Client Search

The Client Search provides a broad range of search criteria, allowing Staff Members to search for Client records in a number of ways. 

The available search criteria to select from are based on the data that has been entered in the 'Client Details' tab of a Client record primarily, along with some key information entered in the 'Status' and 'Contacts' tabs of the Client record. Other data reference points are the ability to search for specifics related to the Funding, Journal, and Activities tabs of the Client record.

Once a search has been performed, the Client List search results provide minimal data onscreen. However, there are four different exports available, each of which includes additional information related to the export's intended purposes, e.g. exporting data for Primary or Billing Contacts for the purpose of bulk communications. 

This article discusses the purpose of this report, along with how to generate a Client Search and the various options available to select from in the search criteria. The exports available from the Client List are also outlined.  

Audience: All

Summary

The following list summarises the content within this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:

Report purpose

The Client Search provides a broad range of search criteria and can therefore be used for a variety of purposes including identifying Client records with specific attributes, bulk Client communications, identifying missing Client information, and monitoring Client engagement.

Some examples of these have been outlined below.

Identifying specifics

Active Client List

One of the primary uses of this Search is providing a complete list of Active Clients across the organisation.  

To generate this list all fields can be left at their default settings, ensuring the 'Active' field is set to 'Active Clients only':

This results in a list of all of the Active Client records at your organisation. The way the data appears is dependent on the Client records that the person performing the search has access to. N.B. To learn more about Staff access to Client information via the Client Search, relative to the access and/or privileges granted in the Staff Members Account, please refer to the 'Client List Results' section of this article below.

Accessing Client records from the Results List

Minimal data is displayed onscreen in the Client List search results, however, each of the Client records can be accessed via the target icon when additional information for specific Clients is required:

When a record is selected from the Client List, you will note that navigation tools are available at the top of each record allowing navigation through the list results: 

To navigate back to the search results, select 'Return to Client List' from the Actions menu: 

Client List Exports

Several Client List Exports are also available from the Actions menu which contain additional data to that which is displayed onscreen:  

The 'Client List' export for example is a data-rich file containing most of the information entered on the Client Details tab, along with information entered on the Status and other tabs.  This export may be useful for further filtering the information and generating reports, holistically reviewing missing Client information, or identifying Clients with further specific attributes. More on this is discussed in the 'Client List exports' section of this article for reference.

Additional examples of filtering for specific attributes

An Active Client Search can be further filtered by additional criteria to meet specific requirements. 

Example 1

For example, your organisation may be running a behaviour management program for Clients with aggressive behaviour issues, and wish to generate a list of Clients within a specific age bracket e.g. 20 to 40 years who display this behaviour. The relevant search criteria can then be selected in the Client Search:

The 'Primary Contact Data' export may be useful for downloading the contact details for the Personal Contacts who have been nominated as the 'Primary Contact' for those Clients in the Client List, for communications about this program.

Example 2

Another example where the Client Search may be useful for identifying Clients with specific attributes is if Client Tags are being used for example 'Horse Riding', which is added to Client records who have expressed an interest in participating in a horse-riding activity.

To generate a list of Clients with this Tag, the Search would be filtered by the relevant Tag:

The Search can then be further filtered to meet other requirements, such as:

  • by Site/Service, depending on whether the Activity will be offered to just those Clients already participating in this Service e.g. Day Services at Melbourne (HQ), or more broadly across the organisation e.g in this instance leaving all Site/Service filters open
  • by Disability, if this Activity is more suited or has been designed for specific disabilities e.g. Autism
  • by Age range, if this Activity is more suited to a specific age range e.g. 20 to 40 years

Once the results have been generated, the 'Primary Contact Data' export can be downloaded and used as a data reference source for contact details in your usual mail program.

Return to Summary

Client Communication

The Client Search is useful for generating a list of Clients who meet certain criteria when your organisation wishes to communicate with a group of Clients en masse. 

Sending Bulk Communications

The 'Email all clients in this list' button at the bottom of the Results screen can be used for lists containing less than 100 Clients, to send bulk communications to the group of Clients:  

Selecting this button will automatically open your email program (such as Microsoft Outlook, Gmail etc), create a new email and pre-populate all of the Clients' email addresses in the Bcc field. 

N.B. The email addresses are sourced and generated from SupportAbility, however, all communications will be sent outside of SupportAbility.

More information on this functionality is available in the  Sending Bulk Communications - Clients and Clients' Personal Contacts article linked at the end of this article.

Client List Exports

The 'Primary Contact Data 'or 'Billing Contact Data' exports may also be useful when sending bulk communications where the intended recipient is either the Clients' Primary or Billing contact respectively: 

More on this is outlined below. 

