per km agreed with your client for using a vehicle modified for accessibility to transport a client. Leaving this blank will use default rates as described above. |
| Centre capital costs - consent and charges | |
| Centre Capital Cost Claims | Prevent or allow the claiming of centre capital costs. |
Additional information and reporting
Depending how your environment is set up, you may see sections for additional information and reporting. These fields are usually optional.
Under Additional Information, you may see the Client Plan field. This field can be used to link the agreement to a client's plan record. If left blank, a new NDIA plan record may be automatically created and linked to the service agreement.
Under Reporting Information, you may see the Invoice Grouping drop-down list. This field affects how SD records are grouped on some custom extracts. If you're using standard Lumary extracts, this field can be left blank.
Service booking
If the agreement is for a PACE Plan, service bookings are not applicable so you can skip straight to step 16.
In the Booking Details section, you can link the service agreement to an existing or new service booking record. To link to a service booking record:
- Click in the Service Booking field. Recent bookings will be listed. To search for a booking, start typing the booking number then click on the relevant booking. To create a new service booking record, click on + Add New Service Booking.
- You can then populate the Create Service Booking form. The mandatory fields are marked with a * red asterisk and reflect the details of your service booking with the NDIA:
- Service Booking Number
- Booking Created Date
- Service Booking Start Date, and
- Service Booking End Date.
- Click on the Save button to create the service booking record in Lumary.
Save and create the service agreement
- Once you've filled out as much of the service agreement as you can, click on the Save button to create the service agreement.
Your new service agreement will now be ready for you to add categories so that you can add service agreement items and/or start claiming for services.