NDIS-coded invoicing for one person: the apps compared (2026)

By Kim Matthews · I run an NDIS support business and make Sparks Scribe

I look at NDIS-coded invoices from both ends. I run an NDIS support business, so the invoices from the workers I engage land on my desk (and my plan manager's), and I am a parent of NDIS participants, so I also see the ones written for my own kids' supports. That means I spend about as much time reading coded invoices as writing them, and I have a fairly clear picture of what makes a plan manager pay a claim without a fuss and what makes one bounce straight back.

So this is not a feature count. It is a look at six apps that promise NDIS-coded invoicing for one person, judged on one narrow question: when you finish a shift, does the app put the right support item code, the right day and time rate, the travel and the expense on the line for you, and hand you a PDF a plan manager can actually pay? The six are Sparks Scribe, EasyAs, Astalty, ShiftCare, Bugal and Visualcare.

The disclosure I owe you first: I make one of these apps. Sparks Scribe is mine, built in Australia by Sparks Support Pty Ltd, so read my verdict on it with that in mind. Everything I say about the other five was taken from their public pages in July 2026, and where I could not confirm something I have said so plainly rather than guess.

What does "NDIS-coded" actually mean on an invoice?

When a coded invoice comes across my desk, there are six things I am effectively checking, whether I mean to or not. A good app handles all six so I never have to send it back:

• The support item code and its rate on every line. The number has to match the support that was actually delivered, and the rate has to match the number.
• The right day and time variant. Weekday, evening, weekend and public holiday are different item numbers at different prices. A Sunday shift claimed at the weekday rate is one of the most common corrections I make.
• Travel as its own item. Provider travel time and the per-kilometre cost are separate from the support hours and carry their own codes. Bundling them into the support line is a fast way to get queried.
• Expenses, itemised. An agreed out-of-pocket cost needs to appear on its own line, not be quietly folded into an hourly rate.
• A code for the odd service. Now and then a support sits outside standard pricing and you need to add your own code and rate rather than force it into a number that does not fit.
• A real PDF out the other end. The finished invoice has to leave the app as something a plan manager can open and pay, not a screenshot or a half-finished draft.

How would I choose one if I were setting up today?

If I were a support worker starting out on my own tomorrow, or pointing a new worker I had just engaged at a tool, these are the questions I would actually ask, in this order:

• Does the code and the rate land on the line on their own, or am I typing item numbers in by hand every shift? Hand-typed codes are where the mistakes creep in.
• Does it know a Saturday evening from a Tuesday morning and price them differently, without me having to remember which number is which?
• Can it put travel and an expense on the invoice as their own items, the way the NDIS expects?
• Can I add a custom code when a support falls outside standard pricing?
• What does one person actually pay to get coded invoicing, once seat minimums and gated tiers are counted, not the headline per-user price?

I checked everything below against each vendor's public pages in July 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm on the vendor's own page before you decide.

1. Sparks Scribe: coded invoicing on the entry plan (and yes, I make it)

From $15/month incl GST (Essentials, coded invoicing included) · 14-day free trial, no card · iOS, Android and web · Data stored in Australia

Full disclosure, because it is my product: Sparks Scribe is built for independent support workers rather than agencies, and the invoicing side is deliberately plain. You pick a client, pick a date range, and pull in the shifts you worked. Each shift line already carries its NDIS support item code and rate, so you are not looking numbers up by hand, and because the app knows when the shift happened it applies the matching weekday, evening, weekend or public holiday variant.

Travel is one toggle: choose Add Travel and the travel code and the kilometres appear as their own line. There is an Add Expense option for agreed out-of-pocket costs, and you can create custom NDIS support codes for anything outside standard pricing so it still lands with a code and a rate. The finished invoice comes out as a PDF you send to the participant, plan manager or coordinator. The $20 Vault plan adds Xero sync on top.

The honest caveat, and it is the same one I would give a worker I engage: you set your own rates in Scribe, and it applies the correct code and rate for the day and time you worked, but it does not apply the NDIS price-guide caps for you. Checking your rate against the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements is still your job.

For the record: a 5.0 rating on the App Store, more than 90,000 shifts booked through the platform, data stored in Australia, and a 14-day free trial with every feature unlocked and no card required.

My verdict: the reason it is my pick for this one job is narrow and honest. Coded invoicing sits on the $15 Essentials plan rather than behind a higher tier or a five-seat minimum, and the travel, expense and custom-code pieces are all there. The trade is that it leaves the price-cap checking to you and does not do PRODA bulk upload.

2. EasyAs: it does the codes, but it is only the invoice

$19.95/month on their website ($19.99 via in-app purchase), by invoice volume · GST treatment not stated · No free trial published · iOS + Android

EasyAs, from EasyAs Provider Invoicing Pty Ltd at easyasinvoicing.com.au, does one thing: NDIS invoicing. Its site says every NDIS item number and support is pre-loaded and auto-updates with the latest NDIS pricing. Because the catalogue itself uses separate numbers for weekday, evening, weekend and public holiday work, having every number pre-loaded means those day and time variants are there to pick. It also links a travel item number to the support type and identifies which claim types, including travel kilometres, are allowed for each number.

