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Starting a Business Setup Guide

The registrations, accounts and systems to put in place in your first weeks — in the order that saves rework later.

Set up in the right order

Most new-business admin pain comes from doing things in the wrong sequence: opening a bank account before the structure is settled, hiring before payroll exists, invoicing before registrations are done. The order below front-loads the decisions that everything else hangs off. It's general guidance — your accountant should sign off on structure and tax choices before you register anything, because some of these decisions are expensive to unwind.

1. Choose the structure

Sole trader, partnership, company or trust. The choice drives your tax treatment, personal liability, ability to bring in partners or investors, and admin load:

  • Sole trader — cheapest and simplest; you and the business are legally the same, so business debts are your debts.
  • Company — a separate legal entity with limited liability and directors' duties; more setup and ongoing ASIC obligations, but the cleanest base for growth, staff and investment.
  • Trust — flexible for family businesses and asset protection; more complex, and usually paired with a corporate trustee.

If you're unsure, get advice before registering — moving from sole trader to company later means new ABN, new bank accounts, novated contracts and possible tax consequences on the transfer.

2. Registrations

  • ABN — free via the Australian Business Register. Every other registration hangs off it.
  • Company registration — through ASIC if you've chosen a company; this also creates your ACN. Directors need a Director ID before appointment.
  • Business name — register with ASIC if you'll trade under anything other than your own name (or the company's exact name). Note this is not trademark protection; if the brand matters, consider a trade mark separately.
  • Tax registrations — GST if you expect to meet the ATO's registration threshold (or choose to register early), and PAYG withholding before you first pay wages.
  • Domain and email — secure the domain early; a business email on your own domain costs little and signals more.

3. Money: accounts and books from day one

  • A dedicated business bank account — mandatory for companies, and effectively mandatory for everyone else, because mixed personal-and-business banking makes your books unreliable and your tax return painful.
  • Accounting software from the first transaction — a mainstream cloud package with bank feeds turned on. Retrofitting a year of transactions costs far more than the subscription.
  • A simple chart of accounts — resist the urge to create fifty categories; a dozen well-chosen ones you use consistently beat a taxonomy you abandon.
  • Provision accounts — a separate account for GST and tax you're setting aside. New businesses fail on cash and tax surprises more than on demand.

4. Insurance and licences

Check what your industry and state require — many trades and professions need specific licences, and local councils regulate premises. On insurance, public liability is near-universal, professional indemnity applies to advice-giving businesses, and workers' compensation is compulsory in each state once you employ (schemes and insurers vary by state). Your broker or the relevant state regulator can confirm what's mandatory for you.

5. Before your first hire

  • Identify the relevant modern award and the correct classification for the role — the Fair Work Ombudsman's tools cover this.
  • Have a written employment contract ready, plus the Fair Work Information Statement.
  • Set up STP-enabled payroll and superannuation before the first pay run, not after.
  • Register for workers' compensation and PAYG withholding.

6. Build the operating rhythm early

The founders who scale cleanly are the ones who treat admin as a system from the start: a weekly invoicing-and-payments slot, a monthly reconciliation and review, a calendar of lodgement dates pulled from the ATO. Habits set in month one are the ones that survive. When you're ready to think about the back office as a designed system rather than a chore list, start with how to systemise your business and the modern SME back office.