How to Register a Company in Australia (2026 Steps, $636)

To register a company in Australia, get a director ID for every director, choose a name, prepare your addresses, share structure, rules and signed consents, then apply through the government's Business Registration Service and pay ASIC's $636 fee (as at 17 October 2026). The form takes about 15 minutes, and ASIC usually confirms within 2 business days.

The form is the easy part. Most delays and most expensive mistakes happen before it, in the decisions about who owns what, and after it, when the new company needs its own ABN, bank account, registers and annual review. This guide covers the lot. If you haven't yet decided whether you need a company at all, start with sole trader vs company.

Registering a company at a glance

As at 17 October 2026.

Before you start: the checklist

Gather everything below before you open the form. Each item is something ASIC asks for or expects you to hold.

1. Director IDs for every director

Every director must have a director ID before the company is registered. It's free, it's permanent, and each person must apply themselves through Australian Business Registry Services, usually in about 15 minutes with myID. Directors living in Australia who can't use myID can apply by phone, while overseas directors who can't use myID apply on a paper form (NAT 75433), which takes longer. Our director ID guide has the steps.

ASIC says you don't currently have to give the director ID when you apply to register a company. That changes from 1 July 2027, when companies must provide directors' IDs to ASIC.

2. The right people as officeholders

• At least one director. Directors must be 18 or older.
• At least one director must normally live in Australia.
• A company secretary is optional for a proprietary company. If you have one, at least one secretary must normally live in Australia.
• People who are bankrupt, or recently convicted of certain offences such as fraud or dishonesty, can't be officeholders.

For each officeholder you need their full name (and any former names), home address, and place and date of birth. ASIC puts these details on the public companies register. If an officeholder has a safety concern about their home address being visible, they can ask ASIC to hide it, but then you can't use the online service: ASIC sends a paper form instead.

3. A company name (or none)

You can register a new name, a name you've reserved, or no name at all, in which case the company's name becomes its ACN, for example "ACN 123 456 789 Pty Ltd". A name must:

• end with the legal status, such as "Pty Ltd"
• not already be registered to another company or as a business name
• avoid restricted words unless you have approval.

Check availability on ASIC's name search. To hold a name while you sort out the rest, lodge Form 410 and pay $65 to reserve it for up to 2 months. A company name doesn't give you exclusive rights to a brand; that needs a trade mark. Our business name guide covers choosing one.

4. Two addresses and a state

• State or territory of registration. Pick one, even if you trade nationally.
• Registered office. A physical street address in Australia, not a PO Box. ASIC sends official notices here. It doesn't have to be where you trade. If it's someone else's premises, such as your accountant's office, you need the occupier's written consent and must keep it.
• Principal place of business. The main address where the company does business. It must also be a physical address.

5. Shareholders, share classes and share numbers

For a proprietary company you give ASIC the share structure, the number and class of shares issued, the amount paid, and the name and home address of each shareholder (the top 20 per class if you have more than 20). Shareholder details are visible on the public register.

Decisions to make now:

• Who owns what percentage. The number of shares matters less than the proportions. If two of you will own the company equally, issue the same number of shares to each.
• Share classes. Most small companies issue one class of ordinary shares. Different classes with different voting or dividend rights need a constitution that defines them.
• Shares held on trust. If a shareholder holds shares for someone else, such as a family trust, the register must show they aren't held beneficially.
• Amount paid per share. Record whether shares are fully paid and the amount paid.

If more than one person will own shares, agree the important things before you register. A shareholders agreement covers what happens when someone wants to leave, sell or stop working in the business.

6. Replaceable rules or a constitution

Every company needs rules for how it's run. You can use:

• the replaceable rules in the Corporations Act, the default for proprietary companies
• your own constitution, which can use all, some or none of the replaceable rules
• a mix of both.

Two points catch people out. The replaceable rules don't apply to a proprietary company where the same person is the sole director and the sole shareholder; special rules in the Corporations Act apply instead. And if you want to change any replaceable rule, or define different share classes, you need a constitution. Many providers include a standard constitution in their package.

7. Signed consents

Collect and keep these before you submit. You don't lodge them with ASIC, but the company must hold them:

• Officeholder consent from each director and secretary, in writing and signed.
• Member consent from each shareholder, confirming the number and class of shares and the amount to be paid.
• Registered office consent from the occupier, if the company won't occupy that address.

