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Call us today on 0398320660 to get in contact with a business consultant. Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia. You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. In Australia, the most common types of company are:    'proprietary limited' companies (cannot raise money from the general public through share issues)    'public' companies (usually formed to raise or borrow public money by listing the company's shares for trading on a stock exchange).All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange.Advantages of a company include that: • Liability for shareholders is limited. As a general rule company carries legal and commercial risk as a separate legal entity which is seperate entity to the shareholders / directors that. control the company. • it's easy to transfer ownership by selling shares to another party. Simple transfer forms can be completed to transfer the company shares to a new shareholder.    • shareholders (often family members) can be employed by the company with flexible income tax rules on distribution of income. Enjoy the use of tax credits company pays which. may be passed on to shareholders (i.e no double taxation on company profits in the hands of shareholders in most cases)    • the company can trade anywhere in Australia. A Private company can also trade in Overseas jurisdictions. Please consult your tax professional for additional tax advise.    • taxation rates can be more favourable then personal individual tax rates. Private companies currently enjoy a flat 27.5% tax rate where annual turn over of a company is less than $50m. • Enjoy access to Research & Development and Export Development Grant concessions which are generally availabl only to Pty Ltd companies (not sole traders) Disadvantages of a company include that:    • the company can cost more to establish, maintain and wind up then a sole trader business    • the reporting requirements can be more complex, however the general advantages of a company often outweigh the additional compliance fees associated in running a company    • your financial affairs of the company are governed by ASIC and information about directors and shareholders can be viewed by public.     • if directors fail to meet their legal obligations, they may be held personally liable for the company's debts including profits distributed to shareholders are taxable. However tax credit. that company pays may be available to the shareholders. Setting a private company is east. Visit www.company123.com.au website where you will find useful links and information to register a company in under 5 minutes. Company123 offers simple all inclusive solution whether you a business owner setting up a business or you run an accountancy or legal practice and set up companies for Clients. Our support line is open 24/7 if you have any questions and we are always here to help and assist you with any of your questions. For online registration, you will need to provide the following information:For Directors & Secretaries: Full name, full residential address as well as the date and place of birth of each personFor Shareholders: Full name, address and number of shares for each shareholder of the company.General Information: The address of the registered office and principal place of business. You must get written consent from the people that will fill these roles:• Director (must be over 18)• Secretary (must be over 18)• Member (every company must have at least one member). Anyone can, however you must have at least one director that resides in Australia and a physical Australian address for the registered office of the company. If none of the directors are eligible to work in Australia you will be able to register a company but you may not be able to trade. If in doubt we recommend that you discuss your needs with an accountant or solicitor for professional advice. Company123 provides free consultations if needed and over the phone advice within business hours of 9-6pm at 03 9832 0660. In terms of providing Australian directorships, Company123 cannot provide a registered office service or resident director service to international applicants. To find some providers do a search for 'resident director service Australia'. We are an ASIC registered agent, agent no. 34511. ASIC registered agents can lodge documents including company registrations on behalf of third parties.We are also an ASIC accredited software provider. This means we have our own direct electronic link to ASIC, allowing us to lodge your registration at any time of day, any day of the week. To get started with your company registration, fill in our online form. For some more information on the registration process see the ASIC website. If you're an officeholder of a company, you must follow the requirements in the Corporations Act. This includes meeting your legal obligations , which includes:• ensuring company details are kept up to date• maintaining company records and details on the register• paying the appropriate lodgement fees and annual review fees as required. Officeholders are ultimately responsible for a company's adherence to the Corporations Act. See the ASIC website for more. A company can be formed with one person, as a proprietary company limited by shares can have one director and one share member who may be the same person. The total fee is $532 which includes all government fees, our service fee and GST. The ASIC registration fee is $495 and our service fee, inclusive of GST, is just $37.For $37 you get the convenience of being able to lodge your company 24/7 from the comfort of your own home/office, and also having all your company documentation such as consents, share registry, opening minutes etc automatically prepared for you. ASIC also charge an annual fee on the anniversary date of registration, ie if you registered a company today the annual fee would be payable in one years time. Annual fees vary depending on the type of company, they can be viewed on our ASIC fee page. Optional extras include: For an extra $50, Company123 as registered tax agents will apply for ABN, TFN and GST for your company. For an optional $55 extra Company123 will also print, bind and deliver your documentation. Individuals and shareholders can be shareholders of your company.A trust cannot own shares in a company because the law says a trust is not a separate legal person. For example, the 'John Smith Family Trust' cannot own shares or any other property.Even so, the trustee of a trust, in his, her or its capacity as trustee, is capable of owning shares and other property.Therefore, a trustee or a corporate trustee can own shares in a company - as long as you include the trustee's name and their capacity. In these cases, the trustee holds the shares in the company on trust for the beneficiaries of the trustee's own trust. Under Australian taxation law, every company carrying on business or earning income from property in Australia must have a public officer – unless the company is specifically exempted.The company decides who acts as public officer in accordance with its Constitution.The company must appoint a public officer within 3 months of the company:• commencing to carry on business; or• first earning income in Australia.If a company fails to appoint a public officer within the 3 month period, it is guilty of an offence for each day it does not have a public officer.The public officer must be at least 18 and must live in Australia. They must also be capable of understanding the nature of their appointment.The public officer deals with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in relation to the company's tax affairs and is responsible for ensuring that the company pays the correct amount of tax.If a company is in default, then the public officer is liable to pay any penalties. However, the public officer is not personally liable for payment of tax due by the company with the exception of certail liabilities such as supernnation