Law Squared launches their UK operations faster with Airwallex

Since 2016, Law Squared has been doing things differently.

Experts in providing in-house legal teams and business leaders with Employment, Commercial + Corporate, Disputes + Litigation support and outsourced General Counsel services, Law Squared works exclusively with Australian and UK organisations expanding or operating in either jurisdiction.

Law Squared was already a successful law firm in Australia prior to launching its UK operations and London office. At the core of this ambition was the firm’s vision of providing dual jurisdictional legal support to Australian businesses in the UK and to UK businesses with a presence in Australia. 

The Challenge

• Like many Australian businesses entering the UK, Law Squared didn’t immediately have any UK or EU based directors on the ground, which is a requirement for business banking. 

• Without a UK bank issued credit card or borderless card, payments to suppliers and overseas staff were clunky and had to be made using traditional credit card facilities, incurring international fees and charges. 

• Law Squared’s first UK-based employee had to use a personal bank card and get reimbursed for business expenses associated with setting up the new UK office. 

• The administration associated with reimbursing expenses was time consuming for employees and the finance team. Employees didn’t always claim back expenses because of the lengthy process, leaving them out of pocket. 

• Law Squared’s Australian employees needed a way to spend whilst traveling to the London office without incurring high fees.

• Without a traditional UK business banking facility, Law Squared was subject to fluctuations in FX, which created uncertainty in their budget planning. 

The Solution

As Law Squared launched its plans to grow its UK presence by opening an office in London, Airwallex came to their attention as a potential solution for managing UK payments. 

Initially, Law Squared piloted two multi-currency payment cards. Airwallex was preferred by the team who found it easier to navigate and confirmed it saved them time when reconciling claims and making payments. 

Company cards / employee cards can be issued in a matter of minutes (either digital or physical). These cards are then directed through the same Xero feed as any other normal transactions tracking who made the purchase. Accounts Payable (AP) estimates this saves 1-2 hours a week in general bookkeeping time.  

Finally, the ability for cardholders to upload and assign expenses via our Xero chart of accounts into Airwallex has also saved a significant amount of time in terms of account allocation. AP report no longer having to chase and manually upload receipts.

Trent, Chief Operating Officer at Law Squared, is well versed in the importance of certainty in budget planning. “Since adopting Airwallex, we can rapidly deploy funds when team members are travelling and secure fixed FX rates, driving certainty for our finance team.” 

Law Squared’s finance team set up spend limits on their Airwallex cards, allowing employees to easily pay for minor expenses, like coffees with prospective clients.

The Result

The set up and verification process with Airwallex took around 2 weeks, compared to the eventual 14+ month process to establish a business banking account with a traditional UK banking facility.

UK employees at Law Squared can now pay for smaller expenses using spend limits set up on their Airwallex cards. This has brought an end to lengthy expense approval processes and the cumbersome admin that accompanied it. 

A simplified approach to expenses has given employees greater confidence when it comes to ‘relationship based’ spending, like coffees or meals with prospective clients. This has helped the UK team develop relationships at a crucial time for the business. With Airwallex, Law Squared can quickly deploy funds across multiple currencies when employees are travelling internationally. 

The Law Squared finance team can monitor exchange rates and transfer funds between accounts to take advantage of favourable FX rates. This drives certainty for their budget planning through to their actual spend. The ability to have Airwallex accounts denominated in AUD and GBP also allows Law Squared to make domestic transfers from its Australian head business to its AUD Airwallex account.

Law Squared can then simply convert to GBP at the given spot rate. Being able to leverage off domestic transfers means the difference in funds being settled in less than an hour, as opposed to over 24 hours.

Trent Milvain

Chief Operating Officer, Law Squared

“Airwallex has given us confidence that payments can be made securely and quickly, helping ensure we remain an employer and customer of choice. Airwallex has proved a safe and convenient pair of hands, allowing us to get on with the job of growing our UK business. With Airwallex at the core of our UK financial infrastructure, we were able to launch our London operations at least 3 - 6 months faster than with a traditional business banking facility.”