If you do not need your business name anymore, you will need to cancel your registration. This might be because you are closing or selling your business.
When you cancel a business name, it is listed as cancelled on the register.
Business name holders can cancel business names online.
You can also authorise someone else to cancel a business name for you.
When to cancel a business name
You can cancel a business name you do not need anymore. This could be because you are:
selling the business
closing the business
changing the business name.
ASIC can cancel business names, too. This is different from when you choose to cancel your business name:
people authorised to act for business name holders
ASIC.
If you are a business name holder, you can cancel your business name. Only do this if you do not need the business name anymore.
You can also ask someone else to cancel the business name for you. You will need to give them your ASIC key. This could be a professional like an accountant or lawyer, or a family member or friend. These people are called authorised lodgers.
To cancel a business name for someone else, the business name holder must give you the ASIC Key for the business name.
If you do not renew your business name registration by the due date, we may cancel your business name. We will write to you before we do this.
After you cancel a business name
When you ask us to cancel a business name, we will send out a ‘notice of intent to cancel’ to the business name holder. A month after you submit the application, we will cancel the business name. It will stay on the business names register but the registration will be listed as cancelled.
To confirm the business name has been cancelled, we will send another written notice to the business name holder listed on the business name register.
We will not refund any registration costs you have already paid.
After you cancel a business name, no one else can use it for 6 months. In this time, you can ask us to restore the business name if you change your mind.
If you do not cancel a business name
If you do not cancel your business name, ASIC will continue to send mail about the business to the email or postal address that we have recorded. This includes reminders to renew the business name registration.
If you do not renew the registration, we will cancel the business name.
How to cancel a business name registration
Before you start
The addresses and other details must be current. This allows ASIC to keep the right people informed about the process. You can update your business details online.
To use ASIC Connect
If you are the business name holder, you will need to sign up for an ASIC Connect account and have your business name linked if you haven’t already. Find out how to do this: