Most small and mid-sized NDIS providers start with a combination of spreadsheets, a generic rostering app, a separate payroll system and manual NDIS invoicing. It works at ten staff. At thirty, someone is spending days every fortnight reconciling them. Before you compare vendors, decide what problem you're actually solving.
The five spreadsheets good software should replace
- The roster itself, often a shared spreadsheet or whiteboard.
- The award calculation sheet: penalties, sleepovers, broken shifts.
- Timesheet reconciliation: what was rostered vs what was worked.
- NDIS billing: support items, price limits and claims.
- Compliance tracking: worker screening, training and incident records.
The checklist
1. Real award interpretation, not just "pay rates"
- Applies SCHADS penalties by shift time, not just by day.
- Handles sleepovers, broken shifts and overtime thresholds.
- Supports more than one award if you also employ aged-care workers or nurses.
- Updates for annual wage review changes.
2. Margin visibility per shift
- Shows the cost of each rostered shift against the funded or billed rate.
- Flags loss-making shifts, such as Sunday or public holiday shifts priced below cost.
3. NDIS billing from the same data
- Generates NDIS invoices or claims from completed shifts.
- Knows support items and price limits.
- Supports self-managed, plan-managed and NDIA-managed participants.
4. A worker mobile app people will actually use
- Shift list, sign in and sign out with geolocation, timesheets and leave requests.
- Works offline in poor-reception areas.
5. Compliance records
- Forms, incident reports and participant documentation with version history.
- Audit trail of who changed what.
6. Accounting integration
- Pushes invoices and payroll data to Xero or MYOB without re-keying.
7. Pricing that fits your size
- A free trial or live demo you can test with your own messy edge cases.
- Clear per-user or per-participant pricing with no surprise implementation fees.
Questions to ask in every demo
- "Show me a casual support worker's Saturday sleepover followed by a Sunday broken shift. What does payroll see?"
- "A participant cancels at short notice. What happens to the worker's pay and the NDIS claim?"
- "How do I see which shifts lost money last fortnight?"
- "What happens on 1 July when award rates and NDIS price limits change?"
If a vendor can't show you those live, it'll be you working them out in a spreadsheet later.
Where RaddeCare+ fits
RaddeCare+ is built for Australian NDIS, disability and aged-care providers. It covers rostering with SCHADS, Aged Care and Nurses award engines, per-shift margin visibility once a shift is rostered, NDIS and general invoicing, a worker mobile app with offline sign-in and timesheets, a form builder for compliance documentation, leave management and Xero/MYOB integration. You can try the live demo with no account.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best rostering software for NDIS providers?
The best fit depends on your size and mix of staff, but look for software that interprets the SCHADS Award by shift time, generates NDIS invoices from the same shift data, includes a worker mobile app, and integrates with your accounting system, so you aren't reconciling multiple tools every pay cycle.
Do I need separate payroll and rostering software?
Not necessarily. Systems that roster, apply award rules and export approved timesheets to payroll and accounting remove most of the manual reconciliation that causes pay errors.
How much does NDIS rostering software cost?
Pricing models vary, typically per staff member, per participant or by plan tier. Compare the total cost including implementation, and test with a free trial or live demo before committing.