How to place a Client Funding record 'On Billing Hold' and remove this when ready to generate billing assets

From the upgrade to SupportAbility v7.17 (October, 2021), a feature is available to place Client Funding records 'On Billing Hold'. This is designed to assist in situations where an organisation has determined a participant's Funding has ended, but the new NDIS Plan and/or Funding is not known, for example.
When a Client Funding record is placed 'On Billing Hold', this Funding record can continue to be utilised in Activities, however, all NDIS Support Allocations or other related Activity Charges utilising this are blocked from inclusion when generating BPRs and/or Invoice Batches.

Activity expenditure is available for inclusion again in Direct Invoices and/or BPRs as soon as 'On Billing Hold' is updated from ‘Yes’ to ‘No’ in the Client Funding record. We, therefore, recommend using the Notes field to record all changes to this status, to avoid any confusion regarding historic expenditure being available.

This article outlines how to place a Client Funding record 'On Billing Hold' and demonstrates what this does, as well as stepping through how to remove this when your organisation is ready to generate billing assets for this Client again. 

NDIS Direct Funding records and Non-NDIS Direct Funding records can be placed 'On Billing Hold', however, it is important to note that this article primarily focuses on NDIS Funding and some of the features are related to NDIS Funding only e.g. Plan Review. 

Privileges: 

  • 'View Financial Information' in combination with either: 
    • 'Team Leader for ALL Services' 
    • 'Edit Client Records Across ALL Services' 

Audience: Finance Team

Summary

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

Purpose of this feature

We have received consistent feedback from providers, that on occasion they are informed a participant's Funding has ended based on an error received following submission of a BPR, or after receiving an update from the Client's Plan Manager to advise of this. 

In these situations, the new NDIS Plan and/or Funding is not always known immediately and often takes some time to follow up with the Client, as well as ensuring a new Service Agreement is in place etc. 

Placing a Client's Funding record 'On Billing Hold' is designed to assist in situations like this, where an organisation has determined a participant's Funding has ended, but the new NDIS Plan and/or Funding is not known.

Many providers have advised that when they become aware that the participant’s Funding had ended, but are continuing to deliver services to the individual, extending the original Funding period and then placing the Client’s Funding ‘On Billing Hold’ while awaiting confirmation of the new Funding period is assisting them with continuity of service delivery whilst providing the ability to bill for the services received against the correct Funding record when ready.

When a Client Funding record is placed 'On Billing Hold', the Funding record can continue to be utilised in Activities, however, all NDIS Support Allocations or other related Activity Charges utilising this are blocked from inclusion when generating BPRs and/or Invoice Batches, until this setting is removed at the appropriate time.

When the new Funding period is known, the 'Plan Review' feature can be used to create a new Funding record. Creating the new NDIS Funding record using the 'Plan Review' feature will:

  • establish the new funding record complete with all settings from the prior Funding record e.g. budgets and custom pricing. These can then be adjusted in the new Client Funding record as required
  • end the original funding the day prior to the new funding Start Date
  • move all NDIS Support Allocations that occur within the new funding period from the original funding to the new, regardless of whether the Activity Sign Off has been completed yet or not

Please see the NDIS Direct Client Funding - Plan Review article for more information regarding this feature. 

Following this, the original Funding record can have 'On Billing Hold' removed, which ensures all NDIS Support Allocations can be included in BPRs and/or Invoice Batches.

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How to place a Client's Funding On Billing Hold

In this example, we have found out that our Client Saoirse's Funding has ended due to an error received when submitting a BPR. 
Whilst awaiting details from the participant regarding their new Funding, we will place the Client's Funding 'On Billing Hold', thereby blocking NDIS Support Allocations related to this Funding Source or other related Activity Charges from inclusion when generating BPRs and/or Invoice Batches.
To place this Funding record 'On Billing Hold' select the Change button next to this option in the Client Funding Settings section: 

It is important to note that only Staff Members with the ‘View Financial Information’ privilege, in combination with either: ‘Team Leader for ALL Services’ or 'Edit Client Records Across ALL Services’ can change this setting. 
Once 'Change' is selected the 'On Billing Hold' modal will open to update this and explains what selecting Yes and placing a Client Funding record On Billing Hold does: 
When a Client Funding record is placed On Billing Hold, the Funding record can continue to be utilised in Activities, however, all NDIS Support Allocations or other related Activity Charges utilising this are blocked from inclusion when generating BPRs and/or Invoice Batches. To proceed, select 'Yes' and Save: 
An amber message displays at the top of the Funding record for reference, advising that it has been placed On Billing Hold and includes a summary of the total Activity expenditure that is currently unavailable for inclusion in BPRs and/or Direct Invoices: 

N.B. When the Activity expenditure displays as $0 this indicates there are no Activities that have been Signed Off that include this participant for this Funding Period. Once the Activity Sign Off is performed, the total accrues to provide an indication of the total value awaiting financial processing.

Even though there is expenditure available due to Activities having been Signed Off; when generating a BPR: 

No Allocations for Saoirse will display as currently available, due to her Funding being placed On Billing Hold: 

Why can't I see the Change button next to On Billing Hold?

If a Staff Member has the 'View Financial Information' privilege but does not have the additional required privileges of either ‘Team Leader for ALL Services’ or 'Edit Client Records Across ALL Services’, the Change button is not displayed and a tooltip is displayed instead to explain this: 
Selecting the question mark icon opens the tooltip to display the above message. 

