New Business Setup Checklist

Before you register anything

The decisions you make in the first fortnight are the hardest to unwind later, so it pays to slow down here. Your business structure — sole trader, partnership, company or trust — affects your tax position, your personal liability and how you pay yourself, and changing it later usually means new registrations, new bank accounts and sometimes capital gains consequences.

• Choose your structure with advice — a short conversation with an accountant before you register is far cheaper than restructuring in year two.
• Check the name is actually available — search ASIC's registers and the trade mark register, and confirm the domain name you want exists, before you order signage or print anything.
• Write down who owns what — if there's more than one founder, agree equity, roles and what happens if someone leaves. A simple shareholders or partnership agreement now prevents most founder disputes later.

This is general information rather than advice for your situation — structure choices in particular deserve professional input.

Registrations

• Apply for an ABN — you need it to invoice, and most businesses won't deal with you without one.
• Register the company (if incorporating) — ASIC issues the ACN; you'll also need a registered office and at least one Australian resident director with a director ID.
• Register the business name — required with ASIC if you trade under anything other than your own or your company's name.
• Get a TFN for the entity — companies, trusts and partnerships need their own, separate from yours.
• Decide on GST registration — it's compulsory above the ATO's current turnover threshold and optional below it; check the current figure on the ATO website and think about whether voluntary registration suits your customers.
• Register for PAYG withholding if you'll employ anyone — do this before the first pay run, not after.

Money and records

• Open a dedicated business bank account — mixing personal and business transactions is the single most common bookkeeping mess in a new business's first year.
• Set up accounting software from day one — reconstructing six months of transactions from bank statements costs more than the subscription ever will.
• Create an invoice template that meets tax invoice requirements — the ATO sets out what a valid tax invoice must show.
• Decide who does the books and how often — weekly reconciliation is a habit; quarterly catch-up is a crisis.

Protection and obligations

• Arrange insurance before you start trading — public liability at minimum, professional indemnity if you give advice, and workers compensation through your state or territory scheme once you employ.
• Check licence and permit requirements — many industries and councils have their own; the Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS) lets you search by activity and location.
• Set up Single Touch Payroll before your first employee's first pay — STP reporting to the ATO is mandatory from the first pay event.
• Confirm the right award and pay rates for any staff — the Fair Work Ombudsman publishes current award rates and the required entitlements.

Systems and sign-off

Before you call setup done, walk the list once more and note the recurring obligations you've just created — BAS lodgements, super payments, ASIC annual statements, insurance renewals — in one calendar someone actually owns. Businesses rarely get in trouble for missing something once; they get in trouble when nobody owns the rhythm. Building that rhythm early is the first step in systemising your business so it doesn't all live in the founder's head — and a connected back office is what keeps it running once you're busy.