Preparing to Incorporate a Local Company

Key Points

ACRA's local-company directory links to choosing a company type and financial year end, selecting directors and other officers, deciding share capital and classes, and preparing or adopting the constitution. These topics should be addressed before the final Bizfile filing so the proposed arrangements are internally consistent.

Planning Your Next Steps

The last linked step explains registration through Bizfile. For practical preparation, record the decisions in one coordinated set of instructions, then check the supporting details against the relevant official pages. This directory is an overview of the incorporation sequence, not a substitute for the particular eligibility conditions, constitutional choices or filing information required by the selected company type.

Turn Decisions into an Incorporation Checklist

Use ACRA’s sequence to settle the company type, financial year end, officers, capital and constitution before submitting the registration. As a practical preparation step, record who will provide each decision and the supporting information. This helps reveal inconsistent ownership or governance instructions before they reach the filing form.

The financial year end is the closing date of the company’s accounting period. It affects AGM and Annual Return deadlines as well as tax planning. Choosing a familiar calendar date without checking those consequences can create avoidable scheduling problems. Review ACRA’s financial year end guidance ↗ before finalising the date.

For the constitution, decide between customised rules and ACRA’s model. The model can be adopted as the version at incorporation or with future changes applying automatically. ACRA also requires the subscribers to sign the constitution at incorporation and the company to keep that copy at its registered office. These choices should match the founders’ intended governance arrangements.

When agreeing company incorporation services, specify whether the engagement covers preparing these decisions, the Bizfile submission and the post-registration handover. This is a suggested scope check, rather than an additional ACRA filing requirement. See the constitution preparation options ↗ for the underlying rules.