How to register a Pty Ltd company

When thinking about how to register a Pty Ltd company, proprietary (Pty) means privately held and Limited (Ltd) indicated a limitation to liability of the shareholder(s). So a Pty Ltd company is a privately held company which is limited by shares.

Pty Ltd companies are regulated by various government legislation and associated regulations, overseen by Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).

Until 1995 a Pty Ltd company was required to have a minimum of two directors. Some obvious complications and difficulties flowed from that requirement and single director companies were introduced in 1995.

Incorporation of a company involves a number of steps

1. Constitution or Memorandum of Association – a legal document setting out terms of membership, duties of office holders, what the company can and can’t do and how it can do those things etc.
2. Various documents identifying members and office holders and minutes recording all the necessary events that constitute incorporation
3. Various registers recording members, office holders etc.
4. Duly executed legal documents.

Establishing a Company

How to register a Pty Ltd company

In the “olden days” companies were established by a fairly lengthy and laborious process involving manually lodging ASIC documents, printing all associated documents and setting up the company register.
Various businesses set up “shelf” companies with all necessary documents, the original members and office holder(s) being a person or persons connected with that business.

Once the company was established it was put on the shelf for sale

To avoid the lengthy registration process the buyer went to their local “shelf” company supplier and bought it off the shelf. Original members and office holders transferred shares resigned as office holders, handing ownership and control of an unused company to its new owner.

Sounds complicated and to some degree it was

Nowadays that process is entirely online. The major difference being the original members and office holders are the business owner/operator and the setup process is FAST.

But beware – you need to make sure your company complies with ASIC

That’s where Companies Direct Online’s expertise can help.

Companies Direct Online are here to help, we’re happy to do it all for you. Reach out and ask us questions