Notes for people who run a care business between visits

Notes for Australian sole traders and small care teams: invoicing, credentials, proof of service and Support at Home. The source is named every time.

Getting paid

Support at Home invoicing: the two documents you send, and who pays which part
You claim the subsidy from Services Australia and invoice the participant for their share. What goes on each, in what order, and what you cannot charge.
What an NDIS invoice must include (with a checklist)
The fields a plan manager or self-managed participant needs to pay you, which ones the NDIA requires, and the mistakes that get an invoice sent back.
Self-managed vs plan-managed vs agency-managed: who do you invoice, and how you get paid
The three ways an NDIS plan can be managed, who you send the invoice to under each, who pays you, and what changes when a participant switches.

Setting your rates: NDIS limits are a ceiling, Support at Home prices are an argument
One programme gives you a maximum to work under. The other asks you to justify a number from your own costs, and then publish it. How to build both.
How to become an independent support worker in Australia — the honest 2026 checklist
ABN, NDIS Worker Screening Check, WWCC, first aid, insurance and rates — every step to going independent in Australia, and what the life is really like.
Registered vs unregistered NDIS provider: which are you, and what changes
What NDIS registration is, what an unregistered provider can and cannot do, what applies to both, and when registering is worth it for a sole trader.

How to write an NDIS progress note that holds up (with before/after examples)
What a good NDIS progress note contains, what to leave out, and four weak notes rewritten so they stand up to a plan manager, an auditor or a family.

Every check and document an independent support worker needs, and how long each lasts
The checks, certificates and insurance a sole-trader support worker needs, who issues each, how long each lasts, and what happens when one lapses.

ShiftCare alternatives for a one-person business: what a five-staff minimum actually costs
ShiftCare publishes a per-staff price, but every plan starts at five staff. What that means for a one- or two-person care business, and what to compare.
Why a one-person care business needs a system, not a spreadsheet
Scheduling in a group chat, invoices in Excel, receivables from memory. What a system changes for a sole trader, and why AI is useless without one.
NDIS software for sole traders: what you actually need, and what you're paying for that you don't
The six things a one-person NDIS business needs from software, the four ways vendors charge for it, and the questions to ask before you pay.

Unspent Support at Home funds: the carryover rule, and how to spot a client about to lose money
How much carries into the next quarter, what goes back to the Commonwealth, and the three weeks in which you can still do something about it.
Support at Home vs NDIS for the same worker: the six things that differ
Same hour, same skills, two different rulebooks. Who sets the price, what you can claim, how many documents you send, and who has to be registered.
Support at Home for sole traders and small teams: how the programme actually pays you
Quarterly budgets, client contributions, the carryover rule and self-set prices, from the Department's own pages, and how a small team fits in.

Why HarvestFlow Care doesn't take a percentage of what you bill
The three ways care software gets paid for, what a percentage does to a worker's incentives, and why we chose a flat price per workspace instead.