ASIC links to template consent forms from its register-a-company page.

8. Payment and extra registrations

Have a card ready for the $636 fee. Decide whether you'll apply for the company's ABN, GST and PAYG withholding in the same session. If the company will trade under a different name, you'll also need a business name.

How to register a company: step by step

These steps follow the Business Registration Service, which ASIC directs applicants to. We can't show screenshots, so each step describes what the form asks for.

1. Open the Business Registration Service at register.business.gov.au and choose the option to register a company. The service handles proprietary companies, public companies and special purpose companies. Unlimited companies can't use it.
2. Choose the company type. For most small businesses this is a proprietary company limited by shares (Pty Ltd).
3. Enter the name. Type your chosen name or your reserved name, or choose to use the ACN as the name.
4. Pick the state or territory where the company will be registered.
5. Enter the registered office and principal place of business. Confirm that the occupier has consented if the company won't occupy the registered office.
6. Add each officeholder. Enter names, former names, home addresses, and dates and places of birth for every director and any secretary.
7. Set out the share structure and members. Enter the share class, number of shares, amount paid and each shareholder's name and home address. Have your notes on any shares held on trust to hand.
8. Check your rules and consents. Know whether the company will use the replaceable rules, a constitution or both, and make sure the officeholder and member consents are signed before you submit. The company must keep them.
9. Add other registrations if you want them. The service can also handle the ABN, GST, PAYG withholding and a business name.
10. Review, pay and submit. Check every detail, especially spelling and dates of birth, then pay the $636 ASIC fee online. You can save an application and come back to it, and track its progress from your application summary.
11. Watch for the confirmation email. It contains the company's ACN and a certificate of registration. ASIC posts the corporate key to the registered office; you need it to use ASIC's company officeholder portal.

When you can't use the online service

ASIC sends a paper form instead if you want to hide an officeholder's residential address, if an officeholder's place of birth or a company address causes an error, if you need to lodge a stamp duty certification (Form 207Z) or details of shares issued other than for cash (Form 208), or for some unusual company types. Contact ASIC with the proposed name, the reason and any reference number.

Company registration fees and timeline

For a full first-year budget including accounting, software and a separate business name, use our company setup costs guide.

What you receive

• An ACN. A unique 9-digit Australian Company Number. It isn't an ABN.
• A certificate of registration. Sent with the confirmation email if you used the Business Registration Service.
• A listing on the companies register. Anyone can search the company's name, ACN, status and registered details.
• A corporate key. Posted to the registered office. Store it safely; you need it to update details online.
• An annual review date. Usually the anniversary of registration.

After registration: the tasks that follow

Tax registrations

• ABN. If you didn't apply during registration, apply now. It's free. A company's ABN is often its ACN with two extra digits in front. See ABN vs ACN and how to register an ABN.
• TFN. The company must have its own tax file number.
• GST. Register once GST turnover reaches $75,000, or earlier if you choose. See how to register for GST.
• PAYG withholding. Register before the company pays wages, including wages to you as a director. Wages are reported through Single Touch Payroll.
• Super. The company must pay super guarantee for eligible workers, including directors on its payroll, at 12% each payday under payday super.

Money and records

• Open a bank account in the company's name. business.gov.au says a separate account is mandatory for a company. Keep personal spending out of it; money taken out informally can become a Division 7A problem. Our business bank accounts comparison and how to open a business bank account help here.
• Set up the register of members. It must record each member's name and address, the date they were added, their shares, the dates and numbers of share issues, share classes, certificate numbers if any, and whether shares are fully paid.
• Issue share certificates. A company with share capital must issue a certificate for the shares each member holds.
• Write first minutes. Record the first directors' resolutions, such as issuing shares, adopting a constitution if you have one, appointing a public officer and opening the bank account. Keep minutes of later meetings and resolutions too.
• Appoint a public officer. The ATO's company return instructions say the public officer is responsible for doing everything the company must do under section 252 of the ITAA 1936, including lodging the company tax return.
• Set up your accounting file. Start a fresh file for the company. Our Xero setup checklist works for any new company.
• Keep records. Companies must keep financial records for 7 years and tax records for at least 5. See record keeping requirements.

