"Do you have a sense of how much you've got outstanding in unpaid invoices right now?" This is a question that I have asked many providers recently over our discovery calls. The answer most often given to this question, has provided us with an insight into something many providers are struggling with behind the scenes, more than they would like to admit.
When asked if they have a sense around the number of current outstanding unpaid invoices in their system, more often than not, the answer is "Not really", or they might provide an estimate, but when we actually dig into the data, it looks quite different. Sometimes better than they thought. Sometimes worse. Occasionally, there are even services that we discover were delivered but never invoiced at all.
It is not a personal failing, this is a systems problem. And it's more common than you think.
So today I want to walk you through why this happens, what the financial picture in your business actually needs to look like, and who the right people are to help you get there.
In this article, and the video below, I’m going to walk you through why this happens, what your financial visibility should actually look like as a provider, and who you need around you to help get things running clearly and consistently.
1. The systems gap
Here's a situation I see regularly. A provider is using a practice management system (PMS) to track their participants, their services, their notes. They've got Xero sitting alongside it for their accounting. Both tools are doing their job, but they're not connected, or they're not being reconciled regularly.
Or, the practice management system or CRM hasn't been set up properly, isn't the best fit for the type of supports or some staff just aren't comfortable using it.
So what happens? Payments come in and get processed in one system, but the invoice in the other system still sits there marked as outstanding. Over time, you've got a list of "unpaid" invoices, and you genuinely don't know how many of those have actually been paid and how many haven't.
Add to that the possibility that some services have been delivered and documented in the PMS but never converted into an invoice in the first place, and suddenly the picture gets even blurrier!
This is the bit that keeps you up at night. Not just the cash flow itself, but not knowing. Not being able to trust the numbers that you’re looking at.
2. The "I'm not a numbers person" trap
Sometimes I hear: "I'm just not a numbers person."
And I get it - you probably didn't start your business because you love spreadsheets! You started because you wanted to support participants, build a team, make a difference in your community.
The great news is, you don't have to be a numbers person. You just need the right people around you who get the numbers and the NDIS, AND have good communication with them.
The problem isn't disliking numbers. It's assuming someone else has it covered when actually there's a gap that nobody's noticed yet. Or, accepting that financial confusion is just part of running a business, when it really doesn't have to be.
3. Who does what, plain English
Let's dive into more about the different people who can support you with your finances. There can be a lot of confusion around this and it's worth understanding as a business owner.
I learned most of this the hard way in my own early years of running Positively Sorted. For a long time I had only a single tax accountant on my “team”, and figured the rest out myself, often slowly. Looking back, this actually held back the growth of my business. I have a tendency to need to know something is going to work, before I jump fully in. However, I've seen others in business go the other way - diving in the deep end - and they sometimes grow WAY too quickly, before their systems, team and cashflow are ready. If either of these situations feel familiar, you're not alone!
So who can help?
Let’s break down who does what and how they can help:
Your tax accountant is the person who handles your end-of-year compliance: your tax return, your lodgements, making sure you're meeting your obligations and reducing your tax where possible. They are essential, but their role is largely looking backwards at what has already happened.
A business or advisory accountant is someone who helps you understand what your numbers actually mean for decisions you're making right now and in the future. Things like: can we afford to hire? Are our margins sustainable? What does growth look like financially? Not every accountant offers this, and it's genuinely worth asking yours whether they do. In a larger accounting firm, you might find both tax and advisory roles are more often than not, covered by different people on the same team.
Then there's the bookkeeper who keeps your books accurate and up to date on an ongoing basis. They reconcile your expenses, handle your BAS and GST reporting, and if you don't have internal staff managing it, they'll often handle payroll too. To do this work legally, they need to be BAS registered, so that's worth checking. And sometimes your accountant can have bookkeepers on their team too.
And then, there's a finance Virtual Assistant (VA) or accounts support team. This is someone, or a team, who works inside your business on the day-to-day billing side: generating invoices, matching payments received against what's outstanding, and following up on anything that hasn't been paid. This is where Positively Sorted sometimes fits in.
Now, one thing worth mentioning here. Sometimes a bookkeeper or accountant will offer to take on the invoicing side as well, and that can work really well. However, if they don't have a solid understanding of how NDIS billing works specifically, including the difference between agency-managed and plan-managed payments, that can create its own problems. NDIS invoicing has enough nuance that it's worth making sure whoever is doing it actually knows the system.
Not every business needs all of these as separate people. When you're small, one person might cover a few roles. The question isn't whether you have a full finance team or not, it's whether all of these tasks are actually covered, and if not, finding and understanding where the gaps are.
4. What happens when the picture is blurry
When these pieces aren't in place, or when the systems aren't talking to each other, there are a few common things that tend to happen that can build up and lead to stress and overwhelm.
You're making decisions based on numbers that aren't accurate. You might think cash flow is tighter than it is, and hold back on decisions you could comfortably make. Alternatively, you might think you're doing fine, and miss that there's actually a backlog of unpaid invoices quietly building up and cashflow is about to grind to a halt.
You spend time and energy chasing invoices, and think that money is coming, because the data says they're outstanding when they're not. And the invoices that genuinely need following up get lost in the noise and start to snowball.
Over time, the stress of not knowing becomes its own problem. It sits in the background of every business decision you make.
What you can do to clear up the clutter
Here's what I want you to take away from this.
You don't need to become a finance expert. You just need a clear enough picture to run your business with confidence, and the right people in the right places to help you get there.
How we can help
If any of what I've described above sounds familiar, it's probably worth a conversation, whether that's with your accountant, your bookkeeper, or with my team. We genuinely love nutting out these situations with providers. We can help you see where the gaps are, tell you what we can help with directly, and point you toward your accountant for the things that sit in their corner.
If this article or the video above was helpful, please let me know in the comments below. Or, if you have any tips, tricks or resources for managing financial blind spots, drop those in the comments below to help others find solutions that might work for them.
