A Plan Manager will help you organise the financial side of your NDIS plan, much like an bookkeeper. Their role is to ensure that funds are being spent in line with your budget.

The best Plan Managers are well qualified, either as accountants, bookkeepers or general accounts people, and also have experience in health or disability fields. They are expected to follow payment and price controls set by the NDIA.

Plan Management is funded by the NDIS. At your planning meeting, simply tell your NDIS Planner that you would like a Plan Manager to support you.

The Plan Manager’s role is to submit claims to the NDIS for supports and services after they have been provided, as well as pay the actual providers of those supports. This is done by claiming money from the right budget categories on the NDIA portal.

Receiving invoices from your providers should be made simple for all parties (whether it’s you passing these on to your Plan Manager, or the providers invoicing your Plan Manager directly.)

Paying providers should also be done as quickly as possible. Auscare Support currently pays providers within 3-4 days and is working towards 1-day turnaround.

Your Plan Manager needs to supply you with regular reports and statements and let you know if you’ve over- or underspent your budget, but their role isn’t to choose or develop service agreements with providers. (See Support Coordination).

If you’re using a Plan Manager, providers cannot charge more than the price limits outlined in the NDIS price guide.

Your NDIA Planner may ask you how you would like to manage your NDIS funding as part of your NDIS Plan or Plan Review meeting.

You might also have decided before your meeting that you would like funding for Plan Management and should therefore be prepared to let your NDIS planner or Local Area Coordinator know.

Our simple Plan Management Request form is a helpful tool to facilitate your request.

Plan Management falls under your Capacity Building – Improved Life Choices budget.

You can choose Plan Management for your full budget, or just part of it. (Other options are Self-Managed or NDIA Managed.)

For example, your Assistive Technology budget may be NDIA Managed.

Circumstances change and it’s not unusual to realise that too much or too little Plan Management is allocated to your budget. If you choose to have more (or less) of your budget Plan Managed in between Review Meetings, you can request a Light Touch Review.

You are also free to change Plan Managers throughout your plan and you don’t need to consult the NDIS.

Simply double check the service agreement you have with your current provider to understand their notice period, inform them of your intentions, and make the switch.

When it comes to paying supports, you can either choose to self-manage your supports, ask the NDIS to pay on your behalf, or ask a Plan Manager to manage your payments.

These are referred to as:

1. Self Managed
2. Agency Managed
3. Plan Managed

You can choose to be Plan Managed, or a combination of all three, in whatever combination you’d like.

When you are Self Managed, you can select from a range of registered and non-registered providers, which expands your choice of supports. Being Self Managed also means you are not governed by the NDIS price guide, so you can pay as much or as little for a service as you like.

While Self Management offers you maximum flexibility, the administration and reporting are onerous and not suited to everyone.

If you are Agency Managed, you are able to choose from a range of NDIA-registered providers but cannot use unregistered supports. You are also bound to follow the NDIS price guide. This means you can negotiate to pay less than the price guide, but never more.

Being Agency Managed offers you the greatest level of support. The NDIA will pay service providers on your behalf and manage the bookkeeping and reporting via their myplace portal, which you can view to track your spending.

If you’re Agency Managed, you might want to choose providers who are not registered with the NDIS. You could achieve this through having a portion of your budget Plan Managed.

This could give you access to registered and non-registered providers, but still offer you the convenience and support of someone else providing the bookkeeping and reporting services.

You could also Self Manage a portion of your plan to test out and build up your independence or to access supports not bound by the price guide.

The NDIS is all about exercising choice and control, so the key is to work with those who know and assist you to find the best combination of management for you.

Plan Management and Support Coordination are similar in that they both help you make the most of your NDIS budget, but they differ in some key respects.

Plan Managers are there to manage your NDIS finances – they’re like your own NDIS bookkeeper.

Invoices from your providers are received and paid by your Plan Manager. Plan Managers also claim your funds from the NDIS portal and will provide you with a snapshot of where you are at.

Your Support Coordinator will not handle the finances, but will assess your situation and goals, interpret your plan and work out what combination of providers are the best fit for your needs.

They will also help build connections with providers, community and government networks to help you live a more fulfilled life.

Both Plan Management and Support Coordination are funded by the NDIS and you need to ask for both in your planning meeting. With Support Coordination, you need to prove that it is ‘reasonable and necessary’ for you to build your capacity and meet your goals.

With Plan Management, there are no conditions for funding and there’s a good chance that you’ll receive it, if you ask for it in your planning meeting.

You can receive funding for Plan Management and Support Coordination in the one plan. Since your Plan Manager and Support Coordinator offer complementary services, they can work closely to ensure that most of your bases are covered in bringing your plan to life.

The great thing about Plan Managers is that they allow you to access both registered and non-registered providers, giving you choice and opportunity. They don’t, however, help you choose the right provider, that’s the role of your Support Coordinator.

There are three types of support budgets that may be funded as part of your NDIS plan. They are your:

1. Core Supports Budget.
2. Capacity Building Supports Budget.
3. Capital Supports Budget.

Plan Management falls under number 2, Capacity Building Supports Budget, and under the sub-category of Improved Life Choices: Plan Management.

It is designed to help you manage your plan, funding and paying for services.

The current price guide lists the following:

14_033_0127_8_3 Plan Management And Financial Capacity Building  – Set Up Costs $232.35. This is a one off set up cost issued per plan.

14_034_0127_8_3 Plan Management  – Financial Administration $104.45. These are the monthly account keeping fees.

Your Capacity Building Supports Budget can only be used to purchase approved, individual supports. These might also include:

• Improved Living Arrangements: Support to help you find the right place to live and to keep it well maintained.
• Increased Social and Community Participation: development and training to increase your skills so you can participate in community, social and recreational activities.
• Finding and Keeping a Job: employment-related support, training and assessments that help you find and keep a job.
• Improved Relationships: support for developing positive behaviours and interactions with others.
• Improved Health and Wellbeing: exercise or diet advice to manage the impact of your disability. (Memberships are not funded as part of this).
• Improved Learning: training advice to help you move from school to further education.
• Improved Daily Living: Assessment, training or therapy to help increase your skills, independence and community participation.

Unlike Capacity Building, your Core Supports Budget is designed to assist you with everyday living. This can include assistance with daily needs around the house; consumables; participation in social and community activities and transportation.

Your Capital Supports Budget could include higher-cost assistive technology (lower cost normally falls under Core Support) and home modifications.

When it comes to funded supports, the non-NDIS-related assistance from family, friends and other community and government services do not fall under any of these support categories.