Return to Summary

Missing Information

The Client Search and Client List export may also be used to identify missing information such as those Client records which do not have an NDIS Number.

In this instance, a general Client Search for Active Clients would be generated leaving all filters with their default setting, as outlined above.

Once the search has been performed, the 'Download Client List' export can be generated and the NDIS Number column reviewed for missing details:

Another example of identifying Client records with missing data is when an organisation is using SupportAbility to invoice Clients specifically. For example, when Clients are Self Managing their NDIS Funding and your finance system requires a Debtor ID to be entered in all Debtor records including the relevant Client records. 

The Client Search provides a related filter to assist with reviewing this called 'Missing Debtor ID' where the option 'Yes' would be selected to identify those Client records:

Return to Summary

Monitoring and Planning for Client Engagement

Another of the possible uses of the Client Search is providing a holistic pulse check on Client engagement. 

While the 'Last Journal' Date and related Service and the 'Last Activity' Date and related Service are not available filters in the Client Search, this information is however included in the onscreen results:

This information is also available in the 'Download Client List' export which may be useful as the list results can be sorted as required.

Additional information is available in the 'Download Client List' export that may assist with reviewing Client engagement more broadly with relevance to Client retention. These are the 'Client Start Date', 'Client End Date' and 'Reason For Exit' information search criteria and information: 

N.B. This information will be available, provided your organisation is recording this data in the Administration section of the Client Details tab of the Client record. 

Return to Summary

How to generate a Client Search

Select 'Clients' from the Dashboard:

Search Criteria

A broad range of search criteria is available to select from that can be used independently, or in conjunction, to search across Client records in SupportAbility:  

Return to Summary

Client Details tab related search criteria

The following search criteria are related to the information which has been entered on the 'Client Details' tab:

  • Client Name
  • Debtor ID - data is entered here when SupportAbility is used to invoice Clients specifically, e.g. those Clients who are Self Managing their NDIS Funding. 
  • NDIS Number
  • Active
  • Tag - options as configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Tags::Client

The following search criteria relate to the information entered in the corresponding fields in the 'Client Service Participation' section on the 'Client Details' tab:

  • Participation of Service (any of)
  • Site
  • Key Support Worker 
  • N.B. Once a Site has been selected, additional search criteria are displayed as follows:
    • Include non-current participants
    • Is Primary Service
    • In Service From and To Dates
    • Service Start From and To Dates
    • Service End From and To Dates
    • Status - default options are Active, Waiting List, Intake, Exited, but can be configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists::Client: Service Participation Status

There is a dedicated article linked below to step through using this section of the search, Searching by Service Participation in the Client Search, however, we do recommend using the Client Service Participation Report for this purpose, as it is a report specifically designed to search for Client Service Participation records. Please see these articles linked below for more information. 

The following search criteria relate to the information entered in the corresponding fields in the 'Administration' section on the 'Client Details' tab:

  • Client Start Date From To
  • Client End Date From To
  • Reason for Exit - options as configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists::Client: Reason For Exit

  • Region - options as configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists::Client: Region
  • LGA - options as relevant to the postcode entered

The following search criteria relate to further information entered in the 'Client Details' section:

  • Suburb
  • State
  • Postcode
  • Living Arrangements - options as configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists::Client: Living Arrangements
  • Preferred Contact Method - options as configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists::Preferred Contact Method

  • Age::From/To
  • Gender - default options include Female, Male, Transgender and Non-binary plus options configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists::Client: Gender
  • Country of Birth
  • ATSI
  • Has an Email Address 
  • Transport - options as configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists::Client: Transport

The following search criteria relate to the information entered in the 'Consent' section on the 'Client Details' tab, and the list options available are as configured by your organisation in System Preferences::Lists: 

  • Client Consent
  • Consent Exclusions
  • Consent Provided For
  • Consent Not Provided For

Return to Summary

Status tab related search criteria

The following search criteria are related to the information which has been entered on the Client's 'Status' tab:

  • Medical Condition
  • Behaviour
  • Disability - the first option selected in the 'Disabilities Summary & Medical Information' section
  • Mobility Aids:: Walking Frame, Walking Stick, Wheel Chair

Return to Summary

Funding tab related search criteria

The following search criterion 'Funding Type':

Displays the Funding Types available for your organisation as configured in System Preferences and searches for Client records based on who has Funding records of this type in their Funding tab. 

Return to Summary

Client List Results

Once a Client Search has been generated, the Client List search results display the total number of search results returned at the top of the page: 

Along with the following fields for each Client where the information has been entered:

  • Active - sortable
  • Client Name - sortable
  • Home Phone
  • Mobile
  • Age
  • Gender

    While the Search cannot be sorted by the following criteria, this information is displayed in the onscreen results and some of the available exports:
  • Last Journal (Filtered)
  • Last Service (Filtered) 

It is important to note that whilst the Client List search results include ALL Clients across the organisation who meet the search criteria, the Staff Member generating the Client Search will only be able to access those Client records which they have access to by virtue of the Sites and Services listed in their Staff Account or via global Security Privileges.  