Where it stops is scope. Pricing is by invoice volume rather than per user, from $19.95 a month on their website and $19.99 through in-app purchase, with no seat minimum. But across their public pages (July 2026) I could not confirm whether you can add a custom code for a service outside standard pricing, or whether prices include GST, and there is no free trial published. There is also no note-writing of any kind, so a worker using it still needs somewhere else to write their shift notes, and EasyAs's privacy policy states that personal information may be transferred to countries outside Australia, including the United States and European Union.

My verdict: if all you want is a clean NDIS invoice and you keep your notes elsewhere, EasyAs covers the codes, the day and time variants and travel. It is the invoice and nothing behind it, and its data can leave Australia.

3. Astalty: the full claim workflow, priced for coordinators

$64/user/month standard seat · $30/user/month support-worker profile · e-signatures $1 each · says no seat minimum · 14-day trial

Astalty is built for NDIS support coordinators and providers, and on invoicing it covers the whole claim chain: it creates and sends invoices, generates the PRODA bulk upload file and reconciles the payments that come back. It splits the work by funding type, so NDIA-managed claims produce a formatted CSV to upload to the PRODA portal, while plan-managed and self-managed participants get a PDF invoice. It also updates your charge items when new NDIS Pricing Arrangements take effect.

For one person the sticking point is price and fit. A standard seat is $64 per user per month and the restricted support-worker profile is $30, with e-signatures at $1 each on top, though Astalty does say there is no seat minimum so you can start with a single user. From their public pages (July 2026) I could not verify how it handles the day and time rate variants, travel per kilometre, or a general expense line for a lone support worker, so confirm those if they matter to you.

My verdict: the PRODA bulk upload is there if you claim directly to the NDIA, but the feature set and the per-seat price are built for coordination work, not one person's shifts.

4. ShiftCare: price books and travel per km, but you pay for five seats

From $9/licence/month, minimum 5 licences on every plan · Invoicing needs Professional, $65 to $75/month ex GST for one person depending on billing · Free trial available

ShiftCare is a care management platform aimed at agencies. On coding it works through price books: you import the NDIS Price Arrangements as Price Books, the support item number sits in the Reference Number column and shows in the description on the invoice, and the price book has a Travel Per Km rate and a Travel Reference Number so travel is coded and charged on its own. So the code, the rate and travel per kilometre can all sit on the invoice.

The catch for one person is the pricing floor. ShiftCare charges per licence with a minimum of five licences on every plan, even if you are the only user, and invoicing sits on the Professional plan, which works out at $65 to $75 a month excluding GST for a single worker depending on billing. You are paying for a team of five that does not exist. I could not verify a general expense line from their public pages (July 2026). I have written up the full Sparks Scribe vs ShiftCare comparison too.

My verdict: the coding and travel-per-km handling are there, but the coded invoice you came for sits behind the Professional plan and a five-seat minimum, so one person pays team money.

5. Bugal: built-in code selection and a tight free cap

Free plan (2 invoices/month) · Solo $35/month · 30-day free trial · Web-based platform

Bugal is aimed at Australian independents, and its public pages describe invoicing with built-in NDIS code selection alongside service agreements, shift management, expense tracking and shift notes. It lists a free-forever plan capped at two invoices a month and a 30-day trial, with the paid Solo plan at $35 a month once you go past that cap, which is more than double Scribe's $15 entry plan.

What I could not pin down from Bugal's public pages (July 2026): how it handles the day and time rate variants, whether travel is coded per kilometre, whether you can add a custom code, whether prices include GST, and whether the finished invoice comes out as a PDF, since Bugal describes itself as a web-based, mobile-first platform with no App Store or Google Play listing mentioned.

My verdict: code selection and expense tracking are there, but the detail on variants, travel and output is not spelled out publicly, and a two-invoice free cap runs out fast in a normal working week.

6. Visualcare: an enterprise platform, invoicing through Xero

No public pricing (request a demo) · Built for aged care and NDIS provider organisations · Award-aware rostering

Visualcare is an end-to-end platform for Australian aged care and NDIS provider organisations, built and maintained in Australia. It does award-aware rostering, payroll and claims, and it sends finalised rostered data through to Xero for invoicing, with travel routes and mileage handled on the rostering side. It is built for provider organisations, not for one person, and it does not publish pricing; you request a demo.

Because invoicing runs through Xero rather than as a standalone coded-invoice builder, I could not verify from Visualcare's public pages (July 2026) how a solo worker would add a custom code or produce a plan-manager PDF directly, without the rostering and payroll layer around it.

My verdict: a platform for an organisation, but the wrong shape and scale for one person who just needs a coded invoice out the door.

The six side by side

Collected from public pages in July 2026. "Not verified" means I could not confirm the detail from official public pages and chose not to guess.

All details collected from each vendor's public pages in July 2026 and simplified for comparison; prices and plans change, so check the vendor's own page before deciding. "Not verified" means I could not confirm the detail from official public pages and chose not to guess.

Frequently asked questions

Once the invoice side is sorted, the other half of the job is the record behind it. Here is my guide on how to write NDIS shift notes, with examples.

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