A Plan Manager is a bit like your own personal bookkeeper for your NDIS funding. They take of care of all the NDIS portal claims, make sure your providers are following the rules when charging you for services, pay your providers for you, and help you keep track of your NDIS budget. Typically a Plan Manager will have a background in accounting or bookkeeping, which means they have a solid understanding of finance and systems – which means you don’t have to!
Sometimes the NDIS refers to Plan Managers as Financial Intermediaries – they act as a bridge between participants and unregistered providers. Along with having a Plan Manager take care of all the funding administration for you, the biggest advantage is that it allows you to access unregistered providers. This can be really helpful because there are many more unregistered providers than registered, so it makes it much easier for you to find the right supports for you – you have much more choice and control.
The other big plus to having a Plan Manager is that they’re experts (or should be!) in how you can use your NDIS funding, so if you don’t have a Support Coordinator, and your NDIS contact (LAC or Planner) isn’t helpful, a PM can help answer some of your questions.
Can I Buy It?
The big question! What can you spend your NDIS funds on? This topic is worthy of its own blog post, so please check it out for some tips and resources.