Thereby, only Staff with the 'Edit Client Records Across ALL Services' or 'Team Leader for ALL Services' global Security Privileges will have access to ALL Client records across the organisation. In the screenshot above Athena has the 'Edit Client Records Across ALL Services' global Security Privilege and can therefore access all records in the Results List.

Other Staff Members who do not have global access will be limited in the Client records they can access from the Client List search results.  For example, Brooks has access to the 'Melbourne HQ' Site and 'In Home Support' and 'Day Services' Services and has not been granted any global Security Privileges.  

When a Staff Member with limited access such as Brooks generates a Client Search leaving all search criteria open, the Client List displays the full Active Client List, however, those Clients they do not have access to are highlighted in red and only minimal data is provided for those records i.e. Client Name, Age, and Gender:

If a Staff Member e.g. Brooks, was to select the target icon of one of the Clients they do not have access to, they will be navigated to the Client record however a Notification Warning will display advising access has been denied. Minimal personal data only, along with Client Service Participation information will display:

This is designed to prevent duplicate Client records being created by Staff without access to and knowledge of all Clients across the organisation.  When access to a Client record is not permissible based on access privileges, minimal Client details are provided here to inform the user that the Client is already receiving service from your organisation. 

Return to Summary

Client List Exports

Filtering the Client Search by the broad range of available search criteria allows your organisation to refine the results to meet specific requirements.  While the Seach Results displayed onscreen contain minimal data a range of data exports are available that contain additional Client information.

These can be downloaded in a CSV file format from the 'Actions' menu:

The available exports include the following:

  • Download Client List
  • Download Client List including Personal Contacts
  • Download Primary Contact Data
  • Download Billing Contact Data

Each of these exports has been designed to be used for a variety of different purposes, and thereby contain different data sets of information.

In summary, the most data-rich exports are the 'Client List' and 'Client List including Personal Contacts' exports. These include detailed Client information such as Client Demographics, Contact details, NDIS Number, Primary Disability, Living Arrangements, Labour Force Status, along with the 'Last Journal Date' and 'Last Activity Date'.  

The 'Client List including Personal Contacts' export also includes contact details for all of the Clients' Personal Contacts. 

These files can be further manipulated, filtered and sorted to meet specific reporting requirements or for further analysis.

The 'Primary Contact Data' and 'Billing Contact Data' exports are primarily intended for use when sending bulk communications, by providing a holistic list of contact details for Clients' 'Primary' or 'Billing' Contacts. 

More information regarding each of the primary exports is outlined below.

Return to Summary

Download Client List

The 'Client List' export contains the majority of information which has been entered in the 'Client Details', and 'Administration Details' sections on the 'Client Details' tab along with key information entered on the 'Status' tab, and a couple of data points referenced from the 'Contacts', 'Journal' and 'Activities' tab.

Once the Client Seach results have been generated the 'Client List' export can be downloaded via the 'Actions' menu:

This export contains the following fields of information as entered on the Client Details tab, unless otherwise noted:

  • First Name 
  • Last Name
  • Is Primary Contact -  indicates whether the Client has been selected as the Primary Contact on the Contacts tab
  • Is Billing Contact - indicates whether the Client has been selected as the Billing Contact on the Contacts tab
  • NDIS Number 
  • SupportAbility ID
  • Debtor ID 

  • Address 
  • Suburb 
  • State 
  • Postcode 
  • Region 
  • LGA 
  • Home Phone
  • Mobile Phone 
  • Email Address 

  • Gender 
  • Date of Birth 
  • Age 
  • Country of Birth 
  • ATSI 
  • Language 
  • Primary Disability - this is the first entry selected for 'Disabilities' in the 'Disabilities Summary & Medical Information' section of the Status tab

  • Carer Preferences - as entered on the Status tab
  • Living Arrangements 
  • Household Composition 
  • Highest Level Of Education 
  • Unique Student Identifier (USI) 
  • Labour Force Status 

  • Start Date 
  • End Date 
  • Reason for Exit 
  • Last Journal Date - as per the Client's Journals tab
  • Last Activity Date - as per the Client's Activities tab
  • Tags - any Tags added to the Client's record if your organisation is using this functionality
  • Registered to Vote 

Return to Summary

Download Client List including Personal Contacts

Once the Client Seach results have been generated the 'Client List including Personal Contacts' export can be downloaded via the 'Actions' menu:

This export contains all of the Client information provided in the 'Client List' export as outlined above but also includes additional information as follows:

  • a separate row for each of the Client's Personal Contacts as entered on the 'Contacts' tab of the Client record along with their data as entered there  
  • an additional column, 'Record Type', which indicates if the person is either the 'Client' or a 'Personal Contact'
  • an additional column, 'Relationship', identifying each person as either 'Client' or their relationship to the Client as entered in the free text field on the Contacts tab:

Return to Summary

Download Primary Contact Data

The 'Primary Contact Data' export lists the names of both the Client and their Primary Contact along with providing the contact information for the person set as the 'Primary Contact'.

