Abstract
This paper examines how accounting systems are disseminated in different ways as organisations seek to use accounting information to manage social services across organisational boundaries. Drawing upon qualitative field research within a New Zealand community‐care provider and using the literature on bounded management and accounting visibility, our findings reveal that the government's increasing screening and monitoring of social support services create an extra burden on carers and families. We reflect on how internal accounting practices only capture the visible costs endured by government‐funded programmes, ignoring a significant part of disability care costs incurred by family members and other carers.