Reference · Glossary

Company registration glossary: 65 Australian terms explained

Every term you will encounter when registering a company in Australia, dealing with ASIC, the ATO, the ABR, AUSTRAC or a trust deed. Each entry cites the agency or statutory source — use it as a reference when you hit a form, a notice or a paragraph you do not understand.

The Small Business Desk · Editorial team, company registration + business compliance · Updated 11 June 2026 · How we rank · Editorial standards

★Key takeaways

✓65 terms covering identifiers, taxes, agencies, company types, ASIC forms, governance, registers, shares, trusts + compliance.
✓Each term cites the primary source — ASIC, ATO, ABR, ABRS, AUSTRAC, TPB, IP Australia or the Corporations Act 2001.
✓Use this as a quick reference when reading registration paperwork, trust deeds, ASIC forms or BAS instructions.
✓Schema.org DefinedTermSet markup applied so search engines and AI assistants can cite individual terms.

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Identifiers Taxes Reporting Agencies Company types ASIC forms Roles + governance Registers + records Shares + capital Trusts + names Compliance

Identifiers

ABN — Australian Business Number: 11-digit identifier issued by the Australian Business Register (ABR) to entities carrying on an enterprise. Mandatory for businesses; without one, payers must withhold 47% PAYG from payments over $75. Free to apply via abr.gov.au.
ACN — Australian Company Number: 9-digit identifier issued by ASIC when a company is registered under the Corporations Act 2001. Only companies have an ACN. The company's ABN is built from its ACN.
ARBN — Australian Registered Body Number: 9-digit identifier for entities registered with ASIC that are not companies — typically foreign companies registered to carry on business in Australia, and registrable bodies under state law.
TFN — Tax File Number: ATO identifier for income tax. Sole traders use their personal TFN. Companies, partnerships and trusts have their own TFN. Free, applied for through the ABR integrated form.
Director ID — Director Identification Number: 15-digit identifier issued by the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS). Mandatory for every director — must be held before appointment. Free via abrs.gov.au with myGovID.

Taxes

GST — Goods and Services Tax: A 10% broad-based tax on most goods and services. Mandatory registration above $75,000 annual turnover ($150,000 NFP). Reported quarterly or monthly on the BAS.
FBT — Fringe Benefits Tax: Tax paid by employers on non-cash benefits provided to employees and their associates. Self-assessed annually; the FBT year runs 1 April to 31 March. Current rate 47%.
PAYG-W — PAYG Withholding: The amount withheld from employee wages and contractor payments and remitted to the ATO. Reported in W1/W2 on the BAS or IAS. Single Touch Payroll (STP) reports it in real-time.
PAYG-I — PAYG Instalments: Pre-payments of expected income tax for the year, payable quarterly. Reported in T1, T2, T7 on the BAS or IAS. The ATO issues an instalment notice when you become subject to PAYG-I.
SG — Superannuation Guarantee: Mandatory employer super contribution. Current rate 12% of ordinary time earnings (from 1 July 2025), paid into the employee's nominated super fund. Quarterly due dates; SG charge applies if late.
STP — Single Touch Payroll: Mandatory real-time payroll reporting to the ATO. Every payrun is reported on or before payday. Phase 2 expanded the data set in 2022.
WHT — Withholding tax: Tax withheld on payments to non-residents — most commonly interest, royalties and unfranked dividends. Rates set by domestic law or double-tax agreement.

Reporting

BAS — Business Activity Statement: Periodic ATO statement that captures GST, PAYG withholding, PAYG instalments, FBT instalments, WET, LCT, fuel tax credits. Lodged monthly, quarterly or annually depending on registration.
IAS — Instalment Activity Statement: ATO statement lodged by entities with PAYG withholding or PAYG instalment obligations but without GST registration. Common for businesses below the $75k GST threshold that employ staff.

