The registration, in order
Each step below is one of ASIC’s building blocks or one of the stages around them, in the order you would meet them.
Decide on the type of company
The two main types are proprietary and public. Proprietary companies must not offer their shares to the public and have a limit on their number of non-employee members; the most common type for a small business is a proprietary company limited by shares. business.gov.au asks you to decide between proprietary and public before you register.
Choose a name, or go without one
A name is optional. If you choose none, the ACN ASIC issues becomes the name, with the company’s legal status, as in ASIC’s example “ACN 123 456 789 Pty Ltd”. If you do choose one, ASIC’s rules include:
- it can’t be identical to a company or business name someone else has registered or reserved, and ASIC’s test ignores things like “the”, plurals, capitals, spacing and punctuation;
- it must include the company’s legal status and member liability, such as “Pty Ltd”;
- some words are restricted. ASIC itself gives consent for words such as “Chartered”, “Trust” and “Made in Australia”; others need a minister’s or APRA’s consent. Written consent has to be in hand before you apply, and ASIC says that can take 2 months or longer.
If you are not ready to register but want to hold a name, you can reserve it for up to 2 months on Form 410; ASIC does not reserve names indefinitely. The fee to reserve a name is $65, as at October 2026 (ASIC).
A company name is not a trade mark. business.gov.au notes that registering one doesn’t protect your brand; exclusive rights need a trade mark.
Choose a state and give two addresses
You choose a state or territory to register in, even if you do business nationwide, and give a registered office address and a principal place of business address. Neither can be a PO Box. The ins and outs of both addresses are on ASIC’s company addresses page.
Settle the company’s rules
Every company must have rules for its internal management: the replaceable rules in the Corporations Act, its own constitution, or some of each. The choice is set out in step 4, a company’s rules.
Set out the shares and the members
You set out how the company’s shares are structured, and how many shares of each type have been issued. For a proprietary company you also give each member’s name and home address (only the top 20 in each class if there are more than 20 members), and anyone can see these details on the register.
Every proposed member gives written consent, confirming the number and class of shares and the amount to be paid; ASIC publishes an example consent template. A company must have at least one member, and a proprietary company no more than 50 members who are not its employees.
Appoint the officeholders
A proprietary company must have at least one director who normally lives in Australia; a secretary is optional. Officeholders must be at least 18.
For each one you give their name (including former names), home address, and place and date of birth, and people can see these details on the register. Someone worried about their safety can ask ASIC to hide their residential address, but then the company can’t be registered through the Business Registration Service.
The company must get and keep each officeholder’s written, signed consent. ASIC says a person can’t be an officeholder while bankrupt or covered by a personal insolvency agreement, or within 5 years of a conviction for certain offences, such as fraud or dishonesty (or of release, if the person was imprisoned). Every director must apply for a director ID before the company is registered: step 3 explains how.
Apply and pay
Through the Business Registration Service you can apply in one place for the company and other registrations, and pay online. As at October 2026 the registration fee is $636 for a company with share capital and $524 for one without (ASIC fees). business.gov.au says registering online takes around 15 minutes, and confirmation should come in 2 business days if every document and the fee are in.
Some registrations can’t go through the service, and ASIC sends a paper form instead: among them a company whose officeholder’s address is to be hidden, a company with unlimited liability, and cases needing certain other forms lodged.
Confirmation arrives
Once registered, the company appears on the companies register. The Business Registration Service emails its ACN and a certificate of registration, and ASIC posts the corporate key to the registered office. The key is needed to use ASIC’s company officeholder portal.
The first things after registration
Once it is registered, ASIC has rules about how a company presents itself.
- It must display its name wherever it does business and is open to the public.
- Its full name and ACN must appear on documents such as invoices, receipts that are not machine-produced, orders, letterhead and anything lodged with ASIC. Its ABN can stand in when the ABN is the ACN with 2 extra digits in front. Business cards, envelopes and vehicles don’t need it.
- If it uses a common seal, the seal must show its name, the words “Australian Company Number” and its ACN. If its ABN is the same as its ACN but with two extra numbers at the beginning, the seal can use “Australian Business Number” and the ABN instead.
- To trade under a different name, it registers a business name: ASIC’s example is the company “Oranges Fruit Store Pty Ltd” registering “Oranges Fruit Store”.
Then come the tax registrations, starting with an ABN, which the company can only get once it has its ACN. They are in step 5, and the yearly review that follows each anniversary of registration is in step 6.
