Australia has a record-breaking economic growth pattern, spanning 26 years. The country’s strong agricultural, mining, banking, technology, services and education sectors support a highly productive commercial climate. This Pacific Island nation’s pro-business environment and openness to foreign entrepreneurship and investment make it a hub for those looking to expand into Australia.
So, how can incorporation services in Australia support your business expansion?
Incorporation services in Australia are many and varied. We talk about the key elements of incorporating a company, and who you’ll want on your team to help you enter this market.
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Legal and accounting incorporation services in Australia
There are several steps to incorporate a company in Australia. Thankfully, Australia offers a fairly straightforward incorporation process, that involves the following steps:
- Choose the type of legal entity you want to use – this will decide how your business is governed
- Reserve your company name
- Draft the bylaws for your company in Australia
- Appoint a resident director (you must have at least one) and 3 officeholders
- Obtain your company’s tax and business identification numbers
- Deciding the number of shares you will issue for your company, and their class and price
- Opening and activating a corporate bank account.
During the company incorporation process, you’ll want to engage with local legal experts, and perhaps even human resources professionals. This will ease the burden of market entry and ensure you stay fully compliant with Australian commercial law.
But before you incorporate, make sure your market entry strategy is fitted to the Australian consumer market and commercial environment.
Market entry strategy: lean on market experience
It’s wise to use an Australian market entry strategist to ensure you make a splash when you incorporate your company in Australia.
Find a local market entry expert that can understand your needs in the Australian market, and undertake the correct market investigation and validation for your product and/or services. Working with the right market strategist means getting a comprehensive understanding of opportunities, competitors, distributors, potential partners and the feasibility of your product in your targeted consumer demographic.
Begin your commercial venture in Australia with the information you need to succeed. Consider market entry support as a key element of the bundle of incorporation services in Australia at your disposal.
Let an external auditor do an entity health check
An entity health check is a review of a company’s status in the eyes of the government. An external auditor will review the fiscal and legal ‘health’ of a company that you plan to incorporate, to gain a picture of its overall corporate compliance condition.
Entity health checks in Australia are important for prospective business owners – if you’re incorporating a local company without having had much interaction with the market or local laws governing your legal obligations, you’ll need to understand what you need to do to stay on the right side of corporate law.
In this step, you can mitigate risk and protect your financial and other assets by understanding what you need to do to begin commercial operations in full compliance of local law. Avoiding this step before company incorporation could mean missing crucial details about a company’s legal and fiscal status, that could result in penalties from government authorities later down the track.
Engage with a trusted local Legal Representative
To incorporate a company in Australia, you’ll need to partner with a trusted local legal expert to assist you with the correct incorporation procedures. This is a crucial part of incorporation services in Australia. You’ll need to appoint a legal representative in Australia to support ongoing company operations.
A legal representative is typically a lawyer, and they tend to all legal matters of a company, and makes decisions on its behalf. Your Legal Representative in Australia will oversee and make decisions on a range of company activities, such as incorporation, hiring employees, and even company liquidation.
The Legal Representative is legally bound to act in the best interests of the company, and must accept certain personal liabilities should they flout this rule. In the formal document drafted to appoint your legal representation, company directors and shareholders can also decide the extent of power your Legal Representative has to make decisions for the company.
Although Australian commercial law protects your company in this way, you’ll still want to ensure that you find a trustworthy Legal Representative suited to your company’s needs and with in-depth experience and understanding of local corporate law.
There are some criteria for appointing a Legal Representative in Australia, including:
- they must be 18 years old
- they must be an Australian national, or foreign citizen residing in the country.
You must formally appoint your Legal Representative through a notarized document. You’ll need to submit this document to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
Understand corporate accounting requirements
It’s wise to partner with an Australian Accounting Consultant when selecting your bundle of incorporation services in Australia. Locally, this person is called a ‘Public Officer’. It’s vital that your company is aware of and complies with all corporate tax requirements in Australia.
By having an accounting expert on hand as your Public Officer in Australia, you’ll ensure your company is appropriately registered with the Australian tax authorities, and is paying the right taxes at the right rates. This improves the ease of completing yearly financial reviews and audits, and ensures you stay on the right side of Australian law. Not paying enough tax, or not knowing when it needs to be paid, could result in penalties against your company, and playing catch up on taxes you owe to the government.
Ensure your business expansion runs smoothly by connecting with a seasoned accounting consultant. It’s a highly valuable element of the available incorporation services in Australia.
Hire employees through a Professional Employer Organization
One way to enter the market with a relatively small-scale investment up front is to hire your Australian sales team through a Professional Employer Organization, or PEO. A PEO acts as an outsourced recruitment and hiring partner. Through a co-employment model, your PEO partner will hire the staff you need to build your sales presence in Australia, leaving you to focus on other areas of your business expansion.
PEO firms will ensure you meet all employment law requirements for your Australian sales team, and have the local knowledge to find the right talent for your business needs. They can take charge of the full recruitment and hiring process, and manage the staff members’ payroll and social benefits needs in Australia, so you don’t have to.
Additionally, your Australian sales executives can enjoy some ‘big company’ benefits that your business may not necessarily be able to offer. PEOs typically operate on a large scale, providing support to small and medium sized companies. Their larger size means your sales executives in Australia will likely gain access to additional benefits such as comprehensive health and dental insurance, training opportunities, and they’ll likely be absorbed into embedded health and safety policies.
Be aware that there are different requirements for hiring foreign nationals to work in Australia, and that they’ll need the right visas to work for your company in the country. Be sure to seek additional advice from your PEO provider for hiring foreign employees in Australia.
Get help registering a trademark or patent
It’s best to apply for patents and trademarks in Australia as soon as you have incorporated your company. Incorporation services in Australia include patent and trademark registration, and it’s wise to utilize the experts on hand in this process.
There are several steps to registering a trademark or patent in Australia, and several definitions of the different types of things you can patent. Be sure to engage with a legal expert who is experienced with registering trademarks and patents, who can conduct the correct trademark search with Australian authorities, and inform you on your options.
Though this step is not mandatory when incorporating your company, it’s highly recommended. Don’t delay trademark registration for your company’s unique inventions or ideas; doing so puts your unique sources of revenue or brand recognition markings in a vulnerable position.
Registering a trademark in Australia, or obtaining a patent, means ensuring your business remains profitable and your brand unique. Protect your credibility and consumer base by completing this step right after you have formally incorporated your company.
We’re your single point of contact for incorporation services in Australia
Use the experience and expertise available to you when expanding by engaging with a trusted provider of incorporation services in Australia. At Biz Latin Hub, our Australia team is ready to support you in your new commercial venture in this exciting market.
We offer a range of multilingual market entry and back-office services in Australia, including:
- market entry strategy
- entity health checks
- company incorporation
- legal representation
- corporate accounting advice and support
- professional employer organization
- patent and trademark registration.
Save time and energy by engaging with a team that can provide a full suite of incorporation services in Australia. We’ll ensure your business has everything it needs to succeed in the Australian business environment.
Contact us today for personalized support on how we can help you with your business expansion.
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