Agencies

ASIC — Australian Securities and Investments Commission: Australia's corporate, markets, financial services and consumer credit regulator. Maintains the ASIC register, registers companies, sets fees and enforces the Corporations Act 2001.
ATO — Australian Taxation Office: Federal agency administering Australia's tax and superannuation systems. Issues TFNs, administers GST/PAYG/FBT, runs the BAS regime.
ABR — Australian Business Register: The public register of ABNs maintained by the ATO. Issues ABNs and TFNs through the integrated business registration form.
ABRS — Australian Business Registry Services: A unified registry service combining ASIC and ABR-administered registers. Issues Director IDs and administers the Modernising Business Registers program.
AUSTRAC — Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre: Australia's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator. Businesses providing designated services must enrol on the AUSTRAC reporting entity register.
TPB — Tax Practitioners Board: National regulator of tax agents, BAS agents and tax (financial) advisers. Anyone providing tax agent or BAS agent services for a fee must be registered with the TPB.
IP Australia: Federal agency administering trade marks, patents, designs and plant breeder's rights. Registering a business name with ASIC does not give trade mark rights — those come from IP Australia.
FIRB — Foreign Investment Review Board: Federal body advising the Treasurer on foreign investment policy. Approval may be required when foreign ownership in an Australian business or land asset exceeds the relevant threshold.

Company types

Pty Ltd — Proprietary Limited: A private company limited by shares, registered with ASIC. The most common Australian company type. Shareholders' liability is limited to amounts unpaid on shares.
Ltd (Public) — Public Limited Company: A public company limited by shares. Can offer shares to the general public; must have at least three directors and an independent auditor; more stringent disclosure obligations than a Pty Ltd.
Company limited by guarantee: A company without share capital, used by NFPs and member organisations. Members guarantee a small amount (often $10-$100) to be paid if the company is wound up.
Unlimited proprietary company: A proprietary company with no limit on members' liability. Rare in practice; sometimes used by professional partnerships before incorporation as Pty Ltd was widely available.
No-liability company (NL): A company type available only to mining and exploration entities. Shareholders cannot be compelled to pay calls on partly-paid shares.
CCIV — Corporate Collective Investment Vehicle: A newer Australian fund-vehicle structure introduced in 2022. A company limited by shares with one or more sub-funds, used for managed investment schemes.

ASIC forms

Form 201: ASIC application to register a company. Captures proposed company name, type, share structure, directors, secretary, members and registered office.
Form 205: ASIC notification of resolution to change company name. The new name must be available and pass ASIC checks; same $59 fee approximately as a name reservation.
Form 484: ASIC notification of company changes — appointment or resignation of officers, address changes, share issues, changes to members. Must be lodged within 28 days of the change.
Form 410: ASIC application to reserve a company name. Holds the name for two months pending registration. Approximately $61 fee.
Form 388: ASIC lodgement of financial statements and reports for large proprietary companies, public companies, registered schemes and other reporting entities.
Annual review: The yearly statement ASIC issues to every Australian company on the anniversary of its registration. The company pays the annual review fee (currently $321 for a Pty Ltd) and confirms or updates company details.
Late lodgement penalty: ASIC penalty for lodgement after the due date. Up to one month late: approximately $99; more than one month late: approximately $412. Quoted figures index annually.
Solvency resolution: A director resolution required within two months of the annual review date confirming the company can pay its debts as they fall due. Required for most proprietary companies.
Form 6010: ASIC application for voluntary deregistration of a company. Available when the company has ceased trading, has no outstanding liabilities and all members agree.

Roles + governance

Director: A person formally appointed to the board of a company. Owes fiduciary and statutory duties under the Corporations Act 2001 — care and diligence, good faith, proper purpose, no improper use of position, no insolvent trading.
Company secretary: An officer responsible for administrative compliance — ASIC lodgements, maintaining registers, minutes. Mandatory for public companies; optional for proprietary companies.
Alternate director: A person appointed to act in the place of a director, with the director's consent. Must hold a Director ID if acting.
Resident director: Section 201A Corporations Act 2001 requires every Australian company to have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Australia (public companies require two). Foreign-only ownership requires hiring a nominee resident director.
Shareholder (member): A person or entity holding shares in a company. Rights determined by the share class and the company constitution or replaceable rules.
Replaceable rules: Default governance rules in the Corporations Act 2001 (s141 table) that apply to a company unless replaced by a constitution. Useful for very simple companies; most adopt a constitution for clarity.
Company constitution: A document adopted by a company that sets out internal governance — share classes, director appointment rules, meeting rules, dividend rights. Replaces the replaceable rules in part or whole.
Shareholder agreement: A private contract between shareholders setting out share transfer restrictions, drag-along/tag-along rights, pre-emption, dispute mechanisms. Sits alongside but distinct from the constitution.

