Instead of CTARS
Growing your CTARS bill with every new participant? Own your NDIS provider system.
We build your version around the supports you deliver, from supported independent living houses to coordination caseloads, move your CTARS participants, agreements and notes across, and keep it running for you.
CTARS lists $11 per client per month for support coordination, $22 for community based support and $66 for staffed accommodation, with a $100 monthly minimum and set-up from $2,500.
- check_circleYour data in a database you own
- check_circleOpen source, no lock-in
- check_circleBuilt and run by Enterprise DNA
Where a CTARS bill comes from
A charge per participant, a fee to start, and an add-on to claim and other software to roster
CTARS prices by who you support and how intensively, so the invoice rises as your caseload does. Getting started has its own fee, claim submission from inside CTARS is an add-on, and rostering connects through separate software.
Every participant is a monthly line
Each client you deliver services to is charged every month, at a rate set by the service type. A growing caseload is good news for the business and equally good news for the invoice.
The heaviest rate lands on accommodation
A staffed accommodation client is $66 a month, six times a support coordination client. One resident in a supported living house comes to $792 a year before anything else is added.
Set-up before you begin
The initial set-up fee starts from $2,500 and covers personalising CTARS to your business. That money is spent shaping a system you will still be renting afterwards.
Claiming from inside costs extra
Submitting NDIS payment claims from within CTARS rather than through the portal is described as an add-on, with no price published.
Rostering connects from elsewhere
CTARS describes integrating with separate rostering and accounting software, so shifts can end up scheduled in a different system from the notes that describe them.
A floor even when the caseload is small
There is a minimum licence cost of $100 a month, $1,200 a year. A small coordination practice pays the floor whether or not its client count reaches it.
What your organisation gets instead
Participants, roster, notes and claims in one record you hold
One system
The roster and the file in the same place
Shifts sit beside the agreements and notes they depend on, so nothing has to be stitched together from two vendors.
- check A worker whose NDIS Worker Screening clearance lapses before the shift date cannot be placed on it
- check Shifts only exist inside a signed service agreement that is still in date
- check A worker cannot be in two houses or two visits at once
- check Short-notice cancellations record when notice was given, and whether they can be claimed follows from it
Payment
Claims built from the work, with no add-on
Turning delivered supports into a payment request is part of the system itself, not an extra.
- check A morning list of finished, noted supports with nothing yet claimed, oldest first
- check Each request priced at the agreement rate, so nothing over the price limit can be raised
- check The bulk payment request file ready for a team member to upload, and plan-managed lines grouped for the plan manager
- check A rejected request keeps its reason on screen until it is fixed and sent again
Audit
Files that are ready before the auditor arrives
The rules it checks are written down with their sources, and the strictest ones stop a record from saving until it is right.
- check A support cannot be marked complete without its progress note
- check A reportable incident stays open until the Commission notification is recorded, with the 24 hour clock on the daily list
- check Worker files, incident reports and participant statements produced in your own branding
- check Nothing is deleted: participants exit and workers leave, but the history stays for the 7 years the rules ask for
Ownership
Your caseload grows, the cost does not
The records are yours, the rules can be changed by asking, and adding participants is never a pricing event.
- check No charge per participant, per house or per coordinator
- check Budget pace for each agreement, so under-delivery shows up before a plan review does
- check New fields, support items or checks added by describing them in plain words
- check Questions across every participant answered on the spot, not limited to the reports a vendor built
Make it yours
Design your own CTARS replacement
Everything starts from the open-source base. Then it gets your name, the parts you run, your rules and your data from CTARS. Try it here, and we build the real one.
2. What it runs
3. Make it fit
4. Your colour
Answered from your own database
Good morning. Here is what needs you today.
We build it from the open-source base, bring your CTARS data across and run it for you.
Switching
How to switch from CTARS
A move involves requesting spreadsheets from your CTARS account manager, mapping the records you choose to bring, checking the import, and verifying the new records before you stop using CTARS.
- 1
Request your CTARS records
CTARS does not publish a self-serve export guide, so contact your account manager and ask what your account allows you to export. Request your clients, staff, service agreements and progress notes as spreadsheets. Ask whether you can also get other history you want to bring across. Check with CTARS which spreadsheet formats are available, such as CSV or Excel.
