Support at Home Budget Balance Improvements: What’s Changed and Why (July 2026)
Why have we made changes?
Two common pain points prompted this update:
1. Discrepancies between CareMaster and the Aged Care Provider Portal (ACPP)
Previously, budget usage in CareMaster was calculated from CareMaster support records. In some cases, this didn’t match what Services Australia was reporting — for example, when a participant had transferred from another provider mid-budget period, or when services were claimed directly via the ACPP rather than exported through CareMaster.
2. Unlinked usage wasn’t being counted
Usage that couldn’t be linked to a CareMaster record (such as claims made by a previous provider) was simply not reflected in participant balances — which meant the available balance shown in CareMaster could be higher than the actual balance held by Services Australia.
To fix both of these, budget usage is now sourced from payment item data in your uploaded payment statements, not from CareMaster support records.
These changes are included in CareMaster version 16.87.00.
What’s changed?
Budget Dashboards
Budget Summary Table
The budget summary table has been updated with new columns to give you a clearer picture of where funds sit:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Used – Claimed with Services Australia | The total used/claimed as reported by Services Australia |
| Includes usage from other providers and platforms | If shown, this is the total of “unlinked” usage not tied to a CareMaster support — most commonly usage from a previous provider |
| Available Balance with Services Australia | The current available balance as reported by Services Australia |
| Claimed usage in period | CareMaster supports with a payment item confirming they’ve been claimed |
| Unclaimed usage in period | CareMaster supports (checked and unchecked) that are currently unclaimed |
| Budget balance | Remaining funds after accounting for all claimed and unclaimed CareMaster supports |
Budget Bar Chart
The bar chart has been updated to include all known usage — including the used/claimed total from Services Australia — so the visual representation of the budget more accurately reflects the true position.
Reconciliation Table — New
A new reconciliation table has been added to the Budget Dashboard to help you identify and resolve data issues. These typically only occur when the bulk claim CSV file is modified incorrectly after it has been exported from CareMaster creating a disconnect between the care recipient and/or the CareMaster record. The reconciliation table highlights:
Inbound erroneous claims — services claimed against this participant that aren’t linked to a CareMaster record, or are linked to a different participant
Outbound erroneous claims — supports belonging to this participant that were incorrectly claimed against a different participant
:::info How to resolve erroneous claims: Supports appearing in either list will need the invoice item deleted with Services Australia and the data re-exported to correct the claim and associated budget. Contact our support team if you need help with this.
:::
Unbudgeted Supports -The unbudgeted supports list has also moved into the reconciliation table. This shows supports that don’t have a corresponding budget — either because no funding source is assigned, or because there’s no open budget for the date of the support. These will move automatically once a budget becomes available, or a funding source is assigned.
Budget Details Page
Budget Usage List
A few updates to the usage list:
- A new Claimed column now indicates which supports have been confirmed as claimed with Services Australia
- The claimed list of supports is now derived from payment statement data, not CareMaster records
- Checked and unchecked supports remain on the list; note that a support may move between budgets once it’s claimed if the payment statement confirms a different budget was debited
Inbound Erroneous Claims
A streamlined version of the reconciliation table is also shown at the budget level, so you can see any incorrectly claimed supports relevant to that specific budget without navigating back to the dashboard.
Participant Statements
Budget Summary
Two updates to improve accuracy:
- A new line — Budget usage claimed by other providers or platforms — now appears as a deduction in the opening balance section. This accounts for unlinked usage from other providers or platforms where an itemised breakdown isn’t yet available
- Opening and closing balances now factor in this deduction, ensuring the figures in participant statements are consistent with what Services Australia reports
Detailed Expense List
The list of supports in a participant’s statement is now derived from payment-verified data — that is, supports confirmed as claimed for the reporting period via an uploaded payment statement — rather than the full list of CareMaster supports.
Supports Page
The available balance shown alongside each budget on the Supports page now includes unlinked usage in addition to checked and unchecked CareMaster supports, giving you a more accurate picture of funds available.
Will my data look different after this update?
In some cases, yes. Here are the scenarios where you might notice a difference:
- A participant transferred from another provider mid-budget period — their available balance may be lower than before, as the previous provider’s usage is now counted
- Services were claimed directly via the ACPP — these will now appear as unlinked usage in the reconciliation table
- A support was claimed against the wrong participant — it will appear in the reconciliation table for resolution
Need help?
If you have questions about these changes or need help resolving items in the reconciliation table, please contact our support team.