Reducing after-hours admin in a growing immigration law firm

Rocket & Ash Immigration Law is an Australian immigration practice working with clients across multiple jurisdictions. Like many professional services firms handling client funds, it operates within strict trust accounting requirements while managing international clients and time-sensitive visa applications.

This operational case study builds on the original payments-focused story. Where the earlier article explored how the firm met its trust account requirements, this version focuses on what changed operationally once the payment structure was resolved.

The challenge

The core issue was practical, not strategic. The firm required a credit card solution that could deposit funds directly into its client trust account. Their primary bank did not support this structure, and other payment providers could not meet the requirement.

The workaround involved staff manually calling clients and processing card payments through the portal. With clients in Europe and the United States, this often meant late-night or early-morning calls.

The result was a workable but time-intensive process.

For a migration law practice, deposits are often required before lodging visa applications. Timing matters, and so does compliance. Under Australian trust accounting obligations, legal practices must manage client funds in line with state legislation and regulatory guidance such as that provided by the New South Wales Law Society.

The firm needed:

• Direct credit card deposits into its trust account
• A process that worked across time zones
• Less manual involvement from senior staff

The existing approach met compliance standards, but consumed time and attention that could have been directed toward legal work.

The approach

1. Replace real-time phone processing

The firm implemented a secure online payment gateway on its website thanks to Eway, allowing clients to complete credit card payments independently. Instead of coordinating calls, staff could email a deposit request and receive confirmation shortly after payment.

This removed the need for time-zone coordination and reduced interruptions to legal work.

2. Review payments as part of workflow design

Payments were not treated as an isolated task. With a technology background, Principal Jay Hronsky had already introduced workflow systems, practice management tools and automation to reduce repetitive tasks.

The payment process was assessed in the same way: if it created recurring friction, it was redesigned.

3. Test before rollout

New systems are tested thoroughly before implementation. This reduced disruption and meant the team adopted the change quickly. Staff preferred sending deposit requests and receiving confirmation within minutes rather than scheduling calls.

What worked and what required adjustment

The shift to a website-based payment portal delivered immediate time savings.

Jay noted a simple but telling measure of success: staff comments such as, “I’m so glad I don’t have to do that anymore.”

Concrete changes included:

• Elimination of routine after-hours calls to overseas clients.
• Faster deposit confirmation prior to visa lodgement.
• Greater client flexibility, including use of American Express for transactions above AUD 10,000.

One practical surprise was that some high-value transactions required manual approval. This was manageable but required internal awareness and process alignment.

A recent example illustrates the difference. A client based in Sweden needed to make a deposit so the team could lodge a visa. The first payment was processed manually over the phone. The second was completed independently by the client through the website using an American Express card. No time-zone coordination was required.

The outcome was not a dramatic transformation. It was the removal of recurring friction.

Reported outcomes include:

• Hours saved each month previously spent on phone-based payment processing
• Elimination of routine after-hours calls to overseas clients
• Faster deposit confirmation before visa lodgement
• Greater flexibility for clients, including high-value card transactions
• Reduced disruption to senior legal staff
• Smoother client interactions across jurisdictions
• Greater focus on substantive immigration work rather than payment coordination

Most importantly, payments no longer dictated the team’s schedule.

Firms that need to accept secure online payments without disrupting existing workflows often implement a payment gateway that integrates with their website and internal systems, allowing clients to pay independently while maintaining compliance.

Reflection and next steps

Operational improvement at Rocket & Ash is iterative.

The firm is now building a dedicated administrative team to handle higher volumes of routine tasks. Because many processes are already automated, the intention is to scale without inheriting inefficient habits.

Longer term, the firm plans to expand across additional Australian states and internationally. The focus remains consistent: remove friction before scaling it.

Jay’s advice to peers is simple:

Take one activity that causes friction and personally do it several times. Then ask how it could be improved with technology, redesigned, or eliminated entirely.

For SMBs, efficiency gains rarely come from wholesale change. They come from repeatedly refining the tasks that quietly consume time.

Key takeaways

• Identify one recurring friction point and analyse it end to end
• Redesign tasks that rely on real-time coordination, especially across time zones
• Test new systems thoroughly before full rollout
• Treat payments as part of workflow design, not an isolated function
• Listen to staff feedback as a practical measure of success