View NDIS Direct Budget Utilisation in Hours or Dollars
When an NDIS Direct Client Funding record includes Support Item Budgets for Supports with an Hours Unit of Measure, the Budget Utilisation information in the Utilisation tab is displayed in Hours by default (effective from the upgrade to SupportAbility v7.21, April 2022).
An option to view NDIS Direct Client Funding Utilisation in Hours or Dollars is available in the Utilisation tab of the relevant NDIS Direct Client Funding records to configure how you wish to view this information. Once set, SupportAbility remembers your preference when viewing Budget Utilisation for all Clients.
This article discusses which Budgets this is applicable for, how Budget Utilisation information is displayed and calculated in Hours format, including important considerations regarding this related to price increases over time and the setting to change the Budget Utilisation view for these Support Item Budgets based on how you wish to view this information.
Privileges: 'View Financial Information'
Audience: Finance Team and anyone tasked with viewing and updating Funding records or monitoring Client Funding Budgets.
Summary
The following list summarises the content of this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:
- Which Budgets can Utilisation be viewed in Hours for?
- How is Budget Utilisation information displayed and calculated in Hours?
- View as Hours or Dollars setting
Which Budgets can Utilisation be viewed in Hours for?
When an NDIS Direct Client Funding record includes a Support Item Budget/s for Supports with an 'Hours' Unit of Measure, Budget Utilisation is displayed in the Utilisation tab for these Budgets in Hours by default, provided the Item has a Price Limit:
Most of the Support Items with an Hours Unit of Measure in the NDIS Price Catalogue include a Price Limit, however, there are a handful that do not.
How to view Budget Utilisation in Hours for Support Item Budgets without a Price Limit?
If your organisation has any participants with Support Item Budgets for any of Support Items with an Hours Unit of Measure that do not have a Price Limit e.g. 03_090_0121_1_1 Interpreting and Translating, you will notice that Budget Utilisation does not appear in Hours automatically:
If you wish to view Budget Utilisation for this Support in Hours, a Custom Price must be configured for this Support with a Fixed Price Allocation in the Client Funding Details tab:
In order for Utilisation to be displayed in Hours for this Support Item Budget:
Please see the 'No price flexibility - Support Item with a Custom Price and Fixed price Allocation' section of the Customising NDIS Support Items article linked below for reference for more information regarding this.
How is Budget Utilisation information displayed and calculated in Hours?
Budget Utilisation data in the Utilisation tab of the Client Funding record is displayed in Hours for Support Item Budgets with an Hours Unit of Measure by default. If you wish to view Budget Utilisation information for these Supports in dollars, there is an option available in order to do so as outlined at the end of this article.
Some of the data displayed in Hours is based on the Quantity of Hours that have been Utilised in NDIS Support Allocations and some of this data is calculated, as outlined below.
Overall Utilisation
This section of the Budget Utilisation table provides a summary of each Budget and the Overall Utilisation of Allocations across the Funding Period.
The NDIS Support 'Budget' value is displayed in Hours, as well a breakdown of the 'Total Allocated' in Hours by each Utilisation status i.e. 'Claiming', 'Used' and 'Planned', along with the 'Remaining' balance of each Budget in both 'Remaining $' value and 'Remaining %'. N.B. Whilst this column is titled 'Remaining $', the remaining balance is displayed in Hours:
More information regarding each column has been outlined below.
Budget
If a calculated Budget exists e.g. 40 x $61.76 for Level 1: Support Connection 07_001_0106_8_3 = $2470.40, SupportAbility displays the value as calculated in the Client's Budget i.e. 40h:
However, when a Total Value has been entered for the Support Item Budget e.g. $4000, the Hours value displayed here is calculated based on the Price Limit that was effective at the time the Funding record was created e.g. $61.76. $4000 / $61.76 = 64.77 or 64:46h (hh:mm):
The Budget Value displayed is always derived from the Price Limit of the Support Item that was effective at the time the Funding record was created. In this case, the Funding record was created on the 3rd of August, 2020, and the Price Limit for this Support Item was $61.76 at that point in time:
N.B. It is important to keep this in mind when viewing the remaining balance, especially given the Price Limit for many Support Items increases over time.
Claiming
Displays the Quantity of Hours Utilised in Activities following the Activity Sign Off being complete, prior to Allocations being Accepted. This stage of Utilisation is only applicable for NDIA-Managed Funding and is therefore not always applicable.
In this example, the value is 0 as there is no Utilisation for this Support that is in the process of being claimed.
Used
Displays the Quantity of Hours Utilised in Activities following the Activity Sign Off being complete for Allocations associated with Self/Plan Managed Funding and/or once Allocations associated with NDIA-Managed Funding have been Accepted e.g. 20h:
Planned
Displays the Quantity of Hours Utilised in Activities that are not yet Signed Off. This Utilisation status generally reflects future 'planned' expenditure e.g. 4h:
Total Allocated
Displays the Total Quantity of Hours Utilised i.e. the sum of all Hours in each stage of Utilisation - Claiming, Used and Planned e.g. 24h:
Remaining $ and %
The remaining balance reflects the portion of the Budget remaining that has not yet been utilised at all. Whilst the column header states Remaining $, when viewing Utilisation in Hours, this value is displayed in Hours format.
