ASIC Business Name Renewal: $47 Fee, Steps, Fake Notices

To renew a business name, use ASIC's business name renewal service with the account number from your renewal notice (or your linked ABN), choose one or three years, and pay $47 or $108 (as at 18 October 2026). ASIC emails the notice at least 30 days before the due date. Miss it and ASIC can cancel the name, though you can usually still save it.

This is an independent ASBG guide. For the official transaction, start at ASIC's renewal page. You don't have to use a private renewal service.

Before paying, check the name, its holder, the renewal date and whether someone else has already arranged the renewal. That short check can prevent a duplicate payment, a payment to the wrong business, or renewal of a name you no longer use.

Business name renewal at a glance

As at 18 October 2026.

How much does business name renewal cost?

ASIC's renewal fee is the same as the registration fee. The government's July 2026 announcement confirms the increase from 1 July 2026.

Three one-year renewals at today's $47 would total $141, so the three-year fee is $33 less on that comparison. Fees are indexed every July, so this isn't a prediction of the exact saving. Choose the term around whether you expect to keep using the name and the cash you have now.

What private renewal services charge

Several private companies offer to renew business names for you. They lodge the same renewal with ASIC and add a service fee. Published prices on 18 October 2026:

These are lawful services, and some people value reminders or having someone else handle it. Just know what you're buying. Paying a third party can also give it authority over the name's record in ASIC Connect, which the WA Small Business Development Corporation warns can leave you without control of future renewals.

When is my business name due for renewal?

Your renewal date is shown against the name on ASIC's business names register. Search the register yourself rather than relying on the date in a letter or email.

ASIC sends its renewal notice at least 30 days before that date. It normally goes by email to the address on the registration. If no email address is recorded, ASIC's renewal page says it posts a paper notice to the service of documents address instead.

If the notice hasn't arrived:

• check your spam or junk folder for email from ASIC
• if someone else registered the name for you, ask which email address they recorded, because the notice goes there
• ask ASIC to resend it through its online enquiry form, giving your name, the business name, account number, email and phone number. ASIC says you should receive it within 5 business days.

Line up your renewal dates

If you hold several business names under the same ABN, or your company holds the name, you can ask ASIC for an "alternative registration period" so the renewals fall on the same date, or on the company's annual review date. The new period must end no later than 6 months after the current one. You apply with ASIC's request form by email or post, quoting your ASIC key. There's no refund for unused time if the new period is shorter. For companies, pairing the name renewal with the annual review means one diary date instead of two.

How to renew your business name online, step by step

ASIC offers two online routes. Both charge the same fee.

Option 1: the business name renewal service (renewal only)

ASIC recommends this route when you only need to renew. You don't need to log in.

1. Open the renewal service by typing asic.gov.au into your browser and following the renewal links, or go straight to ASIC's business name renewal service. Don't use a link in an email you weren't expecting.
2. Enter your account number from the renewal notice. Alternatively, enter your ABN, which works only if the ABN is listed against the business name on the Australian Business Register.
3. Select the business name you want to renew.
4. Choose the term: 1 year ($47) or 3 years ($108).
5. Check the details on screen. Confirm the name, the holder and the renewal date match your records.
6. Declare that you're authorised to renew the name.
7. Pay. Pay by Visa or Mastercard straight away, or request an invoice and pay later by BPAY or at Australia Post. The register updates once ASIC receives payment, and ASIC emails a record of registration after payment is processed.

Requesting an invoice isn't the same as paying it. If you choose the invoice, diary the payment as an open task so the name doesn't lapse while the invoice sits in an inbox.

Option 2: ASIC Connect (renew and update details)

Use ASIC Connect if you also need to review or change details, such as an address. Your business name must be linked to your ASIC Connect account; if it isn't, sign up and link it first.

1. Log in to ASIC Connect.
2. Open the "Lodgements and notifications" tab and select the business name.
3. Choose "Renew business name" and select a 1-year or 3-year term.
4. Check and update the details displayed.
5. Accept the declaration, confirm you're authorised, and pay.

For someone registering a name for the first time, use our register a business name guide instead of the renewal workflow.

Changing details at renewal

Renewal is a good moment to check the record, but some changes can't wait for it. ASIC requires you to update these within 28 days of a change, at no cost:

Changes on the business names register don't flow through to the companies register. If a company holds the name, update the company's addresses with ASIC separately.

When you need a transfer, not a renewal

Renewing doesn't change who owns the name. You need a transfer if:

• you sell the business and the new owner wants the name
• the ABN changes, for example when a sole trader moves the business into a company, or two sole traders form a partnership
• someone inherits the business.

The current holder starts the transfer in ASIC Connect and receives a transfer number, valid for 4 months and 28 days. The new holder registers the name with that number and chooses a new 1-year or 3-year term. The old registration is cancelled within 28 days, and the unused period isn't refunded. Don't renew a name you're about to transfer. Our sole trader to company restructure guide covers the wider move.

What happens if your business name lapses?

