How to configure NDIS Direct Funding for Plan Managed Clients using Shared Contacts
When a Client's funding is being managed by a third-party Financial Plan Management (FPM) organisation a Shared Contact record must first be created for this entity so it can be added to an NDIS Direct Client Funding record and selected as the FPM responsible for paying Invoices.
An FPM organisation can either be set as the 'Default Financial Plan Manager' when all Invoices need to go to this party, or customised as the FPM for individual Supports or Category Budgets when only some Invoices need to go to this Plan Manager.
Setting the relevant FPM/s in the NDIS Direct Client Funding record ensures that Invoices are generated accordingly for the correct FPM/s; once the Client's Funding Source is updated to the relevant NDIS Funding record in the Activities they participate in, NDIS Support Allocations have been added, and the Activity Sign-Off completed.
This article outlines how to create a Shared Contact record for Plan Management organisations, how to set these entities as the 'Default FPM' in NDIS Direct Client Funding records, and how to customise the FPM for individual Supports or Category Budgets where required.
It also outlines how to review Invoices in the NDIS FPM Shared Contact record.
Audience: Authorised Representatives, Finance Team, Operations Management, Team Leaders, and anyone tasked with working with Client Funding records.
Summary
The following list summarises the content within this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:
- How to create an NDIS Financial Plan Management (FPM) Shared Contact record
- Setting the Default FPM in an NDIS Direct Client Funding record
- Changing the Default FPM in an NDIS Direct Client Funding record
- Changing the FPM for individual Supports or Category Budgets
- Reviewing Invoices generated for NDIS Financial Plan Management Contacts
How to create an NDIS Financial Plan Management (FPM) Shared Contact record
When a Client's funding is being managed by a third-party Financial Plan Management (FPM) organisation a Shared Contact record must first be created for this entity so it can be selected as the FPM in NDIS Direct Client Funding records.
Anyone can create a Shared Contact record and no special privileges are required.
To create a Financial Plan Management Shared Contact record select the '+' icon next to 'Shared Contacts' in the Dashboard menu.
This will open a new Shared Contact record where the relevant details may be entered on the 'Shared Contact Details' tab as follows:
- Shared Contact Details - enter the Company Name, ABN, contact details, and any other applicable details regarding the organisation such as Primary Contact
- Financials - select the 'NDIS Financial Plan Management' checkbox to indicate that the Shared Contact is an NDIS Plan Manager. This must be configured in order for the FPM to be available to select in NDIS Direct Funding records
N.B. The NDIS Financial Plan Management setting will become grey and is unable to be removed once it is in use as the FPM in any NDIS Direct Client Funding records.
Detailed information on creating Shared Contact records is outlined in the How to create a Shared Contact record article linked below for reference.
Information is also available in the Creating an NDIS Financial Plan Management (FPM) Contact linked video, accessible also from the NDIS Direct Client Funding section in the Funding tab of the Learning Centre.
Setting the Default FPM in an NDIS Direct Client Funding record
The Default Financial Plan Manager is set for an NDIS Direct Client Funding record when first creating the Funding record:
Any Shared Contact records that have been created as 'Plan Management Contacts' will display as available for selection in the list of options.
Once all fields have been completed in the 'Add Direct Client Funding' window and the Funding record has been created the selected Plan Management Contact will display in the 'Default Financial Plan Manager' field e.g. All Star Provider:
Changing the Default FPM in an NDIS Direct Client Funding record
To change the 'Default Financial Plan Manager' in an NDIS Direct Client Funding record simply select the 'Change' button for this field:
This will open the 'Change Financial Plan Manager' window where the relevant Default FPM may be selected e.g. the Client or their nominated Billing Contact, the NDIA, or another Plan Management Contact:
Once the replacement Default FPM e.g. Plans R Us, along with the 'Change' button has been selected, the 'Default Financial Plan Manager' will be updated along with the FPM for all individual Support Items and Category Budgets:
An exception to this is if the FPM for one of the Supports has been customised e.g. Local Financial Intermediary Services, as this FPM will be retained and not overridden by any changes to the Default FPM:
All future Invoices from this time forward will be generated for the new Default FPM and any customised FPMs accordingly.
Changing the FPM for individual Supports or Category Budgets
If a specific FPM applies to certain NDIS Supports or Categories the FPM can be customised for these NDIS Supports as required, by selecting the contextual menu (three dots) to the right of the Support and selecting 'Change FPM':
This opens the 'Change Financial Plan Manager for Support Category' window, where the relevant NDIS FPM for this Support may be selected e.g. the Client or their nominated Billing Contact, the NDIA, or another Plan Management Contact:
Select the relevant NDIS FPM from the list e.g. Local Financial Intermediary Services' and select 'Change':
Once the FPM has been changed, a blue notification will display 'FPM customised' and all Invoices relating to this Support will be generated for this FPM upon financial processing, regardless of the FPM set as the 'Default Financial Plan Manager' and any future updates to the Default FPM:
Customising the FPM for NDIS Supports to prevent changes when the Default FPM is updated
Customising the FPM for NDIS Supports will prevent it from being automatically updated when the Default FPM is changed.
The list of Financial Plan Managers in the 'Change Financial Plan Manager for Support Category' window, displays the Default FPM at the top of the list e.g. All Star Provider (default):
You will note that this FPM is also listed again with 'customise' in brackets noted beside it.
Selecting the (customise) option will customise this FPM for the NDIS Support. Even though the same FPM may already have been listed for this Support relative to the Default FPM configured, customising the FPM will ensure it is retained regardless of any future updates to the Default FPM.
At any stage, if your organisation wishes to revert to the Default FPM for this Support, or ensure it is updated in line with any Default changes, this process can be repeated and the (default) option selected.
Reviewing Invoices generated for NDIS Financial Plan Management Contacts
Once Invoices have been generated for an NDIS Financial Plan Management organisation they will be displayed in several places as follows:
- Funding tab of the related FPM Shared Contact record
- Funding tab of the related Client record
N.B. Staff require the 'View Financial Information' privilege in order to access the Funding tabs.
Funding tab of the related FPM Shared Contact record
Invoices generated for an NDIS Financial Plan Management organisation are listed on the Funding tab of the related FPM Shared Contact record, with links to the Client record and NDIS Direct Client Funding record:
The blue notification at the top advises the number of Invoices that have been generated for this Contact and provides a link to see those invoices:
Selecting 'here' will navigate to the 'Invoice List' which includes links to various related records such as the Invoice, Debtor, Client, Funding record and Invoice Batch:
The List is displayed on a new tab in your browser, allowing you to easily navigate back to the FPM Shared Contact record on the original tab.
Funding tab of the related Client record
Direct Invoices are also displayed on the Client's Funding tab in the Direct Invoices section below Direct Client Funding, with a link to the Invoice and Funding record:
