Most migration practices do not run on one system. They run on a case management system plus a handful of smaller subscriptions that each solved a problem on the day they were bought: an e-signature account for service agreements, a PDF editor for merging and compressing evidence, a form builder for intake questionnaires, an occupation search tool for skilled matters, and a booking page for consultations.
Each is a sensible purchase on its own. Together they are a second software bill, a second set of logins for every staff member, and five places where client data lives outside the client's file. This article prices the five most common ones from the vendors' own pages, explains what each actually does in a migration practice, and sets out what changes when the same functions sit inside the case management system.
The five subscriptions, priced on 26 October 2026
We took the entry-level paid plan a sole practitioner would realistically buy, from each vendor's public pricing page, on 26 October 2026. US-dollar prices are converted at the Reserve Bank's published rate of A$1 = US$0.7006 (23 October 2026) and rounded down. Where a vendor states its GST treatment we have kept it; where it does not, assume GST may be added.
| What it does | Typical tool and plan | Listed price | About A$ a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-signatures on service agreements and client documents | DocuSign eSignature Standard | AU$37 per user a month (AU$444 a year); "additional tax may apply" | 37 |
| PDF merge, compress, split and edit | Adobe Acrobat Standard | A$23.99 a month incl. GST on an annual plan billed monthly | 23 |
| Client intake forms and questionnaires | Jotform Bronze | US$34 a month billed yearly (US$39 billed monthly) | 48 |
| Occupation lists, points and invitation rounds | Anzscosearch Professional | A$29 a month for one user (A$290 a year) | 29 |
| Consultation booking page | Calendly Standard | US$10 a seat a month billed yearly | 14 |
| Total for one person, cheapest billing terms | about 151 | ||
A little over A$150 a month, for one person, on the cheapest billing terms each vendor offers. Add a second agent, or a paralegal who also sends documents for signature, and the per-user plans double. LodgeHQ's subscription is A$99 a month plus GST per registered migration agent, with unlimited admin and support staff included, and all five functions are part of that price rather than add-ons. The stack costs more than the platform that replaces it.
Price is the smallest part of the argument, though. The larger cost is what the stack does to the file.
1. E-signatures
What agents use them for
Service agreements first of all. The Code of Conduct requires a written agreement before you give immigration assistance for a fee (section 42) and prohibits taking fees before it is in force (section 51), so getting a signed agreement back quickly is where every engagement starts. After that: variations when scope changes, Form 956 appointments, client authorities and declarations.
The hidden cost
Signed agreements live in the e-signature vendor's account, not on the client's file. Someone downloads the completed PDF and uploads it to the matter, or does not. Section 53 of the Code requires documents belonging or relating to a client to be kept securely; a signed agreement sitting in a third-party inbox, under a login shared by the office, is a weak answer to that duty. And because most e-signature plans are priced per user, every staff member who sends documents is another seat.
What changes when it is built in
The agreement is generated from the matter, with the client, the applicants, the fees and the disbursements already filled in; the signing link goes out from the file; the client signs from a phone or a browser; and the executed copy lands on the matter the moment it is signed, with a record of who signed and when. Nothing to download and nothing to re-file. Electronic signatures on these documents are recognised in Australia under the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth) and its state and territory counterparts, provided the method identifies the signer and shows their intention, is reliable for the purpose and the parties consent. Department forms that specify their own signing requirements keep those requirements.
2. PDF tools
What agents use them for
Evidence arrives as photographs, Word documents, scans and oversized PDFs. Before it can be attached in ImmiAccount it has to be converted, merged into a single bundle per checklist item, compressed under the Department's file-size limits and, often, split again when a bundle turns out to be too large. A full PDF editor does all of this, and is paid for by every person who does it.
The hidden cost
The work happens on a desktop, outside the file. The original upload, the merged bundle and the compressed version end up as three files with similar names, and the one that was actually lodged is not always the one on the matter. Acrobat's annual plan billed monthly also carries a cancellation fee of half the remaining commitment if you leave after the first 14 days, which is worth knowing before you buy it for a short project.
What changes when it is built in
Merge, compress, split, watermark and password-protect run on the documents already on the matter, and the output is saved back to the same checklist item. Images, Word and Excel files convert to PDF in place. The file keeps one lodged version of each item, and the person doing the work does not need a licence of their own.
3. Intake forms and questionnaires
What agents use them for
Collecting the facts of the matter: personal particulars, passports, address and travel history, employment, family composition, relationship evidence for partner matters, sponsor details for employer-sponsored ones. A general form builder does this well enough to be worth paying for, which is why so many practices do.
