Annual Planning FY26: Strategy Guide for Allied Health, NDIS & Aged Care Providers
As EOFY approaches, most Allied Health providers are flat out. You’re juggling clients, admin, staffing, and compliance. Planning is often the last thing on your mind.
But for Allied Health providers (particularly those operating in NDIS and Aged Care), this is the perfect time to pause, reset, and get clear on where you're heading.
In a low-margin, policy-heavy sector like ours, strategy isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.
This blog outlines why annual planning is so critical right now, what it should include, and how you can approach it without needing a 30-page document or six-month process.
Why Strategic Planning Gets Missed (and Why That’s a Problem)
Most Allied Health business owners are clinicians first, business leaders second. That’s not a criticism—it’s just the reality.
You’re trained to care, not to plan five quarters ahead. But without strategy:
You grow without structure
You say yes to the wrong opportunities
You waste time and margin chasing low-value work
In a sector where margins are typically low, especially across many core service areas, there’s little room for error. One wrong hire, pricing model, or service mix can sink profitability.
Strategic planning doesn’t need to be complex. But it does need to be intentional.
What Good Planning Actually Looks Like
Forget 30-page strategy documents. A good annual plan should give you:
3–5 clear priorities for FY26
A roadmap of initiatives by quarter
Defined owners, timelines and key results
Tools to track progress
It should help you:
Focus your time and resources
Say no to distractions
Align your team
Improve performance
Useful frameworks (I tailor these depending on the client - click the links to learn more):
SWOT Analysis to assess your internal Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
PESTEL to scan external Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal factors
OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategies, Measures) to link vision to action
Business Model Canvas to pressure test service lines or new ideas
Balanced Scorecard to monitor across clients, finances, staff and operations
RACI Matrix to clarify who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each priority
Value Proposition Canvas to refine or reposition services based on what your clients actually need
Scenario Planning to stress-test your roadmap under different funding or workforce conditions
Planning isn’t a theoretical exercise. It’s how you move from "doing everything" to "doing the right things."
Quarterly Planning > Monthly Planning
You don’t need to plan every week. But you do need structure.
Quarterly planning is the right rhythm for most providers.
Why?
Months vary wildly. April might have 18 billing days due to public holidays. May might have 23. That volatility makes monthly goals misleading.
School holidays, audit periods, flu season — they all skew monthly performance.
A quarter gives you enough time to complete meaningful initiatives, while still adjusting course quickly.
By planning in quarters, you:
Avoid overreacting to short-term dips
Keep a consistent rhythm for review and course correction
Create time-bound accountability with your team
I suggest building an annual roadmap, but reviewing and adjusting it quarterly. That’s where traction happens.
OKRs vs KPIs: Know the Difference
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are both valuable tools—but they serve different purposes. For a detailed explanation of OKRs, check out Atlassian’s guide to OKRs.
OKRs help you define what you want to achieve and how you’ll measure progress toward that goal. They are typically short-term and focused on change or improvement. For example:
Objective: Prepare the business for Support at Home reform
Key Results:
Review and update all aged care service agreements by August
Deliver 1 training session on clinical governance requirements for team
Map and adjust internal workflows to align with new S@H requirements by October
KPIs track ongoing performance. They help you monitor your business-as-usual activity. Example: Monthly cancellations, revenue per clinician, billable hours.
In planning, ideally you want both: OKRs to move the needle, and KPIs to make sure the engine is running well.
Why Plan for the Financial Year (Not Calendar Year)
Planning from July to June aligns with:
BAS cycles and reporting
Budgeting and salary reviews
Government funding schedules
The calendar year makes sense emotionally, but EOFY makes sense operationally.
You don’t want to be finalising next year’s plan in the middle of January when half your team is on leave.
EOFY gives you:
Clean handover between financial years
Better integration of budgeting and strategy
A natural window to pause and reset
The Reality of Service-Based Businesses
Allied Health, NDIS, and Aged Care providers are service businesses. That means your product is time, and time is limited.
Unlike product businesses that can scale through distribution, Allied Health providers scale through people, process, and systems. That brings unique challenges:
Hiring is hard and slow
Admin and compliance overheads are high
Staff burnout affects revenue
Billable hours depend on cancellations, seasonality, and leave
Margins are thin. Revenue can vary month-to-month depending on public holidays, billing days, and sick leave. For example, April might only have 18 billable days due to public holidays, while August could have 23.
That volatility makes it even more important to plan - not just to grow, but to stay sustainable.
What Happens Without a Plan?
Without structure, you end up with:
Growth that burns out your team
Hires made in panic, not intention
Service offerings that no longer fit your margins or workforce
Confusion about what's most important
Planning won’t fix everything. But it will:
Help you make smarter decisions
Reduce stress and second-guessing
Make sure your time and money are used well
New: Fixed-Price Planning Packages (EOFY Launch)
To support providers through EOFY, I’ve launched three Annual Planning Packages.
They're short-term, practical, and designed for Allied Health businesses of all sizes.
Starter – $1,000
60-minute planning session
Action plan
Ideal for sole traders or first-time planners
Standard – $2,000
2 x planning sessions
Strategic summary with clear priorities
2 weeks of email follow-up
Great for growing teams
Premium – $3,000
Pre-work + 3 x 60-minute sessions
12-month roadmap + KPI tracker
30-min follow-up session
4 weeks of email support
Best for established businesses
Each session is structured, outcome-focused, and tailored to your stage and goals. I use relevant planning tools and business frameworks to guide the process - but keep things practical, not theoretical.
How to Get Started
If you’re not sure what kind of support you need, book a free 30-minute call. No pressure. Just a space to talk through:
Where you’re at
Where you want to go
What kind of planning support could help
📅 Book a free 30 min strategy call
You don’t need a massive strategy deck. You need structure, focus, and the right plan for FY26.
If you’re ready to work smarter next financial year, let’s build your plan together.
