Activity Sign Off Workflow - Save Time Approving Activities for Billing and Payroll
The Activity Sign Off Workflow feature available from SupportAbility v8.14 (March 2025) allows you to review Activity data holistically and complete the necessary checks prior to finalising the Activity for invoicing, claiming, and payroll by completing the Activity Sign Off.
This article outlines how to use this workflow tool to review the data needed prior to completing the Activity Sign Off, and how to complete the Sign Off for more than one Activity at a time.
To see a walkthrough video of this feature, please click this link.
Privileges:
While anyone with access to Activities can use this tool, the privileges required to manage Activities are needed in order to complete the Activity Sign Off.
The Team Leader privilege is generally required; however, depending on how your organisation has configured this, there may be instances where it is not.
Please see the Privileges required to manage Activities article linked below for more information regarding this.
Audience: All
Summary
The following list summarises the content within this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:
- Save time and reduce errors
- How to access the Activity Sign Off Workflow
- Search Criteria
- Search Results
- Bulk Actions - Sign Off
Save time and reduce errors
The Activity Sign Off Workflow tool has been designed to save time completing the Activity Sign Off by allowing users to view the required data holistically and complete the Activity Sign Off for more than one Activity at a time.
While more than one Activity can be Signed Off at a time (up to a limit of 60 at a time), we recommend completing this in smaller batches, e.g. 10-20, to make sure all of the required information is reviewed before approving them for invoicing, claiming, and payroll.
When completing the Activity Sign Off using the workflow, the Activity Replication Management settings are not triggered, even if they are enabled. This means that no changes are applied to the remaining Activities in the Set when the Sign Off is complete when using this tool, resulting in reduced errors. Huzzah!
How to access the Activity Sign Off Workflow
Select 'Reports' from the Dashboard:
Navigate to the 'Activities' section and select 'Activity Sign Off Workflow':
A link to navigate directly to the workflow is also available in the individual Activity Sign Off modal:
Search Criteria
A range of search criteria is available to select from that can be used independently or in conjunction to search for the Activities you would like to review and/or Sign Off:
The following search criteria are available:
- Staff Members - also allows you to search for Activities, including 'To Be Filled' Shifts, which will not be able to be Signed Off
- Clients
- Sites
- Services
- Activity Date - From and To
- Program
- Activity Tags
- Activity Sign Off Status
For more information about how the filters work, please see the Activity Report article linked below.
Search Results
Once the relevant search criteria have been added, select 'Search', and the Search Results will display the relevant Activities:
Activity Summary
A summary of each Activity is displayed, including the Activity details and totals:
The total rostered, recorded and finalised Shift Hours and Kms for all Staff Shifts are displayed, as well as the Total number of Client Journals and how many are linked to a Goal or Goal Strategy. The Notes field includes both Replicating and Non-Replicating Staff Notes where applicable.
Two subsequent sections are displayed when Clients and Staff Shifts have been added to the Activity.
Important information is displayed when these sections are collapsed to assist in identifying when more information may need to be reviewed.
For example, the number of Absent Clients & To Be Filled Shifts and when the Shift Sign Off is incomplete:
Expanding the arrow icon displays more information about the Clients and Staff Shifts, as outlined below.
Clients
When expanded, the Clients section displays information regarding client participation in the Activity:
When a Client has been marked as Absent or No Charge, a tick is displayed to reflect this where relevant.
If a Client is Absent and a Short Notice Cancellation is triggered, the Cancellation Reason is displayed here. If this has not been selected, it will appear as 'Missing' and will need to be updated in the Activity recorded to ensure the Sign Off can be completed.
Journals
When Journals have been created from the Activity, a link to the first Journal and the ability to review the associated notes are available. 'Read More' can be selected to expand this, then 'Read Less' can be selected to minimise this once reviewed:
A 'View More Journals' button is available when more than one Journal has been added for the Client. Selecting this opens a window to view the additional Journal details:
Funding & Allocations
When NDIS Funding has been added and NDIS Supports have been Allocated, 'View Allocation Details' can be selected to view these:
If changes need to be made, these must be made in the Activity record.
Select 'Hide Allocation Details' to minimise this.
Shifts
When expanded, the Shifts section displays information regarding the Staff Shift/s associated with the Activity:
The Staff Member rostered into the Shift is displayed, along with a breakdown of their Rostered, Recorded, and Finalised Shift Hours and Private/Company Kms where relevant.
If the Shift Sign Off has been completed, a tick is displayed under their name, along with their Check In/Out times when this is being used. When the Shift has 'Includes Break' or 'Not Paid' selected, a tick is displayed to reflect this where relevant.
Bulk Actions - Sign Off
When you are ready to complete the Activity Sign Off, select the required Activities from the list, noting that the total number of Activities you have selected is displayed at the top of the page:
Select the 'Bulk Actions' button and then select 'Sign Off':
Confirmation is required to proceed:
Once selected, a green 'Successful' message appears on the screen momentarily.
To review the Activities that have been Signed Off, you can update the 'Activity Sign Off Status' filter to 'Signed Off' and select Search:
Unable to Sign Off all Selected Activities
When the Activity Sign Off cannot be selected for one or more of the selected Activities, the following message is displayed:
By selecting 'Confirm', the Activity Sign Off is completed for the Activities that can be Signed Off, and the Activities that could not be Signed Off are tagged as 'Under Review'.
What are the reasons the Activity Sign Off can not be completed?
If the Activity Sign Off could not be completed, it could be for one or more of the following reasons:
- One or more Staff Shifts in the Activity are TO BE FILLED
- The Short Notice Cancellation Reason is missing for one or more Clients
- The Activity has been deleted from another screen
- The Activity has already been Signed Off from another screen
- One or more Clients in the Activity have one or more invalid Allocations
Warning banner
Following this, a warning banner is displayed listing the Activities that could not be Signed Off and the reason why:
To correct these issues, you will need to navigate to the Activity record directly to address these.
Under Review Tag
Any Activities that could not be Signed Off are automatically tagged as 'Under Review' to assist in identifying this:
Once any issues preventing the Activity from being able to Sign Off are corrected, this Tag is removed automatically once the Activity Sign Off is completed either individually or using the workflow:
