What do I do when an NDIS plan manager won't pay my invoice?
First check the invoice went to the right plan manager email with every detail they need to match it to the participant. Then follow up in writing on a set timetable, and if it is still unpaid, tell the participant, because it is their plan and their plan manager. Rule out a mismatch first.
The sessions are done, the invoice went out, the due date has passed and your follow-up emails get no reply. Small providers describe exactly this, and for a small practice or a sole trader that money is the rent.
Start with what you can check today. Is the participant plan managed, self managed or agency managed? Plan managed invoices go to the plan manager, self managed ones to the participant or their family, and agency managed ones through the portal. An invoice sent to the wrong place can sit unpaid with nobody knowing it is theirs. Then check it carries what the plan manager needs to match it: the participant, the dates of service, the item numbers and your business details. If you are not sure what they need, ask them in writing.
Then follow up on a timetable instead of when you remember. If you invoice from Xero, it has three default invoice reminders you can turn on and edit, so the follow-up goes out whether anyone remembers or not. Write them once in your own words: a friendly note, a plain one, then a firm one that names the invoice, the amount owing and the dates of service.
If it is still unpaid after that, tell the participant or their family. It is their plan, and the plan manager works for them. A short, polite note saying the invoice is outstanding and asking them to raise it puts the question to the person the plan manager answers to. Keep it about the invoice, never about their support. If it still cannot be sorted out, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has a free guide to disputes under the NDIS.
To stop it happening again, keep one list of who pays for whom: each participant, how their plan is managed, the plan manager's invoice email and the plan dates. Fill it in once when someone starts with you, then raise the fortnight's invoices against it in one sitting on a set day, instead of from memory on a Sunday night.
A Three Fixes report looks at how you invoice NDIS participants today and writes the steps for a fortnightly invoice day, and the words to give a chatbot for the participant list columns and the reminder wording, in the tools you already use.
Sourced: Xero has three default reminders set up when you first turn on invoice reminders, and you can edit them or add more, Xero Central, How invoice reminders work (https://central.xero.com/0/article/How-invoice-reminders-work)
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