Funding Guide
Quick Summary
NDIA guidance says valid claims from recorded “my providers” are generally paid within 2–3 business days, while claims needing checks can take about 10 business days. That difference is a payroll-liquidity issue, not just an admin issue. Boards should treat claim eligibility, funding-period timing and review exposure as a weekly cash-control discipline.
Do not forecast all billed NDIS revenue as equally liquid. Record whether each claim is submitted by an eligible provider, matched to the participant’s funding management type, and inside the relevant service booking or funding-period rules.
Then give finance and operations one shared claims ageing view. The purpose is to show how much of the next payroll is supported by valid, submitted claims versus work delivered but exposed to correction, review or a funding-period delay.
NDIA participant guidance recognises that a participant and provider may agree to delay a claim until a later funding period, provided the later period and the rest of the plan can support it. That flexibility can create an unpriced working-capital facility on the provider’s balance sheet.
Require an owner, dollar limit and expiry for every deferred-claim arrangement. Escalate any decision that would make payroll depend on a future funding period, especially where the participant’s remaining plan balance or service agreement has not been checked.
A lender or capital provider should be able to reconcile delivered supports to submitted claims, expected payment dates and payroll commitments without rebuilding the model. That evidence makes invoice finance, a working-capital facility or expansion capital easier to assess on its true risk.
Use a 13-week cash forecast with a base case and a delayed-claims case. The board decision is not whether every delay can be financed; it is whether the provider has enough headroom to keep services and payroll stable while operations correct the cause.
