How Automation Simplifies Your Bookkeeping (and saves you time)
1. Claim Submissions and Payments
When you automate the process of submitting claims through the NDIS portal, you reduce the amount of human error that can happen with manual submissions. This means there is less chance of claims being rejected or payments delayed.
When you use automation tools, you can:
Automatically complete claim forms with pre-verified data.
Reduce errors in participant details and service descriptions.
Schedule claim submissions to ensure timely payments.
When claims submissions are automated you have less stress around your cash flow and fewer disruptions to service delivery.
2. Participant Budget Management
With the right automation tools, NDIS providers can track and allocate participant budgets more efficiently. Managing multiple participants with different funding options and budgets can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be.
With automation, you can:
Monitor expenses in real-time against allocated budgets.
Easily recognise if a participant's budget is nearing its limit or if there are extra funds available.
Provide clear reporting for participants, showing exactly how funds are spent.
This ensures your compliance with NDIS regulations and helps to build trust with participants and their families.
3. Payroll Compliance Made Easy
Payroll can be a challenging area for NDIS providers. You may have employees under the SCHADS award, the Aged Care Award or Nursers Award. There’s complex roster requirements, full-time, part-time and casual employees, and tasks performed in clients’ homes or overnight.
Automation tools can support you to:
Interpret the Awards correctly to accurately calculate employees' pay.
Integrate with rostering and timesheet systems.
Automatically calculate overtime, shift penalties, allowances and leave entitlements.
Payroll automation can reduce compliance risks and ensure fair and timely wages for staff.
4. Detailed Financial Reporting and Insights
Automated systems provide on-demand, comprehensive financial reports tailored to meet the needs of NDIS providers. These reports are essential to ensure your business is running efficiently and will give insights into areas that may need attention.
Automated reports can:
Highlight cash flow trends, ensure funding is well utilised and provide overall financial performance information.
Assist with compliance reporting, such as BAS and audits.
Shine a spotlight on where to cut costs or invest resources.
Detailed reports not only simplify compliance, they can also support you and your business to strategically plan for growth.
User-Friendly Solutions for NDIS-Specific Needs
Along with all the benefits detailed above, many automation tools are being specifically designed for the needs of NDIS providers. The Australian Government requirements for NDIS providers are stringent and these tailored solutions are available to enhance your transparency with both participants and those you report to.
Tools that allow you to allocate funding for specific support categories and tracking expenses, are essential to your efficiency. Software options that generate invoices that align with NDIS guidelines and provide secure portals for participants to view their financial statements are revolutionising the industry.
When you consider that these tools also allow for improved scalability and flexibility as participant numbers increase, ensuring you can manage higher volumes without adding more stress for your admin team, it’s clear to see that automation is a fantastic option to more-effectively manage your business.
…. But with so many options out there, how do you know what software to choose?
Choosing the Right Automation Tools
When selecting automation tools for NDIS bookkeeping, it’s important to consider the following:
NDIS Compatibility: Ensure the software aligns with NDIS requirements and can handle the specific tasks you require, like submitting claims through the NDIS portal.
Ease of Use: A platform that is simple to use is essential for seamless adoption by your team – remember that more than just admin staff may need to upload information into the system.
Integration Capabilities: Look for tools that can integrate with your existing systems, such as your customer relationship management (CRM) software or current accounting platforms.
Automation is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity for NDIS providers aiming to remain competitive and efficient. Investing in the right tools and technologies and embracing automation is not just about saving time and money, you’ll reduce errors and be more able to focus on delivering exceptional care.
As technology continues to evolve, automation will play an even greater role in transforming how NDIS providers manage their finances. Emerging trends, such as AI, will no doubt have an impact on software capabilities, so you’ll need to work with a bookkeeper who can keep you at the forefront of progress.
At WestBAS, we specialise in supporting NDIS providers and this gives us extensive knowledge of the technology and processes that work for others in the industry. If you are in any doubt about how to best integrate and adopt the latest automation for your business, don’t hesitate to call us. We’re happy to answer any of your questions regarding software and processing efficiency for your NDIS business.