Managing your NDIS funding is critical in achieving your future plans and goals. During a participant’s planning phase, their ECEI or LAC or NDIS planner will discuss options to support the participant’s preferred way, in managing their plan. This helps participants to choose the best-preferred option in managing their NDIS funding.

Below given are three ways to manage your NDIS funding:

1. Self–management

It provides the participants with the flexibility and the choice, to manage their own NDIS funding. Moreover, participants can creatively use their funds to meet their individual goals. For example, Sophia self manages her plan, which gives her the flexibility and the choice to either hire a support worker or not. However, Sophia feels that she only needs support for few hours a week (in relation to domestic help, cleaning and shopping). This gives Sophia the control to manage her own funding in utilising it for daily living assistance.

If participants self-manage their NDIS funding, they will have:

• Choice in deciding the required support and the provider and the delivery of the support.
• Flexibility to use any NDIS provider in managing their plan-based goals.
• Capacity to contract or employ support workers, (or any staff member to manage their plans)
• Ability to decide on negotiating the cost of the support and choosing the best value for money.
• Control and responsibility for the NDIS funding to manage your own support budget (for the validity of your plan).

The NDIS self–managing option as mentioned provides independence, flexibility and control in arranging and paying for your own support. For example, Sophia who manages her own funding needs to process her own invoice and receipts to pay the NDIS providers. However, in some cases, participants are not very keen to manage their own provided support budget (read plan-managed funding).

2. Plan-managed funding

Plan managed funding is like outsourcing your tax return or bookkeeping services to accountants. For example, Sophia has a new job, and she won’t have enough time to self-manage her funding, so she decides to work with a plan manager. According to the NDIS, a provider who supports you to manage your NDIS funding in your NDIS plan is called a plan manager. And the participant’s plan managed by NDIS is referred to as plan-managed funding.

One of the biggest benefits for you is no paperwork and you can also choose providers that are not NDIS registered. Also, connecting with a plan manager, who provides a mobile-based application will help you track your invoices and claims.

At your planning meeting with the NDIS planner, you can request for a plan manager to provide you with support.

For more information, read our guide to Plan Management | How to find the right NDIS provider?

3. NDIA – managed (agency managed) funding

If you would like your plan to be NDIA (or agency managed) you can choose from a range of NDIS registered providers. The providers will process claims and payments electronically from your funding. However, keep in mind you cannot use unregistered providers.

This option of managing your funding gives you the freedom where NDIS manages the bookkeeping records of your spending and budget.

Please note, plan management is different from having the NDIS managed funding. 

If you are new to NDIS funding or confused in understanding the difference between the three ways to manage your support budgets (core, capacity, capital). You can speak to NDIS for more information or simply give us a call on 08 7117 1409 for any query you may have.

Below given is a list of acronyms for participants new to NDIS support budgets

ECEI – Early Childhood Early Intervention,

NDIS – National Disability Insurance Agency

LAC – Local Area Coordinator