Accountants for NDIS providers
NDIS providers work under a price ceiling they do not set. The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits cap what most supports can be charged to agency-managed and plan-managed participants, they are usually updated each 1 July, and the gap between that cap and the real cost of a support worker’s hour is thin. Revenue arrives through different channels depending on how each plan is managed, supports are GST-free only when specific conditions are met, and SCHADS Award wages are the biggest line in the accounts.
New Wave works with in-home and community support providers, supported independent living operators, support coordinators, plan managers and multi-service groups across the Gold Coast and Australia, from a sole trader taking on a first employee to providers with large teams. Occupational therapists, physios and other therapy providers will find their practices covered on our allied health page.
The questions NDIS providers bring us
Pricing a support so it makes money
The NDIA builds its price limits for core supports on a cost model that assumes award wages, a set level of utilisation and an overhead allowance. If your rostering, penalties, travel and non-billable time run above those assumptions, the margin disappears even with every invoice at the limit. We report revenue, wages and margin by support type and worker utilisation each month, and model each year’s price changes as soon as they are published.
Agency-managed, plan-managed and self-managed payments
Agency-managed participants can only use registered providers, who claim through the NDIS provider portal and are paid by the NDIA. Plan-managed participants can use unregistered providers, but the price limits still apply and payment waits on the plan manager. Self-managed participants pay you directly and are not bound by the price limits. Each channel has its own debtor pattern and rejection risk, including claims after a plan ends or funds run out, so we reconcile claims to receipts in Xero by channel and build a cash flow forecast around the slowest of them.
When NDIS supports are GST-free
A support is GST-free only when the participant’s plan is in effect, the support is a reasonable and necessary support in that plan, it falls within the NDIS determination, and a written agreement with the participant, their nominee or their plan manager identifies the participant and states that the supply is a support under the plan. Supplies beyond the time or quantity in the plan are not GST-free. Contractors who supply you, rather than the participant, are not making GST-free supplies, so a GST-registered contractor charges you GST and you claim the credit.
SCHADS, contractors and the true cost of a worker
Wage cost under the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award goes well beyond the base rate: minimum engagements, broken shift and sleepover allowances, weekend and public holiday penalties, travel time and kilometre allowances. We reconcile the wages accounts against claims, build those costs into pricing and advise on payroll tax once wages pass the state threshold. Whether contractor support workers are really contractors matters for payroll tax and for super, which is payable for contractors paid mainly for their labour. NDIS Worker Screening Checks, valid for five years, and registration audits are real costs too, and who pays for them belongs in the budget.
What the work looks like
- A designated team that handles the provider entity, the owners’ personal and family entities and any SMSF together, on one monthly package agreed up front.
- Bookkeeping in Xero that reconciles NDIA, plan manager and self-managed receipts to claims, and reports margin by support type.
- Tax planning in May with real numbers, not a tax return in October.
- Annual review of pricing against the new price limits, service agreements, payroll tax and contractor status.
- Advisory for the next move: moving from sole trader to a company and trust structure, registering for new supports, buying another provider or selling.
Who we work with
In-home and community support providers, supported independent living and short term accommodation operators, day programs, support coordinators, plan managers, therapy practices with NDIS participants and specialist disability accommodation investors, across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and interstate.
Getting started
Book a FREE discovery call, 30 minutes with a New Wave team member. Bring the last year of financials, your list of supports with the prices you charge and the questions you have never had answered properly. If it is a fit, a proposal follows within the week with the monthly package set out.