Supported Independent Living (“SIL”) under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (“NDIS”) supports participants to live independently in shared accommodation homes. These homes are designed to enable supports to be easily delivered for daily living and household tasks. While the NDIS will cover support costs, it does not cover everyday living costs which everyone is expected to incur. Examples are food, grocery items, utilities, entertainment, and internet which may be shared with other participants in the home and managed by the SIL operator. 

Participants and SIL operators managing shared costs can find themselves in all sorts of situations which may present a financial risk. It creates risks such as support workers having access to participants’ bank accounts and/or physically handling cash. The SIL operator who employs the support worker is responsible for having proper financial processes and controls in place.  

It also creates headaches and more work to chase payments when they are missed or short paid.

SIL operators using Gobbill technology say it is like set-and-forget when it comes to automatic collection of funds into their bank account. It saves their business time on reconciliation, improves cashflow and increases transparency in the financial management processes.

How Gobbill can assist?

Gobbill is an Australian built solution which helps SIL operators to manage and automate the collection of funds from participants by debiting their bank accounts when payments are due. This is set-up once when the participant signs up with the operator. Participants do not have to give the support worker their credit card, internet bank access or cash to pay for everyday expenses anymore. 

It is a simple 3-step process:

1.           Setup your participants in Gobbill with their bank accounts to direct debit.

2.           Send your invoices into <your_participant>@gobbill.com account.

3.           The amount is debited and deposited into your account by the due date.

With Gobbill taking care of the collections and bill payments, this allows SIL operators to save significant administration time and improve their cashflow while reducing the risk of financial abuse.

Email [email protected] or contact us at Gobbill.

In the last three months, the Consumer Action Law Centre has received more than 150 calls from people who are struggling with their energy bills. The average debt accrued among these people is more than $2,000. A recent market report found “large differences between the cheapest and most expensive gas market offers”. Regulatory intervention needs to benefit all in the community, including the most vulnerable already indebted on their power bills. Equity measures need to be central to intervention and fairer pricing.

Source: Guardian 5 Dec 2022, Exploitative gas pricing is causing debt and distress for many Australian households. Gerard Brody

However, waiting for change will continue to cost households and businesses.

It is important to shop around and switch using an independent comparison website.

Victorians: https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/

(The $250 Power Saving Bonus for Victorian households is now open)

Everyone else: https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/

Business owners deserve a break after struggling through the pandemic and supply chain disruptions. For many, now is the time to recover and get their businesses back on track.

However, costs have increased since pre-pandemic and is expected to rise sharply as new pricing is passed through in the coming financial year.

Bill payment automation specialist Gobbill compared costs from pre-covid to today and found that costs for small businesses have significantly increased. The average:

• electricity bill has increased by 22%,
• phone and internet have increased by 29%, and
• general insurance has spiked by over 113%.

The bills analysed are only starting to include the recent months of higher inflation. More is expected to come when increases are passed on throughout the year.

“We are expecting another jump on top of the covid period increases by possibly another 30% or more this coming financial year.” said Shendon Ewans, CEO of bill payments company Gobbill. “Add to that, businesses are struggling to hire staff from frontline to back-office administration. Business owners have had to step in to do more for their businesses.”

There are two things business owners can do to prepare for the new year.

1. Aim to increase productivity: Work smarter using automation instead of labour where possible. There are solutions which enables businesses to grow sustainably by leveraging innovation to drive productivity. For example, Gobbill is helping businesses to replace labor with automated processes in accounts payable saving businesses an average of $30,000 each year. Another tool is the use of e-signature software such as DocuSign to cut wasted time and postage costs. These are just a few great productivity initiatives that not everyone has adopted.

2. Cost reduction and control: Scan all bills to see what is really needed and whether you can get a better deal. You’d be surprised as to what you are paying for and that you can find better deals by comparing. Try to benchmark and compare what you should be paying.

After 5 years of bill payment processing, Gobbill has accumulated valuable benchmark data and know-how in lowering costs.

Gobbill is assisting business owners to undertake a cost reduction analysis across their bills. We are offering a FREE analysis to a limited number of business clients.

If you’re interested, reach out to us https://gobbill.com/contact/ or email [email protected]