The remaining balance of the Budget displayed (e.g. 14:33h) is calculated based on the dollar value of the Budget remaining (e.g. $947.07) against the current price of the Support Item (i.e. $65.09).
This value is then converted and displayed in the equivalent Hours format e.g. $947.07 / $65.09 = 14.55 or 14:33h (hh:mm), along with the percentage of the Budget remaining that this equates to e.g. 38.34%:
It is important to note that the remaining balance does not always equate to the Budget minus the Total Allocated e.g. 40h - 24h. If we were to use this calculation, this would equal 16h, yet we can see that only 14:33h remains. This does not align perfectly due to the Price Limit of this Support Item having increased over time, as explained further below.
Considerations when reviewing the remaining balance
In the above example, when the Client's Funding record was created, the Price Limit of this Support Item was $61.76:
Whilst the Price that is displayed here reflects the Price Limit that was effective at the time the Funding record was created; when a price increase occurs, the updated Price is what is utilised in the Client's NDIS Support Allocations in the Activities they participate in that occur after the price increase automatically.
From the 1st of July, 2021, the Price Limit for this Support Item increased to $65.09 which is the current Price being charged for this Client for this Support in the Activities they participate in:
By default, all NDIS Direct Client Funding records are set to utilise the latest Price Guide in the Activities they participate in as soon as it is available.
However, this can be controlled in the Client's Price Guide Transition tab of the Funding if you do not wish a specific Client to transition to the latest Price Guide as necessary. Please see the Price Guide Transition article for more information regarding this, linked below for reference.
So even though this Client has utilised 24 hours of Support Connection, given this has been utilised over time, different prices have been charged for this Support, depending on when the participant received these Services. Therefore the balance reflects fewer hours remaining due to the price increase.
If a Client’s NDIS Funding is indexed to account for Price Limit increases, their Budget can be updated in SupportAbility manually to ensure that it aligns with this increase, however, it is important to note that the Budget column will continue to display the number of Hours based on the initial Price Limit effective when the Funding record was created.
Utilisation To Date
Utilisation To Date provides an indication of the Utilisation status for each NDIS Support Budget as of the current date e.g. 04/04/2022 which is 609 days into the Funding Period or 83.31% way through as listed in the 'Utilisation Summary To Date' top section of the Utilisation tab:
Utilisation To Date information provides a Target Allocated indicator, followed by the Actual Allocated value and the Variance in $ and % that the Actual is from the Target:
The Utilisation To Date information is designed to provide a snapshot in time regarding how the Client's Funding is tracking. This is most beneficial in the early to mid-stages of the Funding Period to monitor spending patterns and intervene where required. However, the closer it gets to the Funding End Date, the more relevant the Overall Utilisation becomes with the Remaining columns displaying the balance left.
Target Allocated
The Target Allocated value provides an indicator of how many Hours should ideally be Allocated on the current date e.g. 04/04/2022 (which is 83.31% into the Funding Period) based on an even spending pattern of the Budget of 40 hours across the Funding Period e.g. 31:37h:
N.B. The Target Allocated uses the base assumption that the Client will utilise these funds at a consistent rate throughout the Funding Period, which may not always be the case.
Actual Allocated
The Actual Allocated value displays the actual value of the Support Item Utilisation to date and does not differentiate between Planned, Claiming and Used expenditure. All Allocations up to today's date are included, regardless of the Activity Sign Off status e.g. 20 hours of this Support Item has been utilised to date i.e. up to 04/04/2022:
N.B. The only exception to this rule is any Allocations which have been processed as a Cancellation. The value of Cancelled Allocations is not included in these figures. Please see the BPR Rejection Action - Cancel article linked below for reference for more information.
Variance $ and %
Whilst the column header states Variance $, when viewing Utilisation in Hours, this value is displayed in Hours format.
The 'Variance $' (e.g. -11:37h) and 'Variance %' (e.g. -36.75%) are calculated based on how far the Actual Allocated value is from the Target Allocated:
View as Hours or Dollars setting
An option to view NDIS Direct Client Funding Utilisation in Hours or Dollars is available in the Utilisation tab of the relevant NDIS Direct Client Funding records:
It is important to note that this setting only appears for the relevant NDIS Direct Client Funding records i.e. Funding records with Support Item Budgets for Supports with an Hours Unit of Measure with a Price Limit, or that have a Custom Price and Fixed Price Allocation as outlined in the first section of this article.
This setting allows you to choose how Budget Utilisation is displayed for Support Items Budgets with an Hours Unit of Measure i.e. in Hours or Dollars, noting Budget Utilisation information for these Support Items is displayed in Hours format by default.
To change how Budget Utilisation is displayed for these Supports, select the 'View Utilisation in Hours or Dollars' button. Once selected the 'View Budget Utilisation in Hours or Dollars' window appears allowing you to set your preferred view:
For example, if we wish to change this so that Utilisation for these Supports is displayed in Dollars, once this option is selected, select 'OK' to change this:
Once set, SupportAbility will remember your preference when viewing Budget Utilisation for all Clients:
This can easily be changed at any time by selecting the 'View as hours or dollars' button again and changing your preference as required.