ASIC says you must renew if you want to keep carrying on business under the name, and it may cancel a name that isn't renewed. There's no formal grace period, but there is a sequence with two windows to act:

Restoration only applies when the name was cancelled because it wasn't renewed. If the holder asked ASIC to cancel it, or ASIC cancelled it for another reason, such as a deregistered company holder or the business not trading under the name for 3 months, the restore route doesn't apply.

While a name is cancelled, it isn't registered to you, so carrying on business under it breaches the rule above. Anyone who checks the register, such as a bank or a customer, will see it as cancelled. Owning a matching domain or trade mark doesn't keep the business name registered.

Fake renewal notices and renewal scams

Business name holders get three kinds of renewal message: genuine ASIC notices, offers from private renewal services, and scams pretending to be ASIC. They can look similar.

Scams pretending to be ASIC

ASIC describes these patterns on its scams impersonating ASIC page and in its alerts:

• Look-alike emails asking for fees and personal details to renew a business or company name. ASIC's October 2022 alert says scammers used domains that look like ASIC's to contact Registry customers.
• Links to a fake invoice with false payment details, or to a page that installs malware.
• Links that ask for your ASIC Connect username and password.
• Text messages and spear-phishing emails impersonating ASIC; ASIC published alerts on these in April 2025 and August 2026.
• Fake ASIC websites that copy content from asic.gov.au and ASIC Connect.

ASIC says it will never ask for your card or banking details over the phone, ask for a password or one-time PIN, contact you through third-party email or private messaging services, or pressure you into responding.

Private renewal services

ASIC also warns that private providers send unsolicited letters, emails and notices about business name renewals and company annual reviews. These providers aren't ASIC. Some are ASIC registered agents but charge a fee on top of ASIC's. The notices can look like an invoice and may refer to a renewal that isn't due yet. You aren't required to pay them.

The WA Small Business Development Corporation adds that these approaches often arrive shortly before ASIC's own notice, and that a refund is unlikely if you pay by mistake.

Check any notice in 60 seconds

If in doubt, don't click. Search the business names register yourself, check the renewal date, then renew through ASIC's site. You can call ASIC's Customer Contact Centre on 1300 300 630 to check whether a message is genuine. Our guide to scams targeting small business covers the wider set, including fake invoices and payment redirection.

If you've already paid or responded

If it was a scam:

1. Stop sending money and contact your bank or card provider straight away.
2. Forward the entire email to ReportASICEmailFraud@asic.gov.au.
3. Report it to Scamwatch.
4. If you entered your ASIC Connect password, change it.
5. Be wary of anyone offering to recover the money for a fee. IDCARE (1800 595 160) offers free support.

If you paid a private renewal service by mistake:

1. Check ASIC's register to see whether the name has been renewed and when it's next due.
2. Contact the provider to ask about a refund or cancelling any automatic renewal.
3. Ask ASIC to reassign the business name to your own ASIC key if the provider has taken over the record.

Decide whether you still need the name

Review what the name is used for: customer contracts, invoices, signage, website and payment accounts. If you've rebranded, the old name may still appear in agreements or outstanding orders. Ask the person responsible for those records before letting a name lapse.

If you don't want the name any more, you can let ASIC cancel it after its notice, or cancel it yourself. Before you do, update every place it appears. Closing the business entirely? Our guide to closing a business properly puts the cancellations in order.

Keep evidence that the renewal finished

After payment is processed, keep the record of registration and check the next renewal date on the register. Save documents where the person covering your administration can find them.

Here is a simple record you can copy:

If the payment or record doesn't look right, contact ASIC through its website with the reference details. Don't pay a second time just to see whether the first attempt worked.

Companies also receive an annual review invoice from ASIC each year. That isn't a duplicate business name renewal; our company annual review checklist explains what it covers. Your ABN, meanwhile, never needs renewing: see how much an ABN costs.

If you also need to incorporate, use the company setup and first-year cost planner.

Key takeaways

• ASIC charges $47 to renew for one year or $108 for three years (as at 18 October 2026); private services charge more.
• ASIC emails a renewal notice at least 30 days before the due date from ASIC.Transaction.No-reply@asic.gov.au.
• Renew through ASIC's renewal service with your account number or linked ABN, or through ASIC Connect if you also need to change details.
• If you miss the date, you have 2 months from ASIC's notice of intent to cancel, then 6 months after cancellation to restore the name.
• Verify any notice on ASIC's register before paying, and never renew through a link in an unexpected email.
• A new owner or new ABN needs a transfer, not a renewal.

Where to get help

• ASIC: renew a business name, the renewal service and restoring a cancelled name. Customer Contact Centre 1300 300 630.
• ASIC scam reports: forward suspicious emails to ReportASICEmailFraud@asic.gov.au.
• Scamwatch: report a scam.
• IDCARE: free scam and identity support on 1800 595 160.
• Your state small business commissioner or development corporation, such as the WA Small Business Development Corporation, for free advice.

Our business registration hub connects the name, entity and ongoing administration guides.