Company formations, handled for you

Who it is for

• Sole traders whose business has grown and who are weighing up a move to a company
• People starting a new business with partners or investors who will hold shares
• Business owners who want the separation of a company between business and personal affairs
• Families setting up a company to act as trustee of a trust or self-managed super fund
• Existing companies that need company tax returns, financial statements and BAS each year

Why form a company?

A company is its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia and gives you access to benefits such as limited liability and the corporate tax rate.

Ross Accounting helps you navigate the detail of company formation by handling your application and making sure you understand your obligations and all of the relevant details.

Being a separate legal entity means the company can own assets, take on debt, and sue or be sued in its own name, and the income the business earns belongs to the company rather than to you. As a shareholder, your liability is generally limited to any amount still unpaid on your shares. That protection has limits: directors can be held personally liable when they breach their duties, and ASIC notes that a director can be liable for some company debts.

Companies also cost more to set up and run than a sole trader or partnership, and come with ongoing ASIC and ATO obligations. Whether the trade-off is worthwhile depends on your income, risk and plans, which is why the first step is a structure conversation. Our guide to choosing a business structure compares the main options.

What is needed to register a company

ASIC registers companies on the Australian companies register. Before an application can be lodged, a few building blocks need to be settled:

• A company name, or the option of using the Australian Company Number (ACN) as the name, for example "ACN 123 456 789 Pty Ltd". A name can be reserved with ASIC for up to 2 months if you are not ready to register.
• A state or territory of registration, plus a registered office address and a principal place of business address.
• Internal rules: the replaceable rules in the Corporations Act 2001, a constitution of the company's own, or a mix of both.
• A share structure: the class and number of shares, and the name and home address of each member (shareholder), with each member's written consent.
• Officeholder details for each director and any secretary: name (including former names), home address, and date and place of birth, plus signed consent to act.
• A director ID for every director, which must be held before the company is registered.

Officeholder and proprietary company shareholder details appear on the public register. Once registered, the company receives its ACN and certificate of registration, and ASIC posts a corporate key to the registered office. Director IDs are issued by the Australian Business Registry Services, and our director ID guide explains who needs one. Step-by-step detail is in our registering a company guide.

Directors must apply for their own director ID before they are appointed. It is free, and no accountant or agent can apply on your behalf.

ASIC fees for 2026–27

ASIC fees are indexed each year. The fees below are the amounts ASIC lists from 1 July 2026, so they apply to registrations and annual reviews during the 2026–27 financial year.

These are government fees only. ASIC also offers a discount for paying the annual review fee 10 years in advance, but advance payments are not refundable. Check ASIC's fee schedule for any company type not listed here.

Company tax rates

A company pays tax on its own taxable income. The ATO sets out two rates that have applied from the 2021–22 income year onwards, which by the ATO's wording includes 2026–27:

Base rate entity passive income includes items such as dividends and franking credits, rent, royalties, most interest and net capital gains. Eligibility is tested each income year on that year's figures, so a company that mainly holds investments can pay 30% even with a small turnover. The company tax rates guide explains the test and how it affects franking credits, and our company tax returns service handles the annual return.

Your obligations as a director

Directors and secretaries are company officeholders under the Corporations Act 2001. ASIC describes their core duty as acting in the best interests of the company, honestly and with care. In practice that generally means:

• understanding the company's operations and financial position at all times
• making sure the company keeps proper records and can pay its debts when due
• preventing insolvent trading, that is, not letting the company incur debts while it is insolvent
• disclosing any material personal interest and putting the company's interests ahead of your own
• updating ASIC within 28 days of changes to company details such as addresses, officeholders or shareholders

ASIC warns that officeholders who do not meet their duties can be penalised even if they did not mean to do the wrong thing, including criminal charges that can lead to fines or jail, and limits on the business roles they can take on in future. A company can also be set up to act as trustee of a trust or SMSF, and its directors need director IDs too; see our trusts service for that structure.

The ASIC annual review

Each year, around the anniversary of registration, ASIC sends an annual statement. The company then has three tasks: pay the annual review fee (usually due 2 months after the review date), check the details on the statement and correct anything out of date, and have the directors pass a solvency resolution within 2 months of the review date unless a financial report was lodged with ASIC in the past 12 months. A negative resolution, or no resolution at all, has to be reported to ASIC within 7 days.

Taking money out of a company: Division 7A

Because the company's money is not your money, drawing on it like a personal account has tax consequences. Under Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, a payment, loan or debt forgiveness from a private company to a shareholder or their associate can be treated as a dividend for income tax purposes, generally unfranked, even if it is labelled a loan.

A payment generally avoids that outcome if it is repaid, or put under a complying loan agreement, by the company's lodgment day for the year. A complying loan needs a written agreement, a maximum term and interest each year at no less than the benchmark interest rate, which the ATO has set at 8.77% for income years ending 30 June 2027 (8.37% for the year ending 30 June 2026).

Planning how you will be paid, whether by salary, director's fees or dividends, is part of setting up a company properly. Our Division 7A guide covers loans and repayments in more detail.

After the company is registered

Registration with ASIC is only the first step. The company then needs its own tax registrations and day-to-day set-up, generally including:

• an ABN and tax file number in the company's name
• GST registration if GST turnover is $75,000 or more ($150,000 for non-profits), the thresholds the ATO lists for 2026–27
• a business name registration if it will trade under a name other than its company name
• displaying the company name and ACN on documents where the law requires it
• cancelling a sole trader ABN when the business moves into the company, as business.gov.au says an ABN must be cancelled on a change from sole trader to company
• a business bank account, bookkeeping file and, if there are staff, payroll set up from the first pay run

Our guides to registering an ABN and business name and GST registration explain each step, and our bookkeeping service can set up the accounts from day one.

How it works

1. 1
   Structure consultation

   We talk through your business, income and plans and whether a company, trust, partnership or sole trader structure suits you. David Ross offers a free half hour of advice on business structures.

2. 2
   Director IDs

   Each proposed director applies for their own director ID. We explain what is needed so nothing holds up the registration.

3. 3
   Company details

   We settle the name, addresses, rules or constitution, share structure and officeholders, and collect the consents.

4. 4
   Registration

   We prepare and lodge the company registration and pass on the ACN and certificate once it is issued.

5. 5
   Tax set-up

   We arrange the ABN, TFN and GST registration, and a business name if needed.

6. 6
   Ongoing compliance

   We look after company tax returns, financial statements and BAS each year.

What to bring

• Proposed company name (or confirmation that the ACN will be used as the name)
• Registered office and principal place of business addresses
• Full name, any former names, home address, and date and place of birth for each director and secretary
• Each director's director ID
• Name, home address and number and class of shares for each shareholder
• Details of any existing ABN, business name or GST registration being moved into the company