Performing the Activity Sign Off
Performing the Activity Sign Off essentially finalises the Activity for invoicing, claiming and payroll. It is an important step providing the opportunity to complete quality and compliance checks, relative to the functionality your organisation is using.
This article provides information about the recommended quality checks prior to Sign Off, how to perform the Activity Sign Off and how to remove the Activity Sign Off where possible.
Privileges:
The privileges required to manage Activities are needed in order to perform the Activity Sign Off. Generally speaking, the Team Leader privilege is required, however, there are instances where this is not required based on how this has been configured by your organisation.
Please see the Privileges required to manage Activities article linked below for more information regarding this.
Audience: Team Leaders and Staff required to manage Activities
Summary
The following list summarises the content of this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:
- Quality and compliance checks prior to Sign Off
- How to perform the Activity Sign Off
- How to remove the Activity Sign Off
Quality and compliance checks prior to Sign Off
It is recommended to only select the Activity Sign Off button, once the required quality checks have been completed, as this finalises the Activity in preparation for the next steps in the finance workflow i.e. generating Bulk Payment Requests (BPRs), Direct Invoice Batches and Time Sheet Batches (where applicable). Important areas to check include:
- Funding and NDIS Support Allocations
- Ensuring that the correct Funding Type is in use and where NDIS Support Items have been Allocated, that all elements of these Allocations are correct and adding or updating these where required
- Absent and No Charge
- Reviewing absenteeism and the relevant Cancellation Reasons where necessary, as well as selecting 'No Charge' where applicable
- Client Journal evidence
- Checking that the required evidence has been recorded as required e.g. one or more Client Journal entries have been entered from the Activity and Client Goals/Goal Strategies have been linked to this where required
- Client Support Log
- When using the Client Support Log to confirm receipt of the NDIS Support Items delivered, checking that this has been completed where necessary
- Staff Time Sheets
- Ensuring Staff Time Sheet data is accurate for payroll, including Staff Shift Times, any Private kms entered and the Staff Time Sheet Sign Off completion
Funding and NDIS Support Allocations
It is important to ensure that the correct Funding Source is being used, as well as the correct NDIS Support Allocations where NDIS Funding has been allocated.
NDIS Support Allocations can be viewed by Staff with the required privileges from the individual Activity by selecting the 'NDIS Support Items Allocation' button in the Clients section of the Activity:
Once selected we recommend checking the correct Supports have been Allocated as well as the Quantity, Claim Type, Cost Type, Portion, Price (when a Custom Price is required), are correct or rectified where required:
N.B. The 'View Financial Information' privilege is required in order to see the Price and the Total Value.
Further information regarding the Allocation of NDIS Supports is available in the Allocating NDIS Support Items in Activities article linked below for reference.
Activity Clients Report
The Activity Clients Report accessible from the Reports menu can be used to review the Client NDIS Allocated Hourly Supports Total vs. the Activity Hours:
Many providers who run group services utilise this report export to check the participant's Hourly NDIS Support Allocations in comparison to the Activity From and To time, which also includes a breakdown of this by Claim Type:
Further information regarding this report is available in the Activity Clients Report article linked below for reference.
Allocations Report
The 'Allocations Report' accessible via the Finance menu is a useful tool for providing a holistic overview of NDIS Support Allocations. N.B. Staff require both the 'View Financial Information' and 'Edit Client Records Across ALL Services' privileges in order to access and generate this Report.
The Report may be filtered by a broad range of search criteria including Sites and Services, Activity Sign Off Status, and specific attributes of Client Supports. For example, if we wish to check NDIS Support Allocations for a specific Service, for a set period, that have not had the Activity Sign Off performed yet, the results can be filtered by these criteria:
Individual NDIS Support Allocations are displayed in each result. In the above example, the results are for NDIS Support Allocations included in the same Activity 'Art trail' and each Client, Rogan and Petra has three NDIS Support Allocations each. The related Activity can be accessed via the Activity link to review these Allocations further, make any required changes and perform the Activity Sign Off when ready.
More information on this report is outlined in the Allocations Report article linked below for reference.
Absent and No Charge
It is important to review any Client's who have been marked as Absent to assess whether or not they also need to be charged for the Activity.
An amber warning message appears to indicate when Short Notice Cancellations cannot be claimed in the case of Absenteeism:
If the Client should not be charged, selecting the 'No Charge' checkbox is recommended:
This ensures that the Client's NDIS Support Allocations are updated and not included in the subsequent steps of the finance workflow:
When Short Notice Cancellations are applicable for certain Supports, when a Client is marked as 'Absent', a 'Short Notice Cancellation Reason' is required if you wish to claim for these Supports:
This will also update the Claim Type to Short Notice Cancellation automatically:
If you do not wish to charge for these Supports, No Charge can be selected. N.B. If 'No Charge' is activated a 'Short Notice Cancellation Reason' is no longer required as this is no longer being charged.