Names, signage and documents

• Display the company name wherever it does business and is open to the public.
• Put the company name and ACN (or an ABN that contains the ACN) on invoices, receipts, letterhead, orders, documents lodged with ASIC and other documents listed in section 153 of the Corporations Act.
• If you trade under any other name, register it as a business name.

Licences and insurance

Check whether any licence or permit you hold personally needs to be issued to the company instead. Use our guide to business licences and the business insurance overview.

The annual review and keeping details current

About a year after registration, ASIC sends an annual statement. You must:

1. pay the annual review fee ($342 for a proprietary company) by the due date, usually 2 months after the review date
2. check the company's details and update anything wrong
3. have the directors pass a solvency resolution within 2 months of the review date, and tell ASIC within 7 days if it's negative or not passed.

Don't wait for the review to report changes. Changes to addresses, officeholders and shareholders must reach ASIC within 28 days, or late fees apply. Our annual review checklist walks through each step.

Do it yourself or use a provider?

You can register directly through the Business Registration Service and pay only ASIC's fee. Providers charge for some combination of document packs (constitution, consents, registers, minutes, share certificates), bundled ABN and tax registrations, checking your application, and sometimes advice. None of the published packages below includes tailored advice on your share structure unless stated.

Published prices, as at 17 October 2026. ASIC's fee is $636 in every case.

How to compare quotes:

• Ask for the ASIC fee and service fee separately. If a provider still shows $611 or less as the ASIC fee, it hasn't updated for 1 July 2026.
• Check what's free elsewhere. ABN and TFN registration cost nothing through the government; a provider charging $49 to $99 for it is charging for its time.
• Check what renews. Some packages include subscriptions or registered office services that bill annually.
• Know what isn't included. A standard document pack doesn't tell you whether a trust should hold the shares or what happens if a co-owner leaves. That's a job for an accountant or lawyer.

Using a provider makes most sense when you want a ready-made constitution and register and don't want to draft them yourself. An accountant or lawyer is worth the extra cost when there are several owners, different share classes, a trust as shareholder, or a business moving from a sole trader structure. For that move, see our sole trader to company restructure guide.

Common mistakes

• Registering before every director has a director ID. It's an offence to be a director without one.
• Using a PO Box or an address without consent for the registered office.
• Listing shareholders in the wrong proportions or forgetting to flag shares held on trust. Fixing the register later means more ASIC notifications.
• Choosing the replaceable rules by default when you have several owners or want different share classes.
• Skipping members' and officeholders' consents. The company must hold them.
• Assuming the company name protects your brand. It doesn't; a trade mark does.
• Trading under a different name without registering it as a business name.
• Mixing personal and company money from day one, which creates Division 7A loans. Our Division 7A review checklist explains the fix.
• Missing the first annual review. It arrives about a year later, and late fees start at $102.
• Paying a provider for something you didn't need, or paying a price based on an outdated ASIC fee.
• Forgetting home addresses are public. Decide whose address goes on the register before you submit.

Key takeaways

• ASIC charges $636 to register a proprietary company with share capital (as at 17 October 2026); registering directly through the Business Registration Service adds no service fee.
• Every director must hold a director ID before the company is registered, and at least one director must normally live in Australia.
• You need two physical addresses, officeholder and shareholder details, a share structure, your governing rules and signed consents from officeholders and members before you submit.
• Published provider prices ranged from $636 to about $1,003 in October 2026; the difference is the service fee for documents, ABN bundling or advice.
• Registration gives you an ACN and certificate, but the company still needs an ABN, TFN, bank account, registers, minutes and, where relevant, GST and PAYG withholding registration.
• Diary the annual review: ASIC's $342 fee and a solvency resolution are due about two months after each anniversary of registration.

Where to get help

• ASIC: register a company, company names, fees and officeholder obligations.
• Business Registration Service: register.business.gov.au for the company, ABN, GST, PAYG withholding and business name.
• business.gov.au: register a company overview and the registrations tool.
• Australian Business Registry Services: director IDs.
• ATO: tax obligations for companies.
• Tax Practitioners Board: check an accountant or tax agent on the TPB register.

Related tasks

Work through the rest of your setup in the business registration hub.