Starting a plan-management business: service and systems
Getting Started in NDIS Plan Management: Establish your business
By Clickability · Originally published 25 January 2021
Build a service model that participants can actually use
Define how participants contact you, understand spending and question an invoice. Test accessible communication and backup arrangements alongside your financial workflow. Clarify conflicts of interest when your organisation offers other supports, and keep participants’ choices visible.
This series is co-written by Clickability and LanternPay. For more information on Clickability, or for more helpful guides just like this one, visit www.clickability.com.au. For more information on LanternPay and its claim payments platform, visit its website.
Like any business, you need to make your Plan Management service stand out from the crowd. This involves finding your niche, identifying the key attributes of your Plan Management business, and offering participants clear value.
This blog post will tackle the types of things your business needs to address to make your business quintessentially its own, from choosing your model of service delivery to finding the right technology to run your business.
Understand the market
To find your niche, you first need to determine who you are targeting and discover what already exists to meet their needs – and this means understanding what your competition is doing. How big is the market in your chosen area? Is it growing? Is it mature? Is it saturated? And where is the market going?
Answering these questions might seem tricky, but the NDIS publishes quarterly reports that reveal valuable insights. You’ll be able to see who’s doing what and where potential gaps in the market exist. You’ll have an abundance of statistics!
If the market is mature or saturated, think about how you can create a unique presence. You could focus on creating an online presence, with an emphasis on Zoom or Teams, to support participants in a different way.
Identify your attributes
Although they might be obvious, think about the following questions:
Are you a national business? Or a regional/local business?
Are you an independent Plan Management? Or do you offer other NDIS services?
How do you want to operate? Manual versus automated?
Do you want to offer specialist support to a particular participant cohort?
Will you deliver your service face to face, on the telephone, or using other technologies?
Do you have experience relevant to Plan Management, such as bookkeeping? Do you need to upskill?
Set your business goals
You might want to set your goals before you identify your attributes. It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg scenario, right? But no matter what order you do it in, you’ll need think like any other business and set your end goals.
For instance, think about how many participants you want to support, where you want to support them, and what client outcomes look like. Have you spoken to a NDIS participant to find out what matters most to them? This could help frame your goals.
With these goals, you’ll then be able to determine how you’ll make yourself sustainable and profitable, given that your income from participants is a set amount. What are your set up and operating expenses/overheads? Which are fixed vs variable?
Embrace technology
We’ve alluded to it, but technology plays a big role in the sustainability of your business. Give thought to the technology you can use to run your business and use technology to ensure your business is accessible. What’s the point of starting a business if someone can’t access it?
You’ll also need to determine what technology you use to run your business, whether that be a Client relationship management (CRM) to help you work with customers or accounting system to manage the books. Similarly, think about how technology can help you grow your business.
The thing you will have noticed is that the success of your business is dependent on multiple factors. You need to commit and bring the pieces together to deliver on this, including the people, the systems, and technology. But the way in which you configure this will make your business your own! Now, you just need to find customers.
Clickability editorial update: October 2026
Ask what happens when an invoice or budget needs attention
Find out how you will receive statements, authorise arrangements and raise a concern. Ask about response times and how the manager checks charges without taking over your service decisions. Compare the communication and service terms as well as claims about automation. Plan management services should be evaluated against your actual needs.
Questions readers ask
Can bookkeeping experience replace plan-manager registration?
Compare plan managers through Clickability and ask how they communicate, resolve invoice questions and help you understand spending. Confirm registration and current terms.
