Key points:
- If you choose a company as your business structure, you must register it on the Australian companies register, managed by ASIC.
- Before registering a company, you will need to have some building blocks in place.
- Company officeholders have ongoing legal obligations after the company is registered.
Before registering a company
Before registering a company, you should decide if it is the right business structure for you:
Sole trader? Partnership? Company? Trust?
Other business structures such as sole traders, partnerships and trusts do not need to register as a company.
The companies register and the business names register are separate. If you want to operate under a business name that is different to your company name, you will also need to register a business name.
Business.gov.au has a ‘Help me decide’ tool that can help you work out the registrations you need for different business structures.
Building blocks you need to register a company
Company name
You can choose a company name when registering your company. There are rules about what name you can have.
If you do not choose a name, the Australian Company Number (ACN) we give you when you register will be your company name, along with the legal status of the company. For example, your name could be ACN 123 456 789 Pty Ltd.
See more about rules for company names.
Reserving a name
If you are not ready to register your company but want to make sure a name is available, you can apply to reserve it.
You can reserve a name for up to 2 months. If you need to extend this, you must reapply. We do not reserve names indefinitely.
If you want to reserve a name, lodge this form:
Form 410 Application for reservation of a name.
There is a fee to reserve a name. The current fee is {R01}.
Company address
You must choose a state or territory to be registered in, even if you do business nationwide. You must also provide 2 addresses: a registered office address and a principal place of business address.
For more about company addresses, see:
Company addresses
Company rules or constitution
Every company must have rules for how it will be internally managed. Your company can:
- use replaceable rules from the Corporations Act 2001
- have its own constitution
- use replaceable rules for some things and a constitution for others.
For information about these options, see:
Company rules and constitutions
Share structure and shareholders
You must provide your company’s share structure and the number and type of shares issued.
For a proprietary company, you must provide the name and home address of each member (shareholder). If the company has more than 20 members, you only need to provide details for the top 20 members in each class of shares. People will be able to see shareholder details for proprietary companies online on the companies register.
You must also get written consent from all proposed members, confirming the number and class of shares to be owned and amount to be paid. Here is an example of a member consent template.
For more information, see:
Company shares and shareholders
Officeholders (directors and secretaries)
For each proposed officeholder of your company, you must provide:
- their name (including any former names)
- their home address
- their place and date of birth.
People will be able to see these details online on the companies register.
If a proposed officeholder is worried about their safety, they can ask us to hide their residential address from the public. Read this page before you register, and do not register using the BRS process outlined below.
Directors must apply for a director ID before a company is registered:
Director identification number: Australian Business Registry Services
A company must obtain and keep your written and signed consent before you become a company director or secretary. Here is an example of an officeholder consent template.
Find out what to do if you did not give consent to be a company officeholder
For more information on officeholders, see:
Company officeholders (directors and secretaries)
Fees for registering a company
There is a fee to register a company. For most companies, the current fee is {I01} or {I02}, depending on the type of company.
See fees for all company types.
Registering with the Business Registration Service
You can use the Business Registration Service (BRS) to register a company. ASIC then processes the registration.
Register your company with the BRS
There are a few situations in which you cannot use the BRS. These are explained at the bottom of this page.
Confirmation of registration
Once the company is registered, it will appear on the companies register.
If you used the Business Registration Service, the BRS will send a confirmation email to the address that you provided when you registered. The confirmation email includes:
- the company’s ACN
- a certificate of registration.
We’ll send the corporate key to the company’s registered office address. You will need it to use our company officeholder portal.
After registering a company
Using your company or business name
You must display the company name wherever the company does business and is open to the public.
You must also include the company name and ACN on certain company documents. See more about displaying your ACN.
If you want to do business under a name that is different to your company name, you will need apply to ASIC to register a business name. For example, the company ‘Oranges Fruit Store Pty Ltd’ might register the business name ‘Oranges Fruit Store’.
Register a business name
Officeholder obligations
After registering a company, officeholders must meet their legal obligations, including:
- keeping company details up to date on the Australian companies register
- maintaining company records and the company share register
- paying fees, including an annual company review fee.
For more information on officeholder obligations, see:
Obligations of company officeholders
When you cannot use BRS to register a company
Online registration through the Business Registration Service is not available if you want to hide the residential address of an officeholder.
There are also company types you cannot register online with BRS:
- a company with unlimited liability
- a company that has an individual share value of more than four decimal places (for example 0.00042)
- a company limited by shares that is registering as a corporate collective investment vehicle
- a public company that has the ACN as the company name and is ruled by a constitution.
Finally, you cannot register a company online with BRS when:
If any of the above apply to you, contact us with the following details:
- your proposed company name and type
- the reason you cannot register online
- your transaction reference number (if known)
- any error message you received.
We’ll send you a paper form to register your company.
You can also contact us if there are other reasons why you cannot register a company online.