Registers + records

Member register: A register of all shareholders, kept at the registered office (or another address notified to ASIC). Must show name, address, shares held and date of entry.
Director register: A register of past and present directors and secretaries with consent dates, residential addresses and appointment particulars.
Charges register: A historical register of charges over company property. Replaced by the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) from 2012 — new charges are registered on PPSR, not in a company-specific register.
Minute book: A bound or electronic record of director and member resolutions, board meeting minutes and circulating resolutions. Required by the Corporations Act 2001.

Shares + capital

Share class: Type of share with defined rights — ordinary, preference, redeemable preference, non-voting. Classes set out in the constitution and on the ASIC register.
Paid-up capital: The portion of issued share capital that members have paid in full. Compared to issued share capital, which may include unpaid amounts.
Dividend: A distribution of company profits to shareholders. Must be sourced from profits (or as otherwise permitted under s254T) and supported by a director declaration. Franking credits attach to fully franked dividends paid from taxed profits.
Franking credit: A tax credit attached to a dividend representing tax already paid by the company. Australian-resident individual shareholders include the dividend plus franking credit in income and claim the credit against their tax.

Trusts + names

Trust deed: A private legal document signed by the settlor and trustee establishing a trust. Sets out beneficiaries, trustee powers, distribution rules, vesting date.
Discretionary trust: A trust where the trustee has discretion each year to choose which beneficiaries receive trust income or capital, within the bounds of the deed. Common family-business structure.
Unit trust: A trust where beneficiaries hold defined "units" and receive income and capital in proportion to those units. Used for joint investment between unrelated parties.
Corporate trustee: A Pty Ltd company acting as trustee for a trust. Provides asset separation between trust assets and beneficiaries personally. Annual ASIC review fee applies to the trustee company.
Settlor: The person who creates a trust by transferring a small amount of property to the trustee (the "settled sum", typically $10). The settlor is generally excluded from being a beneficiary.
Business name: A trading name registered with ASIC under the Business Names Registration Act 2011. $44 for one year, $102 for three years. Does not confer trade mark rights.
Trade mark: A registered IP right protecting brand identifiers (words, logos, sounds). Registered with IP Australia under the Trade Marks Act 1995. Renewable every 10 years.

Compliance

Registered office: The official address of the company on the ASIC register, where official notices are sent. Must be a physical Australian address (not a PO Box) and consented to by the occupier.
Principal place of business: The address from which the company's business is mainly carried on. Separate from the registered office; can be the same.
Insolvent trading: Trading while the company cannot pay its debts as they fall due. Section 588G of the Corporations Act 2001 makes directors personally liable for debts incurred while insolvent. Safe harbour provisions (s588GA) protect directors in defined circumstances.
DPN — Director Penalty Notice: Notice issued by the ATO making a director personally liable for the company's unpaid PAYG withholding, super guarantee or GST liabilities. Two types: lockdown (no escape) and 21-day (escape via payment, appointment of administrator or liquidator).
PPSR — Personal Property Securities Register: National register of security interests over personal property (anything other than land). Replaced state-based charges registers in 2012.

Primary sources

Authoritative references for every term

ASIC — companies, business names, financial services, the Corporations Act.
ATO — TFN, GST, PAYG, FBT, super, BAS, IAS.
ABR — ABN, integrated business registration.
ABRS — Director ID.
AUSTRAC — AML/CTF.
TPB — tax agent, BAS agent + tax (financial) adviser regulation.
IP Australia — trade marks, patents, designs.
PPSR — Personal Property Securities Register.
Corporations Act 2001 — the underlying legislation.

This glossary is general information, not legal or tax advice. Where a term affects your circumstances, speak with a TPB-registered tax agent and an Australian legal practitioner. See our disclaimer.

Deep guides

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Registrations

ABN, ACN, TFN + GST →

Choose a structure

Sole trader vs Pty Ltd vs Trust →

Director ID

How to apply, penalties, timelines →

GST

Thresholds, cash vs accruals, BAS cycles →

BAS frequency

Monthly vs quarterly vs annual →