The hidden cost
Submissions arrive as an email or a spreadsheet row. Everything then has to be re-typed, into the case system first and into ImmiAccount later, and each re-typing is a chance to transpose a passport number or a date. The form is generic, so it asks a student visa applicant about a sponsor and a sponsor about an English test. And the data sits in a third-party account whose retention and location you did not choose, which matters under Australian Privacy Principle 11 (security) and APP 8 (overseas disclosure).
What changes when it is built in
The questionnaire belongs to the matter and adapts to the subclass, so the client only sees the questions that apply. Answers land as structured data on the file: they drive the document checklist, pre-fill the Department's PDF forms and feed ImmiAccount auto-fill, so a fact is typed once by the person who knows it. The client completes it in the secure portal rather than over email, and a partly finished questionnaire shows you exactly what is still missing, which is most of the chasing in a document collection workflow.
4. Occupation search, points and invitation rounds
What agents use them for
Skilled matters start with the same three questions: is the occupation on the relevant list for this visa, how many points does this client score, and what has the invitation history looked like for this occupation. A dedicated subscription answers them quickly, and for a skilled-visa practice it is one of the better-value tools on this list.
The hidden cost
The answer lives in a browser tab, not on the matter. The points calculation that justified the advice has to be re-done, or screenshotted, to go on the file; when the client's circumstances change six months later, nobody can see the assumptions behind the original figure. The occupation lists themselves are a moving target, and the CSOL and the ANZSCO-to-OSCA transition have made the lookups harder, not easier.
What changes when it is built in
Occupation search across the skilled lists, a points calculator, a scenario modeller and the SkillSelect invitation-round history run inside the platform and attach to the matter. The assessment that supported the advice is on the file beside the file note that records it, which is what an auditor, a colleague picking up the matter, or you in a year's time actually needs.
5. Consultation booking
What agents use them for
Letting prospective clients choose a time without the back-and-forth. A public booking page, calendar sync, automated reminders. Simple, and genuinely effective at reducing no-shows.
The hidden cost
The booking is a calendar event with a name on it. The enquiry, the conflict check that should happen before the consultation, the consultation note that section 55 of the Code expects to be contemporaneous, and the service agreement that follows all live somewhere else. Each needs the details typed again. Per-seat pricing means every agent who takes consultations pays again.
What changes when it is built in
The public booking page syncs with Google Calendar or Outlook and sends the reminders, and the booking appears in your enquiries, so the consultation note, the conflict check and the service agreement that follows stay on one record. When the consultation turns into an engagement, the matter is created from the same record; nothing is re-entered and the first file note sits where the file will be.
What a specialist tool still does better
Honesty cuts both ways. A product that does one thing for millions of customers will always have features a built-in equivalent does not: bulk sending of hundreds of envelopes, complex branching logic across unrelated forms, redaction and OCR of scanned text, payment collection on a booking. If your practice relies on one of those every week, keep that subscription and cancel the others. The test is not whether the specialist tool is better in the abstract; it is whether the features you pay for are features you use, and whether having the result on the client's file matters more than having it in a separate account.
How to cancel without losing anything
- List the stack. Pull a year of card statements and list every software subscription, who holds the login, what it is used for and when the term ends. Most practices find at least one tool nobody remembers buying.
- Check the exit terms. Annual plans, especially those billed monthly, often carry early-termination fees. Note the renewal date for each and set the cancellation for the week before it.
- Export before you cancel. Completed e-signature envelopes as PDFs with their certificates of completion, every form submission as CSV, and the completed questionnaires themselves. File each against the client it belongs to: the Code requires client files to be kept for seven years after the last action on them, and that includes the signed agreement. Our file retention guide covers what else belongs there.
- Move the entry points. Replace the booking link on your website, in email signatures and in auto-replies before the old page goes dark. Redirect any public form URLs.
- Run both for one billing cycle. Send the next five service agreements through the built-in tool and keep the old account open. If nothing is missed after a month, cancel.
The bottom line
Five small subscriptions are not a small cost. Priced today they come to a little over A$150 a month for one person, and the real expense is the re-keying, the per-seat multiplication and the client data scattered across five vendor accounts. LodgeHQ includes e-signatures, PDF tools, smart questionnaires, occupation and points tools and a booking page in its A$99 a month plus GST per-agent subscription, with support staff free. You can test every one of them on a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and keep the old accounts running until you are sure.
For the wider buying decision, start with our complete guide to migration practice management software, then the shortlist in the best case management software for migration agents. If you are weighing a generic CRM against a purpose-built platform, this comparison covers that question.