Utilisation Variance Notifications

Utilisation Variance

Stay on top of your service budget variance with utilisation variance notifications. This outlines the steps to create notifications that alert you when the actual budget utilisation deviates from the planned usage by a specific percentage.

To manage Utilisation Variance Notifications, head to the Notifications page in the main menu and click Utilisation Variance in the Plans & Services group. Only Admins can open Notifications and create, edit, clone or delete these notifications. This can't be changed per user.

Introduction to Utilisation Variance Notifications

Utilisation Variance Notifications are designed to inform you of any significant difference between the budget amount used and the planned expenditure over time. For each Service on a Participant's current plan, Astalty compares the percentage of the budget used with the percentage of the plan time elapsed.

Creating a Utilisation Variance Notification

Once you're on the Utilisation Variance Notifications page click Create Notification. A new notification is set to 10% overspending, with Primary Coordinator, Service Coordinator, Within Astalty and Email ticked.

Notification Details

When would you like to send the notification?

• Decide when you want the notification to be sent. It will be triggered when the difference between the budget used and the plan elapsed percentage exceeds the specified threshold.
  • Enter your percentage (for example 10, 20 or 30) in the Used % box. It must be a whole number of at least 1.
• Choose the type of variance in the drop-down beside it:
  • overspending: the budget is being used faster than the plan time is passing.
  • underspending: the budget is being used more slowly than the plan time is passing.
  • any: either direction.

Which Services do you want this notification to apply to?

Choose the support Categories of the Services you want to be notified about. At least one is required.

• You can select multiple categories as needed, such as Support Coordination and Daily Activities.

Notification Email Content

Optional. Anything you add here is included in the email. It does not appear in the in-app notification.

Notification Recipients

Select at least one recipient.

Primary Coordinator

Tick this option if you would like to notify the Participant's Primary Coordinator.

Service Coordinator

Tick this option if you would like to notify the Service Coordinator of the Service that crossed the threshold.

Each Service on a plan can have its own coordinator, for example a Psychosocial Recovery Coach or a Level Three Support Coordinator, so only the coordinator responsible for that Service is told.

User Groups

This enables you to select which User Groups you wish to be notified. The Support Worker and All Users groups aren't offered here.

Users

This enables you to notify a user directly.

Notification Methods

Select at least one method.

Within Astalty

If this option is selected, the user will be notified within Astalty. The in-app notification is titled Utilisation Alert, says whether the Participant is overspending or underspending, and links to their utilisation.

Email

If this option is selected, the user will be notified via email.

Click Add Notification to save. The list shows each notification's % Used, Type, Categories, Delivery methods and Recipients. Click a row to edit it, or use its actions menu to Edit, Clone or Delete it.

Pro Tip: Real-Time Alerts

Variance is checked each time a charge is added, changed or removed for the Participant, so you are alerted soon after a Service's spending moves past your threshold. A notification is sent the first time the variance reaches the threshold, and again only if it falls back below and then reaches it again. When one charge takes a Service past several of your thresholds at once, each person receives only the alert for the highest threshold. By monitoring both overspending and underspending, you can react quickly to any significant variances in your budget.

FAQs

How will Utilisation Variance Notifications work for Funding Periods?

For a Service with funding periods, the budget used is measured against the funding released so far (the total of every funding period that has started), and the time elapsed is measured across those released periods. For example, a notification set at 10% overspending alerts you when spending is 10 percentage points ahead of the time elapsed in the funding released to date.

Video Guide

For more information on notifications, please watch the following video on Notifications