The Primary Contact is either the Client or their nominated Personal Contact configured as the 'Primary Contact' on the Contacts tab of their Client record, e.g. Jessie's Aunty, Mia Regent, has been configured as her Primary Contact: 

Once the Client Seach results have been generated the 'Primary Contact Data' export can be downloaded via the 'Actions' menu:

The first two columns in the export identify the Client's first and last name. This is followed by the Primary Contact's first and last name. 

If the Client acts as their own Primary Contact, their name will be repeated (e.g. Client Pina McCraven in line 4 below). 

Alternatively, if a Client's Personal Contact has been nominated as the Client's Primary Contact (e.g. in Jessie's case in line 13 below), the name of the Nominee will be displayed in the 'Primary Contact' columns, and the Nominee's relationship to the Client (e.g. Aunty) will be displayed in the 'Primary Contact Relationship' column:

All contact details entered for the Primary Contact (be it the Client or their nominated Personal Contact) are included in the CSV file, i.e. physical address, email address, phone numbers and Preferred Contact Method:

Return to Summary

Download Billing Contact Data

The 'Billing Contact Data' export lists the names of both the Client and their Billing Contact along with providing the contact information for the person set as the 'Billing Contact'.

The Billing Contact is either the Client or their nominated Personal Contact configured as the 'Billing Contact' on the Contacts tab of their Client record, e.g. Pina McCraven has been configured as her own Billing Contact: 

For more information regarding this, please see the  Client Billing Contact article linked below for reference. 

Once the Client Seach results have been generated, the 'Billing Contact Data' export can be downloaded via the 'Actions' menu:

The first two columns in the export identify the Client's first and last name. This is followed by the Billing Contact's first and last name. 

If the Client acts as their Billing Contact, their name will be repeated (e.g., Client Pina McCraven in line 4 below). 

Alternatively, if a Client's Personal Contact (e.g. Jeremy) has been nominated as the Client's Billing Contact (e.g. in Tim's case in line 3 below), the name of the Nominee will be displayed in the 'Billing Contact' columns and the Nominee's relationship to the Client (e.g. Brother) will be displayed in the 'Billing Contact Relationship' column:

All contact details for the Billing Contact (Client or Nominee) that have been entered are included in the CSV file, i.e. physical address, email address, phone numbers and Preferred Contact Method:

Additional columns of information are included in this export to assist with finance integration. It is often the case that identifiers are required in this process, and thus, the following data has been added to this export:

  • Billing Contact SupportAbility Customer ID - a unique identifier that is auto-generated by SupportAbility based on the specific type of record this is. In this case, it is only included for those Clients' Personal Contacts who have been set as the Client's Billing Contact on the Contacts tab of the Client record, e.g. CC_17. 

    The two letters represent the type of record it is, i.e. CC as this is a Client Contact record, and the number represents the SupportAbility record ID. 
  • Billing Contact Debtor ID - populates when a Debtor ID has been manually entered in the corresponding field for the Client's Billing Contact in the Contacts tab of the Client record.
  • Client SupportAbility Customer ID - a unique identifier that is auto-generated by SupportAbility based on the specific type of record this is, in this case, the Client record e.g. CL_1. 

    The two letters represent the type of record it is, i.e. CL, as this is a Client record, and the number represents the SupportAbility record ID. 
  • Client Debtor ID - populates when a Debtor ID has been manually entered in the corresponding field for the Client on the Client Details tab of the Client record.

N.B. The SupportAbility auto-generated Customer IDs (both Billing Contact and Client) are generally used by ERP/enterprise systems with custom integrations with specific finance systems such as Nav Dynamics, Microsoft Business Central and SAP B1. Therefore this information is only relevant where an organisation uses such a custom export. 

Similarly, only some finance systems require a 'Debtor ID' (or Card ID, for example, for MYOB) to match Invoice data. Therefore, this is only required when an organisation uses a finance system that this is required for, and it is only required for the Clients, Clients' Personal Contacts and Shared Contact records your organisation will be generating Invoices for, and not everyone. 

Return to Summary

Still need help? Contact Us Contact Us

Related Articles