Help & Getting Started

Everything from installing the app to your first invoice, backups, reports and yearly price updates. The same guide is built into the app under Help & Guide.

Watch: setup to first invoice (90 seconds)

The whole flow — accepting the licence, entering your provider details, adding a participant, and building an invoice with item search, times and travel.

1. Installing the app

  1. Download Provider Invoice Pro from your purchase link (see the Download page).
  2. Move the file somewhere permanent — we recommend creating a folder like C:\Provider Invoice Pro\ or keeping it in Documents. Avoid running it straight from the Downloads folder.
  3. Double-click the .exe. If Windows SmartScreen appears, click More info → Run anyway (the warning appears because the app is new, not because anything is wrong).
  4. Accept the licence agreement on first launch. The app then creates its folders in Documents\Provider Invoice Pro (with Backups and Invoices subfolders).
💡 Recommended folder structure: keep your invoices in one place — e.g. Documents\Client Invoices\<Client Name>\. Then set that folder in Data & Backup → Invoice Storage Folder so every PDF saves straight there.

2. Initial setup (5 minutes)

Add yourself as the provider

  1. From the Dashboard choose 💼 Provider Details.
  2. Enter your name, ABN, address, mobile and email — plus your bank name, account name, BSB and account number (these appear on every invoice).
  3. Optionally upload a business logo (PNG/JPG under 500 KB).
  4. Click Save Provider ✓. You can store multiple providers and switch between them.

Add your clients

  1. From the Dashboard choose 👥 Manage Clients.
  2. Enter the participant's name, 9-digit NDIS number, address, and the billing email (usually the plan manager's — e.g. their invoices@ address).
  3. Click Save Client ✓. Repeat for each participant you support.

Choose where invoices are saved

  1. Dashboard → 💾 Data & Backup → 📁 Invoice Storage Folder → Choose Folder.
  2. Pick your invoices folder (OneDrive folders work great — instant cloud backup). From then on, every PDF and data file saves there automatically, with reports in a Reports subfolder.

3. Creating an invoice

  1. From the Dashboard choose 📝 Create Invoice. Pick your client with the 👤 Client button — their details and the invoice number fill in automatically.
  2. On each line: pick the service date, then start typing in the Item Number box — the app searches all 672 NDIS support items. Pick one and the correct rate appears, always within the NDIA price limit.
  3. Type the time as a range like 07:00-09:30 — the hours (2.5) calculate themselves. Or just type a quantity.
  4. Need travel? Line Items ▾ → 🚗 Add Travel Item, choose the travel code, enter the kilometres — priced per km automatically.
  5. Toggle GST or a Due Date from the Settings menu if needed (most NDIS supports are GST-free).
  6. Click 📄 Save PDF. The finished invoice lands in your invoice folder, ready to email to the plan manager. 🖨️ Print sends it to paper instead.
⏱️ Fortnightly clients? Use File ▾ → 📅 Next Fortnight — it copies the client's last invoice, moves every date forward 14 days and bumps the invoice number. Regular invoices take about ten seconds.

4. History & reports

  • 📂 History & Reports on the Dashboard lists every saved invoice — filter by client or by Week / Fortnight / Month.
  • Load re-opens an invoice exactly as saved; Copy duplicates it as a new invoice with today's date; Note shows private internal notes (never printed); Del removes it.
  • Financial Reporting: pick a financial year, then Monthly / Quarterly / Half-Yearly / Yearly, with GST split out — exactly what your accountant wants at tax time. Export saves a CSV into your invoice folder's Reports subfolder.

5. Backups — please do this!

  • Quick Backup: Data & Backup → ⚡ Backup Now writes a dated backup file of everything (clients, providers, invoices).
  • Full manual backup: ⬇️ Save Full Backup lets you choose the location — a USB stick or cloud folder is ideal.
  • Restore: ⬆️ Restore from File merges a backup back in — used when moving to a new computer too.
  • We recommend a weekly backup, and always one before a Windows reinstall or new PC.

6. Yearly NDIS price updates

The NDIA publishes new pricing every 1 July. Buy the yearly price file ($49), then in the app: Data & Backup → NDIS Price File → 📥 Import Price File, choose the downloaded .json — the new catalogue and price limits apply instantly and the app remembers them permanently. The current pricing status is always shown in that panel.

7. Troubleshooting

  • SmartScreen blocks the app: click More info → Run anyway. This is standard for newly downloaded software.
  • PDF looks cut off when printing: use Save PDF rather than the browser print dialog, and print the PDF.
  • Item search shows nothing: check the pricing status under Data & Backup → NDIS Price File — if expired, import the current year's price file.
  • Moved to a new PC: install the app, then Restore from your latest backup file. Your licence covers 2 computers.
  • Anything else: email info@providerinvoicepro.com.au — include a screenshot if you can.

8. Toolbar quick reference

  • 🏠 Home — back to the Dashboard.
  • 👤 Client / 💼 Provider — switch or manage participants and your business profiles.
  • File ▾ — save data file, backup/restore, invoices & reports, Next Fortnight, help, licence.
  • Line Items ▾ — add travel, add empty row, delete row.
  • Settings ▾ — due date and GST toggles, text formatting.
  • 📄 Save PDF / 🖨️ Print — output the finished invoice.
  • ✅ Saved indicator — shows whether your work is autosaved (it autosaves every 30 seconds).