Service bookings put aside money in an NDIA-managed participant’s budget to pay NDIS registered providers for supports or services to be delivered.
If the participant is not NDIA-managed, you should discuss how they will pay for the supports you are going to deliver.
A service booking must be created before a participant receives services or supports.
Service bookings show the type of support participants need and for how long they need it. It also confirms there is funding in their plan to pay for these supports.
Service bookings can also be created by participants, their nominee, their plan manager or the NDIA. NDIA representatives can also help participants complete their service bookings.
Providers can:
- create a new service booking with a participant
- view and edit existing service bookings
- accept or reject a new service booking, including providing a reason for rejection
- accept or reject a change to an existing service booking, including providing a reason for rejection
- edit support details on a service booking, including duration, price, and quantity
- end a service booking by updating the end date, cancelling the service booking.
Creating service bookings
Watch our video tutorial about creating a service booking.
Service bookings must be in place before you provide supports to a participant and must be in line with the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.
Without a service booking you will not be able to submit payment requests to be paid for the supports you have provided to NDIA-managed participants.
When there are price limit increases, providers and participants need to discuss and agree on any changes to charges for supports to be delivered. Once agreed, you may need to edit service bookings to reflect the agreed changes.
You can create and manage service bookings with participants in the myplace provider portal.
Service bookings can be created at the category level or line item level. In most cases, service bookings should be created at the category level, where possible.
Occasionally a participant's plan may include a specific line item for a type of support, or the support may require a quote. In this case the service booking must be created at the line item level.
Please refer to the myplace provider portal step-by-step guide Part 4 - Administering your services for more information.
A provider may have multiple service bookings, within a participant plan.
Things to remember when you create a service booking:
- online notifications are created when a participant or provider initiates a service booking
- funds will be allocated to the chosen provider(s) for the life of the service booking
- most service bookings are created at the category level (displayed as Support Budget in the myplace provider portal), rather than at line item level– this allows for flexibility across the support categories
- ensure you are registered for the correct registration group that aligns to the supports you intend to provide participants
- the service booking must be approved by both you and the participant (or their nominee or plan management provider acting on their behalf)
- in-kind supports will not be included in service bookings.
For further detail on how to make a service booking in myplace, watch the Creating a Service Booking video tutorial or refer to the myplace provider portal step-by-step guides.
Managing service booking dates
Things to remember to manage your service bookings:
- The dates of the service booking must be within the participant’s current plan.
- If the dates of the service booking do not cover the plan duration, you can create additional service bookings, or extend them to cover the plan.
- The dates of the service bookings within the same support category cannot overlap.
- At times, you may see that service bookings about to expire (and sharing the same end date as the plan they belong to) may be automatically extended for up to 365 days until the new plan reassessment is approved. This is to ensure there is not a gap between the plans.
- If the plan has been automatically extended, the end date will also be automatically extended for all active service bookings.
Managing service bookings
Allocating funding in plan budgets
A service booking may contain all, or a portion, of the allocated funds in the support category, and cannot be made for more than the value of the plan funds.
Multiple service providers
More than two providers may have a service booking for the same support category.
For example, where 30 hours of individual support is allocated in the participant’s plan, the participant may choose to split this across multiple providers.
This could allow one provider to deliver supports on a weekend, assisting with social and recreational events, and another during the week to support in-home and employment outcomes.
NDIA-managed budget
If a participant has chosen the NDIA to pay their providers, a service booking is created to link the supports in their plan to their chosen providers.
Providers must approve a service booking before the participant receives services. This ensures the participant has funding allocated to pay the provider.
Providers request payment through the myplace provider portal for the supports provided.
Plan-managed budget
Where the participant has a plan manager, service bookings will be created in this order:
- A standard service booking for the plan manager to claim the financial intermediaries supports they have delivered to the participant;
- Plan-managed service bookings for each of the participant’s funded supports.
Where a plan manager has already been appointed for a participant, the plan manager arranges payment to service providers on behalf of the participant.
Self-managed budget
Service bookings are automatically generated in the system for any self-managed supports in the plan.
Self-managed participants do not need to create a service booking and will:
- Submit a payment request in the myplace participant portal with the receipt uploaded. The NDIA will pay these funds into the participant’s nominated bank account in 2-3 business days; or
- Submit a payment request in the myplace participant portal with an invoice from the provider. The NDIA will pay the funds into the participant’s nominated bank account in 2-3 business days and then the participant will pay the provider.
Viewing a service booking
Watch the Viewing a Service Booking tutorial or refer to the myplace provider portal step-by-step guides.
Edit a service booking
Providers cannot create or change service bookings retrospectively. Where a service booking is changed, both the participant and provider must agree to the change.
A service booking can only be edited as follows. You can:
- extend current service bookings up until the end date of the participant plan
- adjust the quantity or allocated amount (unit price) against a category or item, as long as there is enough remaining budget within the participant’s plan.
For more information about how to edit a service booking in myplace, watch the Editing a Service Booking tutorial or refer to the myplace provider portal step-by-step guides.
Ending a service booking
If circumstances change a participant or provider can choose to end a service booking.
A participant can choose to change providers if they wish. If this happens, you will need to end the current service booking with the existing supports to allow the new provider to create a new service booking.
Service bookings should not be deleted. To cancel an existing service booking you do not need to delete it, you only need to update the end date to a date between today’s date and the current end date. This will automatically trigger a cancellation
You cannot update the end date of a service booking to a date before the date you are updating the booking.
Providers have the opportunity to enter the accrual amount to ensure sufficient funds are retained in the service booking to cover pending payment requests for services delivered.
Any unspent funds are returned to the available support category balance. This ensures you can continue claiming for services provided, but the participant can use the unspent funds in a new service booking.
For more information about how to end a service booking in myplace, watch the Ending a Service Booking video tutorial or refer to the myplace provider portal step-by-step guides.