Register a company

You can choose a company name when registering your company. There are rules about what name you can have.

If you do not choose a name, the Australian Company Number (ACN) we give you when you register will be your company name, along with the legal status of the company. For example, your name could be ACN 123 456 789 Pty Ltd.

See more about rules for company names.

Reserving a name

If you are not ready to register your company but want to make sure a name is available, you can apply to reserve it.

You can reserve a name for up to 2 months. If you need to extend this, you must reapply. We do not reserve names indefinitely.

If you want to reserve a name, lodge this form:

Form 410 Application for reservation of a name.

There is a fee to reserve a name. The current fee is $61.

You must choose a state or territory to be registered in, even if you do business nationwide. You must also provide 2 addresses: a registered office address and a principal place of business address.

For more about company addresses, see:

Company addresses

Every company must have rules for how it will be internally managed. Your company can:

• use replaceable rules from the Corporations Act 2001
• have its own constitution
• use replaceable rules for some things and a constitution for others.

For information about these options, see:

Company rules and constitutions

You must provide your company’s share structure and the number and type of shares issued.

For a proprietary company, you must provide the name and home address of each member (shareholder). If the company has more than 20 members, you only need to provide details for the top 20 members in each class of shares. People will be able to see shareholder details for proprietary companies online on the companies register.

You must also get written consent from all proposed members, confirming the number and class of shares to be owned and amount to be paid. Here is an example of a member consent template.

For more information, see:

Company shares and shareholders

For each proposed officeholder of your company, you must provide:

• their name (including any former names)
• their home address
• their place and date of birth.

People will be able to see these details online on the companies register.

Directors must apply for a director ID before a company is registered:

Director identification number: Australian Business Registry Services

A company must obtain and keep your written and signed consent before you become a company director or secretary. Here is an example of an officeholder consent template.

Find out what to do if you did not give consent to be a company officeholder

For more information on officeholders, see:

Company officeholders (directors and secretaries)

Online registration through the Business Registration Service is not available if you want to hide the residential address of an officeholder.

There are also company types you cannot register online with BRS:

• a company with unlimited liability
• a company that has an individual share value of more than four decimal places (for example 0.00042)
• a company limited by shares that is registering as a corporate collective investment vehicle
• a public company that has the ACN as the company name and is ruled by a constitution.

Finally, you cannot register a company online with BRS when:

• you need to lodge Form 207Z Certification of compliance with stamp duty law
• you need to lodge Form 208 Notification of details of shares issued other than for cash
• a company officeholder whose place of birth causes an error online
• a company address is not accepted by ASIC.

If any of the above apply to you, contact us with the following details:

• your proposed company name and type
• the reason you cannot register online
• your transaction reference number (if known)
• any error message you received.

We’ll send you a paper form to register your company.

You can also contact us if there are other reasons why you cannot register a company online.