- 2
Prepare and load the records
Have the spreadsheets mapped to the fields the new system expects, including any records or history you have chosen to bring. The columns in CTARS differ, so they may need adjustment before loading. If the import offers a test run, use it first. Then load the mapped records and keep the original CTARS data available while you check the result.
- 3
Review import warnings
Check everything the import flags before relying on the new records. For example, look for shifts without a covering service agreement and clients whose funding type is missing. Compare the imported records with CTARS and correct gaps or mismatches before moving on. The import is a useful first audit, but you still need to decide what each warning means for your records.
- 4
Run both systems briefly
Keep CTARS running while you use the new system for a short period. Compare the records you use in both, including clients, agreements and notes, and check that the information you need is present. This gives you a chance to catch missing history or mapping issues before you rely on the new database. Decide who will check the records and resolve any remaining differences.
- 5
Switch off CTARS
Once you have checked the imported records and are satisfied that the new system has what you need, plan the changeover with your team. Make sure everyone knows which system to use for new records, then stop using CTARS. Keep any exported records you need for your own record keeping. Do not cancel access before you have confirmed the data you chose to bring is available.
Where the real effort goes
The work is usually in mapping CTARS's columns to the new system and deciding how much history to bring, not in loading spreadsheets. Your service agreements and records may need checking for gaps, especially where a shift has no covering agreement or funding information is missing. If Enterprise DNA runs the system for you, they handle the mapping and check the import against CTARS before you stop using it.
Not ready for a call?
Get your CTARS switch plan by email
We will send you the step-by-step plan for moving your business off CTARS, what the move really involves, and how we would do it for you.
Sent. Check your inbox.
Your CTARS switch plan is on its way.
Rather talk it through? Book a call arrow_forwardTwo ways to switch
Run the free version, or have us build and run yours
Open source
Run it yourself
Free
- 1 Clone the repo from GitHub and run npm run demo
- 2 Open the folder in Claude Code and type /attention
- 3 Ask your CTARS account manager for an export of clients, staff, agreements and notes
- 4 Ask Claude Code to map those columns to the import, then load your own records
Omni by Enterprise DNA
Have Enterprise DNA build and run it
One setup fee, then a monthly retainer
- check We bring your CTARS records across and check them against CTARS before you switch it off
- check We set it up for your registration groups, houses, support items and cancellation rules
- check We add a support worker phone app or web screens if your team needs them
- check It runs inside Omni, our managed Command Centre, alongside the rest of your business
Questions
Instead of CTARS, answered
CTARS only charges for clients we actually support. Isn't that fair? expand_more
It is a fair way to rent software, and for a small coordination caseload it can be cheap. The question is the total: the per-client charge, the set-up fee, any claims add-on and any separate rostering system. Bring your invoices and we will add it up with you, and say plainly if staying put is the better call.
How do we get our records out of CTARS? expand_more
CTARS does not publish a self-serve export guide, so start with your account manager and ask for your clients, staff, service agreements and progress notes as spreadsheets. Its columns differ from what the free version expects, so mapping them is part of what Enterprise DNA does, and we check the result against CTARS before you stop using it.
We run supported accommodation houses. Does it handle that? expand_more
Yes. Rostered shifts, participants, progress notes, incidents and claims are the core of it, and the screening and agreement checks apply to every shift. Anything particular to how your houses run, such as sleepovers or house budgets, we build into your version.
We also deliver out-of-home care. Is that covered? expand_more
The free version is built around NDIS supports. Out-of-home care has its own carers, placements and reporting to the state, and that is something we scope and build into your version rather than something it does on day one.
Is it compliant with the NDIS rules? expand_more
It enforces the record-keeping shape the rules describe: screening before rostering, notes before claiming, price limits at the agreement, incident notification before closure and no deletions. Each rule names its source so you can check it. Whether a particular incident is reportable stays your judgement, and none of this is legal advice.
See what your caseload would cost if you owned the system
30 minutes with Sam. Bring your latest CTARS invoice and any rostering bill that sits beside it. We count your participants by service type, add up what you pay across both systems, and show you the version we would build. If it suits you, we build it and move your records. If not, the free version is yours to run.
Home Care for Claude Code is free and open source, published by Enterprise DNA.
Done paying for CTARS?
Get your version built