Are Billable Activity Costs also placed On Billing Hold?

It is important to note that if your organisation is using SupportAbility to create Billable Invoices for Clients for things such as Activity Costs in addition to utilising the Funding that is placed On Billing Hold in the Funding Source e.g. $8: 
These Billable Activity Costs will not be placed on billing hold also, and they will appear in the next Invoice Batch. 
N.B. The only exception to this is if the Funding Source is utilising a Non-NDIS Funding record that is On Billing Hold and the 'Costs Funded By' is set for Activity Costs to utilise the Funding Source: 
If this is the case, these Activity Costs will be placed On Billing Hold due to being related to the Funding record as set in the Funding Source. 

Where does this information appear in other areas of SupportAbility?

When a Client's Funding record is 'On Billing Hold', this is displayed in multiple places in SupportAbility as outlined below.

Warning bar in the Client record

A warning regarding this appears in the warning bar at the top of the Client record for Staff Members with ‘View Financial Information’ privilege: 

Selecting the warning opens this up with more information and a link to the Funding tab: 

If a Staff Member does not have this privilege, they will not see this warning, for example, Saoirse's Client record from the perspective of our Support Worker Abel: 

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Client Funding tab

An 'On Billing Hold' badge appears next to the Client Funding record when it is On Billing Hold: 

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Client section of the Activity record

An 'On Billing Hold' badge is displayed next to the Client Funding record in the Activity record: 

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NDIS Support Allocations

An 'On Billing Hold' badge is displayed in the NDIS Support Allocations window: 

However, if your organisation would like to reference additional information regarding this, you may wish to utilise the 'Show Client Funding Notes when Allocating Supports' feature, configurable in the Funding tab of System Preferences, as any notes added to the Client's Funding record will be displayed here: 

How to find Client Funding records that are On Billing Hold and the total value currently on hold

The Client Funding Search available in the Reports menu can be used to find Client Funding records that are On Billing Hold: 

The Client Funding Search report export (available from the Actions menu) includes additional information regarding this: 

  • Client Funding On Billing Hold - Yes/No, when No, the next fields are empty as they are not applicable
  • Client Funding On Billing Hold Since - Date of last change of On Billing Hold to Yes
  • Client Funding On Billing Hold By - Staff Member Name who changed On Billing Hold to Yes
  • Total Value On Billing Hold - Displays the total value of all Activity expenditure that is currently on hold

Please see the Client Funding Search article for more information, linked below for reference.

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How to find NDIS Budgets associated with Client Funding records that are On Billing Hold and the total value currently on hold

The NDIS Budget Utilisation Report available in the Reports menu can be used to find NDIS Support Budgets associated with Client Funding records that are On Billing Hold:  

It is important to clarify that Expenditure continues to accrue even whilst the Funding is On Billing Hold. Budgets associated with NDIA Managed Funding e.g. Saoirse, accrue Expenditure in the 'Claiming' column of the Overall Utilisation section. Whereas Budgets associated with Plan Managed Funding e.g. Jordan, accrue Expenditure in the 'Planned' column of the Overall Utilisation section. 

The NDIS Budget Utilisation Report export (available from the Actions menu) includes additional information regarding this: 

  • Client Funding On Billing Hold - Yes/No, when No, the next fields are empty as they are not applicable
  • Client Funding On Billing Hold Since - Date of last change of On Billing Hold to Yes
  • Client Funding On Billing Hold By - Staff Member Name who changed On Billing Hold to Yes
  • Total Value On Billing Hold for Budget - Displays the total value of all Activity expenditure that is currently on hold relative to each Budget

Please see the NDIS Direct Budget Utilisation Report article for more information, linked below for reference. 

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How to find NDIS Support Allocations associated with Client Funding records that are On Billing Hold

The Allocations Report available in the Finance menu can be used to find NDIS Support Allocations associated with Client Funding records that are On Billing Hold:  

The Allocations Report export (available from the Actions menu) includes additional information regarding this: 

  • Client Funding On Billing Hold - Yes/No, when No, the next fields are empty as they are not applicable
  • Client Funding On Billing Hold Since - Date of last change of On Billing Hold to Yes
  • Client Funding On Billing Hold By - Staff Member Name who changed On Billing Hold to Yes

Please see the Allocations Report article for more information, linked below for reference. 

Return to Summary

How to remove the Client's Funding record from being On Billing Hold when ready to generate billing assets

When your organisation is ready to update the Client's Funding record and generate billing assets for the Client, navigate to the Funding record, and change this status back to 'No': 

Activity expenditure is available for inclusion again in Direct Invoices and/or BPRs as soon as 'On Billing Hold' is updated from ‘Yes’ to ‘No’ in the Client Funding record: 

It is important to note that only Staff Members with the ‘View Financial Information’ privilege, in combination with either: ‘Team Leader for ALL Services’ or 'Edit Client Records Across ALL Services’ can change this setting.

We, therefore, recommend using the Notes field to record all changes to this status, to avoid any confusion regarding historic expenditure being available, for example: 

N.B. If your organisation has configured the 'Show Client Funding Notes when Allocating Supports' setting in the Funding tab of System Preferences, these notes will appear in the NDIS Support Allocations window for this participant: 

Once you have updated the Client's On Billing Hold status back to No and saved the Funding record, all Actvity expenditure will be available when generating BPRs and/or Invoice Batches e.g: 

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