If you charge for your travel costs, you can add travel as a fee to your Fees List, allowing you to add travel fees to any existing invoice. Travel can be set up as a flat fee or dynamic fee (based on time/distance).
Halaxy features a number of preset travel fees that you can import from our database.
Tip
Preset travel fees on Halaxy are available for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), and various traffic and workers' compensation schemes in different Australian states. You may be able to claim a rebate for these fees.
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Click Finances > Fees.
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On the top right, click New Fee.
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In the New Fee page, for Lookup, type the fee name or item code.
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If the fee is in Halaxy's database, select it from the dropdown to import it, then click Save Fee.
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If the fee is not in the list, proceed to step 4 to manually add the fee.
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If you are manually adding a travel fee, configure the following fields:
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Funder: Enter the name of the funding body. Halaxy has some preset funders, which you can select in the dropdown. If the funding body is not available, you can add it as a new funder. (Tip: If you are generally charging travel to patients or private organisations, you can select Private as the funder.)
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Fee Name: Enter a name for the travel fee. (Examples: Travel - 20 to 30 kms)
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Item Number (optional): Enter the item number as reference to the fee in the invoice. This is used by the funder to identify the travel fee in their fee schedule or schedule of benefits.
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Fee Type: Select the fee type for this travel fee. Use one of the following options:
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Item: Allows you to set a flat fee for time or distance travelled. (Example: Your travel fee is set to $25, which you charge for every 10 kms. When added to the invoice, you can then set the quantity of the travel fee. If you travelled 20 kms, the quantity would be 2.)
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Pro Rata: Allows you to set a dynamic fee, to be based on the appointment duration. (Example: Your travel fee has a duration of 30 minutes and an amount of $50. If you add the travel fee to an appointment of 60 minutes, the total travel fee automatically calculates to $100.)
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Category: Select Travel. This is a recommended step as this appears in your financial reports.
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Pricing: Enter the Amount, Tax Rule and Rebate. (Note: If the fee is not claimable, leave the Rebate blank.)
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Fee Visibility: Select Hidden to hide this fee from your online bookings page.
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Fee Details: Keep this section blank as this fee will not be used for online bookings.
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Click Save Fee.
The fee is now added to your Fees List and can be added to any invoice or appointment.
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Open the invoice.
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Under the Fees & Charges section, click Add another fee.
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In the pop-up:
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Fee: Select the travel fee you added.
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Quantity: Enter the correct quantity for the appointment, depending on how you set up the travel fee (according to distance or time). (For pro rata travel fees, this field is unavailable.)
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Click Save.
The fee has now been added to the invoice and is billed according to the quantity you set.
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Import preset DVA travel fees
For travel related to DVA claims, import the DVA fee titled KM Travelled from Halaxy's database. When you use this fee, Halaxy will automatically deduct 10 kilometres from the DVA claim. Medicare does not pay a rebate for the first 10 kilometres for DVA travel.
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Automatic rounding
For rebate claims with non-rounded amounts (e.g. $12.78), DVA payments are rounded up (e.g. $12.80). After you receive your rebate payment, Halaxy automatically updates the invoice fees to round up to automatically reconcile your records.
Preset travel fees for NDIS are labeled for two categories:
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Labour travel costs
Labour travel cost is the time spent by NDIS providers travelling to - and sometimes from - a participant. Providers can claim a maximum of 30 minutes travel time for MMM 1-3 areas, or 60 minutes for MMM 4-5 - per way.
To import a preset labour travel free, type the service fee name or item number with "National: Provider travel - labour costs".
Labour travel fees are always half the the price of an hour's cost of the service fee, and can be calculated depending on the fee type you want to use:
Example 1. Item fee type to calculate price based on quantity of time increments or distance
In this example, you can add all fees to the same appointment. (If you prefer to calculate based on distance, you can set a cost per kilometre instead of an hourly rate.)
Fee
Duration (mins)
Cost per 60 mins
Quantity
Price
Service
180 mins
$50
3
$150
Travel to
15 minutes
$25
0.25
$6.25
Travel from
15 minutes
$25
0.25
$6.25
Note: Item quantity only allows up to 2 decimal places and will always round to 2 decimal places. If you would like more accurate calculations, use the pro rata fee type.
Example 2. Pro rata fee type to calculate price based on appointment duration
In this example, each fee should be in its own appointment to calculate price on their separate durations. You can then merge the invoices into one.
Fee
Duration (mins)
Cost per 60 mins
Pro Rata
Price
Service
180 minutes
$50
50*3$150
Travel to
10 minutes
$25
25*(10/60)$4.17
Travel from
10 minutes
$25
25*(10/60)$4.17
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Non-labour travel costs
Non-labour travel costs are expenses incurred by NDIS providers when traveling to deliver support services, excluding the cost of the support worker's time. These expenses must be agreed upon with the participant beforehand. Examples: tolls, parking fees, vehicle depreciation.
Examples of non-labour travel costs include:
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Tolls
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Parking fees
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Public transport fares
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Vehicle depreciation
To import a preset labour travel free, type the service fee name or item number with "Provider travel - non-labour costs".
Tip
Set up non-labour travel fees as an Item fee type, not Pro Rata.
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To claim for travel expenses, you must submit the claim for travel along with the claim for the service you provided. Medicare and DVA will not accept a claim for travel expenses on their own.
If you try to submit a claim for travel expenses without an associated service, you will receive error 238 on the Medicare report.
I have an appointment for a DVA client. The appointment is 10 kilometres from the office. Can I claim this expense?
No, you will not be able to claim this travel expense. Medicare does not pay a rebate for the first 10 kilometres for DVA travel.
If you travelled more than 10 kilometres, Medicare will pay a reduced benefit for the claim, deducting the first 10 kilometres of travel (denoted by code 298 on the Medicare report). If you import the DVA fee titled KM Travelled from Halaxy's database, Halaxy will automatically deduct this from your claim.
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