If your organisation is utilising Programs of Support, Short Notice Cancellations are not applicable and a Short Notice Cancellation Reason will not be required. Please see the Programs of Support article linked below for reference.
Activity Clients Report - searching by Absent and/or No Charge
The Activity Clients Report accessible via the Reports menu is a useful tool for identifying Activities where 'Absent' and/or 'No Charge' has been selected for each Client e.g. reviewing Absenteeism:
Further information regarding this report is available in the Activity Clients Report article linked below for reference.
Client Journal evidence
Multiple Journals may be added for each Client by the Staff working in this Activity. Adding Journals in the Activity links Journal evidence directly to service delivery.
Selecting the Journals number icon displays the date and title of each of the Journals per Client:
Selecting a Journal from the list will open it where the Notes, linked Client Documents, added Standards, linked Goals, completed Assessment Scores, and Actions can be reviewed:
More information on Client Journals is outlined in the Client Journals and Journal Search article linked below for reference.
Client Support Log
Once the 'Support Log' has been recorded the 'Support Log' button is displayed with a blue information icon within the Activity:
This indicates a Support Log has been completed for the Client and can be viewed by those with the required privileges. Any Clients where this is still appearing as a plus icon indicates this has not yet been completed.
Please see the Using the Client Support Log article linked below for more information.
Staff Shift Times and Private Kilometres
If an organisation is using Staff Time Sheet data in SupportAbility for payroll, it is important to review Staff Shift times and any Private Kilometres, if applicable, should be reviewed prior to performing the Activity Sign Off.
Staff Shift Times
By default Staff Shift Times reflect the Date and Times of the Activity. However, Staff shifts can be customised based on the Staff Members Working From-To Time. This is completed by selecting the 'Customise Time' button. Individual Staff Members are able to customise their own Shift, and this may also be completed by a Staff Member with privileges required to manage Activities.
Once customised, the times will display as follows e.g. the Activity Time is 12.00 PM to 2.00 PM, however, Jeremy worked an additional half-hour as shown here:
More information regarding Staff Shifts is outlined in the Managing Staff Shifts and Rosters article linked below for reference.
Private Kilometres
Private kilometres may be entered in the Staff section of the Activity, under the 'Kilometers' column, when Staff have used their own vehicle to assist or attend an Activity and require reimbursement as this populates in the :
Kilometres should also be reviewed, when applicable, prior to Activity Sign Off.
More information on Private and Company Kilometers is outlined in the Capturing Staff Kilometers - Private or Company article linked below for reference.
How to perform the Activity Sign Off
Once all checks of the Activity information has been completed and/or rectified where required, the Activity Sign Off can be performed.
To perform the Activity Sign Off, the Activity Report available from the Reports menu comes in handy, as this allows you to search for Activities for the required period by a number of search criteria, including Activity Sign Off status:
This provides a list of Activities that need review prior to Sign Off. Selecting the Activity link will navigate you to the Activity record.
The Activity Sign Off button appears in different colours based on different things:
Grey - for Staff who do not have the required privilege to complete this action
If the Sign Off button is selected, an 'Access Denied' warning appears:
Amber - for Staff with the privileges required to complete this action, however, amber denotes the Staff Time Sheets are yet to be completed:
Green - for Staff that have the privileges required to complete this action, and green denotes the Staff Time Sheets have been completed:
Select the Sign Off button to complete this process and a confirmation of this is required listing what occurs once the Activity Sign Off has been performed:
Once 'Sign Off Activity' has been selected, this has been complete and the associated data is available when generating Bulk Payment Requests (BPRs), Direct Invoice Batches and Time Sheet Batches (where applicable).
Removing the Activity Sign Off
Once the Activity Sign Off has been performed, the Remove Sign Off button appears in red, including a reference to who completed this:
Selecting the information icon displays the Sign Off Details:
Location is displayed as 'Unknown' if location settings have not been allowed in the web browser. If this is allowed, a pin will be displayed with location details.
When the Remove Sign Off button appears in red, it is possible to remove this as it is not locked by selecting this, which requires confirmation of this:
However, once the Activity Sign Off has been performed and financial assets have been generated e.g. BPRs, Direct Invoices for one or more participating Clients in an Activity, or any Staff Time Sheets included in a Time Sheet Batch, the Remove Sign Off button becomes grey and it is not possible to remove and amend any details due to this:
We recognise the limitations of this and can confirm that enhancements are currently being developed to make billing more flexible, to accommodate for the diverse situations which arise when billing for NDIS Supports. We recommend periodically reviewing our SupportAbility Roadmap article, linked below for reference, to keep track of development progress. Once completed this will be published in our Release Notes accordingly.