Register an Australian Company with 201 Form

With the 201 form, you can register a new Australian public or proprietary company with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Before you start

To complete the following steps, ensure that your system is licenced and configured for electronic filing for Australia and electronic incorporation. Refer to Set Up Electronic Filing for Australia for more information.

  1. Create an incorporation.

    The table below lists what data you must provide for the incorporation. Refer to Create an Incorporation to learn more about how to create an incorporation.

    Data

    Description

    Company Name

    Only a name that is not identical to an existing company name can be used to incorporate a company. If the name is identical to an existing name, you must declare you hold or are registering the company for the holders of the identical name. Refer to Create a Doing Business As Data Library for more information.

    The proposed business name must contain at least two alphabetic characters. Make sure the name is spelled correctly.

    An Australian Company Number (ACN) is a unique nine-digit identifier that is issued by ASIC upon registration of a company. You can use the ACN as the company name by entering A.C.N. as name followed by the incorporation's legal status.

    Company Addresses

    The principal place of business and registered office addresses must be in Australia and use valid Australian state codes like ACT, NSW, NT, QLD.

    If you want to add P.O. box or G.P.O. box information as address, enter PO BOX or GPO BOX before the number in Address Line 1 and leave Address Line 2 and Address Line 3 blank.

    Australian Business No (ABN)

    If an existing Australian Business Number (ABN) is to be associated with the new incorporation, enter the number on the Extra Details page.

    Note

    The inclusion of ABNs when generating the e-filing version of the 201 form (for example, information regarding corporate members in section 6), is not supported and will not be visible when the electronic form is generated. However, certain sections of the paper form 201 support entry, use, and visibility of an ABN alongside ACNs and ARBNs (for example, section 4 Identify the Ultimate Holding Company).

    Registered Address Occupier

    		 If it is not the company that occupies the premises listed, enter the name of the occupant in this field on the Extra Details page.

    ASIC Registered Agent Number

    If an ASIC Registered Agent is acting on behalf of a client to incorporate this new company, enter their associated ASIC Registered Agent number into this field on the Extra Details page.

    Note

    This field is only applicable to the Lodgement Details section of the 201 paper form and is not referenced when e-filing.

    Refer to Create an Incorporation to learn more about how to create an incorporation.

  2. Open the incorporation record you just created to add more details to the record.

    Appoint individuals into appropriate company roles. For more information refer to Appointments.

    Incorporations intending to have share capital are required to record and disclose shares and subscriber shareholder information. Companies limited by guarantee would include guarantee membership information. Create the necessary share classes, subscribers including beneficial owners, or guarantee information under Ownership. For more information refer to Record Share Details and Subscribers and the Shares and Ownership section on the Help Centre.

    Note

    To enter details about beneficial owners, enable the Prompt for beneficial owner on new company share events system option or the Prompt for beneficial owner on new share event wizards company option before you start entering ownership information. Refer to System Options or Company Options to learn more.

    When the form is generated for submission, the subscriber and related beneficial ownership details are displayed in the Details of members section. If the beneficial owner is not the same individual or entity as the subscriber, the Beneficially held (y/n) column displays an N to indicate that the individual listed is not the beneficial owner of the related shares.

  3. Declare your company as a special purpose company, if applicable.

    For more information refer to Declare a Proprietary Company as Special Purpose Company and Special Purpose Public Companies.

  4. (Optional) Select Validate in the incorporation record to learn if any details are missing or if the information you entered conforms to the validations set for the company.

  5. Incorporate the company electronically.

    In the incorporation record you just created, select Wizards > Incorporate Electronically and complete the Incorporate Electronically Wizard.

  6. On the Finish page, select the 201 form and select Other Options under the table. From the options that display, select Efile documents to electronically file the form.

    You can also e-file the form later by going to Documents in the incorporation record, selecting the document, and choosing Wizards > Efile documents.

    The document is processed for e-filing. If there are any gaps in required information, the system lists them and the e-filing process fails. If there are no areas to address, the document is e-filed and the system displays a Completed status. The form is available under Working Documents with Verified and Queued status.

  7. After you completed the Efile Document wizard, go to Working Documents > Electronic Filing and select the Send & Receive option to send the document you just e-filed to the ASIC.

    Note

    If you need to withdraw the submission of the 201 form, an RA50 - Request Withdrawal of Form 201 must be submitted. This form is not currently supported by Diligent Entities. Contact ASIC for more information.

What's next?

If ASIC approves your new incorporation, an RA55 is automatically added under Working Documents. If you preview the document associated with the RA55, you can see the PDF certificate of registration. To view further information relating to the RA55, such as the invoice information, open the document.

If ASIC needs to indicate a status change for the form, for example, manual review of company name, or indicating that a name is rejected for any reason, they send an RA56 message which you can find in Working Documents. Open and review the document.

Once the incorporation is complete, you can convert the incorporation to a company to manage it in Diligent Entities. To convert the incorporation, open the record and select Wizards > Convert to Company and complete the wizard.