Though the Governement's efforts to help Australians to manage their businesses and companies online is noble, they pathetically fail at making those tasks easy (though I'm sure it is better than achieving this in Ouzbekistan). To this day (mid-2020) getting things done online with the ATO or ASIC is as easy as navigating the dark web for illegal services. This document is an attempt to shed some light on this age of darkness.
- MyGov portal (individual taxes): https://my.gov.au/ (then click on the
Continue with Digital Identityat the bottom to use the MyGovID app) - Business portal:
- Link:
- Description: This is where you manage your tax online. You can also manage your company details with ATO there.
- ASIC company search:
- Link: https://asicconnect.asic.gov.au/.
- Description: This is the quick and dirty ASIC lookup when you need info about a business (e.g., ACN, ABN).
- ASIC portal:
- Link: https://www.edge.asic.gov.au/
- Description: This is the official portal to deal with anything related to ASIC (e.g., managing company details, login/signup, ...)
ABN (Australian Business Number) and ACN (Australian Company Number) are unique identifiers that respectively identifies a business and a company. The ABN is ussued by the Australian Business Register while the ACN is issued by ASIC. They are similar to this:
- ABN: 29123456789
- ACN: 123456789
NOTE: Often, but not always, the ABN contains the ACN. That's because when you register a company with ASIC, an ABN is automatically created for that company. A company can have multiple buisnesses associated with it, which means that for a single ACN, there might be multiple ABNs.
This is an 8-digits secret PIN issued by ASIC to keep your information secure. You must have received on in a letter from ASIC upon regsitering your company with them.
A company register is a set of documents that is needed by every company to be compliant with the Corporations Act 2001. This set of documents needs to be kept up to date as changes are made to the company, and are kept at either the registered office, or principal place of business.
At registration the minimum documentation required to satisfy the Corporations Act 2001 is:
- Completed Consent to act as a Director form.
- Completed Consent to act as a Secretary form.
- Completed Consent to act as a Public Officer form.
- Completed Applications for shares for each shareholder. Each shareholder must apply for shares.
- Constitution
- Issue Share Certificates for each shareholder.
- Completed Register of members. That's the ledger that tracks all shareholders, with, for each member.
- Register of Option Holders (If you have them)
- Register of Debentures (If you have them)
- Consent to use registered office (if the company does not occupy the registered office)
- The Minutes of meetings of Directors that recaps all the documents signed above.
You are required to update these documents as changes are made.
A resolution is written documentation describing an action authorized by the board of directors of a corporation.
This is a form of ledger describing what happened during a board of directors meeting. This includes, but is not limited to:
- The venue
- The date
- The list of directors and other people joining the event
- The resolution documents signed
The is the contract that determines how the company is run.
Officers are members of a company elected by the board of directors to manage the company (directors can be officers). The usual officers are:
- CEO
- Chairman of the board -
- Secretary - The secretary is the officer in charge of keeping company records.
- Public officer - The public officer is the person responsible to deal with the tax office.
- Treasurer -
The CoC is a legal document that confirms the existence of an insurance policy. It does not contain the policy's fine-grained details. Instead, it lists high-level facts about it such as:
- Your business details (incl. legal name and ABN).
- The insurer's details (incl. legal name and ABN).
- The policy validity period.
- A short summary of the damages covered and their insured amount.
This document is usually required between entities to verify each other legitimacy.
-
Go to https://www.trustdeed.com.au and follow the step-by-step. There, you will be able to:
- Incorporate your company with ASIC.
- Get an ABN.
- Register for GST.
- Detetermine the directors and secretary.
- Issue shares to shareholders.
- Get extra documents to simplify your admin (minute template, constitution).
-
Sign the Company Register documents:
- Completed Consent to act as a Director form.
- Completed Consent to act as a Secretary form.
- Completed Consent to act as a Public Officer form.
- Completed Applications for shares for each shareholder. Each shareholder must apply for shares.
- Constitution
- Issue Share Certificates for each shareholder.
- Completed Register of members. That's the ledger that tracks all shareholders, with, for each member.
- Register of Option Holders (If you have them)
- Register of Debentures (If you have them)
- Consent to use registered office (if the company does not occupy the registered office)
- The Minutes of meetings of Directors that recaps all the documents signed above.
-
Open a business bank account.
-
Transfer the original investment from issued shares onto that newly created business bank account.
Prerequisite: Install the MyGovId app and create an account or login. This app allows you to identify yourself so you can log in to MyGov online.
- Login to MyGov at https://my.gov.au (use the MyGovId app).
- Go to Account settings then Manage ABN connections. There you'll easily find your way to add your ABN.
- Follow this link and hopefully you should see a
Register for online accessbutton on that page. If that link is not working anymore, fall back on Google with keywords such asasic Register for online access. Once you've found that button, you should be redirected to the onlineForm RC99page to register your company (that's called the Participation Agreement Form). - Once one the portal, you'll be able to register. You'll need your company:
- ACN or ABN
- Corporate key (you should have received a letter from ASIC a few days after registering your company)
There are two ways:
- Go straight to https://www.edge.asic.gov.au/004/compportal/update/ServicesLogin and use your ABN/ACN with your password.
- If the link above stops working:
- Browse to https://www.edge.asic.gov.au/
- Click on
Company Officeholders(should be under Companies / ASIC registered agents).
When running a company in Australia (and most likely also in other countries), you must be covered by a Worker Compensation policy and optionally(1) also be covered by a Professional and Public Liabilities policy.
This is a code that determines some important aspects of your premium is calculation. You can search for it online (e.g., https://www.allianz.com.au/wc/wic-internet.nsf/Search). For example, the WIC for IT Consulting is 783400.
When purchasing an insurance, always require that a Certificate of Currency is provided as a result of the purchase. That document contains:
- Your business details (incl. legal name and ABN).
- The insurer's details (incl. legal name and ABN).
- The policy validity period.
- A short summary of the damages covered and their insured amount.
This document is usually required between entities to verify each other legitimacy.
(1) Though it is not required, a lot of companies will not trade with another if that other one is not covered by such insurance.
This insurance is required to legally trade in most Western countries (it definitely is in Australia). The insurance is usually only valid for 12 months. It can be bought directly or via an insurance broker. In many cases, the Professional and Public Liabilities cannot be bought directly, which means you'll need a broker. If that's the case, it worth asking that broker to also manage your Worker Compensation insurance. If you wish to do buy it directly, and if you are in Australia, you will need the following:
- Your company's ACN.
- Get your
WIC. - Determine how many workers and contractors(1) will be employed in the course of the policy (most likely 12 months).
- Determine how much wages (incl. superannuation) will be paid in total to all employees (workers and contractors).
(1) In Australia, difference difference between a contractor and a worker can be found online via the SIRA (State Insurance Regulatory Authority) online tool. In a nustshell, if your company is both responsible for the work done (i.e., when shit hits the fan, its your responsibility rather the responsibility of the person doing the work) and if your company is paying superannuation to a person, then that person is a classified as a worker.
Access your Business Portal at https://bp.ato.gov.au:
- Select MyGov to login.
- Select the business you want to manage.
As of 2020, this is a manual paper-based process. Don’t expect to be able to login online to check the status and renew online. ASIC is a stone age organization. Here is the process:
- Expect to receive a letter from ASIC one week before the expiry date. If you don’t receive it, most likely your accountant did. Without that letter, you’re fucked.
- Pay using the payment method described.
WARNING: Between the 6 October 2020 and 30 June 2022, depreciation costs are immediately and fully deductible. Full details at https://www.ato.gov.au/general/tradies---be-certain-about-what-you-can-claim/#Temporaryfullexpensing
- Pay all outstanding bills and make sure that no new transactions (expenses or invoices) are pending.
- Final divident payable
- ATO:
- Lodge final tax return
- Deregister for GST
- Deregister for PAYG
- Deregister from ASIC (Form 6010)
- Deregister minute document
Your business address must be changed on the ATO business portal and on the ASIC portal
- Login to your business portal at https://bp.ato.gov.au
- Under the
Profiletab, selectBusiness adresses. - There select the type of address you wish to update. You may have to repeat the same step over and over again.
- Log in to ASIC
- Click on the
Start new formin the left menu. - Select the
484form. - Enter the new addess. WARNING: This form is not intuitive at all and requires the address to be entered this way:
- Line 1: Unit with street
- Line 2: City
- Line 3: State
- Line 4: Zip code
- Line 5: Country
- Pay an exhorbitant $422 for this stupid change!
Do not worry, you are not an absolute jackass, this is a legit question. It happens that finding that link online is as easy as finding a hitman on the dark web. The link to the ATO business portal is https://bp.ato.gov.au.
Do not worry, you are not an absolute jackass, this is a legit question. It happens that finding that link online is as easy as finding a hitman on the dark web.
Please refer to the Log in to ASIC section.
Your business bank account must be changed on the ATO business portal
- Login to your business portal at https://bp.ato.gov.au
- Select
Business registration details. - Select
Financial institudion detailsfrom the radio button list, then click theNextbutton that is conveniently off-screen. - Then click the
AddorUpdatebutton on the next page to add or modify your bank account details as required.
This is a code that determines some important aspects of your premium is calculation. You can search for it online (e.g., https://www.allianz.com.au/wc/wic-internet.nsf/Search). For example, the WIC for IT Consulting is 783400.
Those codes classify divisions that best describes the main business activity of the company in Australian and New Zealand. The official fucked up lookup is available at https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/1292.0.
How to update your business bank account?
Your business bank account must be changed on the ATO business portal
Business registration details.Financial institudion detailsfrom the radio button list, then click theNextbutton that is conveniently off-screen.AddorUpdatebutton on the next page to add or modify your bank account details as required.