payments due by a company and when it is not paid, Directors may be personally liable for unpaid superannuation of the company. Additionally certain Pay As You Go (PAYG) Withholding obligations in relation to tax withheld on employees wages, directors may be personally liable if the company does not remit the liability to the Australian Taxation Office in timely and due manner. With the exception of these liabilities all other debts of the company generally stay with the company unless the directors personally guarantee obligations to pay the debt for the company. A company name is not compulsory. The name of your company can be its Australian Company Number (ACN), the unique number automatically given to a company by ASIC when it’s registered. You can select to use the ACN as your company name when you complete your application and you won’t have to nominate a name. This is done using Company123's online form by: Choosing "No" to the question of whether you have a proposed company name. In terms of picking your company’s name, it cannot be identical to an existing name. You can check the database easily on the Company123 homepage. If you are the holder if an identical name, you may be able to register the name for the company in some cases:• If you are an individual business name holder, you must be a proposed company director or member• If the business name holder is a company, the same company must be a proposed member• If the business name holder is a partnership or a joint venture, each of the partners must be a proposed company director or member• If the business name holder is a trust, each of the trustees must be a proposed company director or member, and you have to provide ASIC with a copy of the trust deed.During company registration in Australia, names can also be rejected for the following reasons:• Contains certain words and phrases that cannot be used without the approval of a government minister• These include bank, trust, Royal, Incorporated• The name is considered offensive or suggests illegal activity. If your business is a company, then you'll need an ACN. By law, an ACN must be shown on a number of documents, including: If your company also registers for an ABN, then your ACN will form part of your ABN. In these cases, you won't need to display your ACN if your documents already display your ABN and company name. You are automatically given an ACN when you register a company. A company is an ultimate holding company of a wholly-owned group if it has a subsidiary and the company is not a subsidiary of another company. This means, the ultimate holding company owns or controls more than 50% of the shares in the subsidiary and can be referred to as the "controlling entity".The key element is control. One company controls a second company if it has the capacity to determine the outcome of the decisions of the second company's financial and operating policies.The ultimate holding company may have a number of subsidiaries. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one, for example, ABNs help you: Also, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST. More information can be found at ato.gov.au. To obtain an ABN, your company must: To find an ABN: If you want to look up information about a registered ABN, such as to check that your details are up to date or check the details of a supplier, you can do this on the ABN Lookup website. ABN Lookup allows you to search publicly available information supplied by businesses when they register for an ABN. You can find the Australian Business Registry here. Goods and services tax (GST) is a tax of 10% on the sale (supply) of most goods and services consumed in Australia. In general, an organisation that is required by law to 'register' for GST purposes:• is required to pay GST to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) if it sells something (ie, goods, services), and• can claim an 'input tax credit' from the ATO for the amount of GST included in the price of goods and services it purchases.Your organisation may be required by tax laws to pay GST on any goods and services it supplies. For further information see the ATO website. If you're closing your business, or changing your business structure, it's likely you'll need to cancel your ABN.You'll need to cancel your ABN when changing from a: Sole trader to a company sole trader to partnership partnership to company.If your business is no longer operating you need to cancel your ABN on the ABR website. You need to make sure:• the company's name is on display wherever the company conducts business and is open to the public• the company's ACN/ABN is displayed on any documents the company publishes• the company's details are kept up to date. Accordingly to the legal obligations and responsibilities under the Corporations Act, if there are any changes in the company, it’s important that you inform ASIC within 28 days.To inform ASIC of the changes, Company123 can file on your behalf form 484 simply known as “Changes to your company details” for your company as registered ASIC agent #34511.Common types of company changes you need to notify ASIC of: Change of Address: Register Address; Principal place of business activity; Officeholder’s address; Shareholder’s address. Appoint or Cease officeholders Appoint or Cease shareholders Change of name for officeholders or members Change share structure Shares transferDocuments required to be submitted to ASIC within 28 days of the change occurring. Failure to notify ASIC will result in the following late fees applying: $79 One month late $329 Over one month lateAs a registered ASIC agent, Company123 can assist you in preparing ASIC forms and other compliance documents for submission with ASIC on the same business day. Prices start from $50. Take advantage of Company123 Professional service of Company sercretarial and ease the burden of keeping up to date with ASIC changes to your company details.Simply click the following Link & complete a short form. If you no longer require to use a Pty Ltd company, Company123 can carry out official deregistration on your behalf. Deregistering a company means that you no longer have to continue your obligations as an officeholder and company ceases to exist. It might be worthwhile to apply for voluntary deregistration where a company is no longer trading or carrying on a business. In order to apply for a deregistration of a company with ASIC, the following requirements need to be fulfilled: all members of the company must agree to deregister; the company is not conducting a business; the company's assets are worth less than $1000; the company has no outstanding liabilities (e.g. debts); the company is not involved in any legal proceedings; the company has paid all fees and penalties payable to ASIC.As registered ASIC agent, Company123 can assist you in preparing all necessary ASIC form and other compliance documents to submit deregistration request to ASIC on the same business day. The cost of the service is $299 + GST (which includes ASIC fee).Simply click the following Link & complete a short form. Take advantage of Company123 professional service and order de-registration service today for any of your unwanted companies and save on incurring ASIC annual review fees. If your company has been deregistered, Company123 can assist you with the company reinstatement. Reinstatement will restore to the original status of a deregistered company with ASIC. To apply for reinstatement of company ASIC, following needs to be fulfilled: Applicant must have been an officeholder or member of company Consent of the directors Pay any outstanding ASIC fee at the time of deregistration including penalties or annual review feeCompany123 can carry out the reinstatement process. Simply click the following Link & complete a short form.

Company123 are IP agents that can guide you through the application and registration of both Australian and International trademarks. Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that allows your to distinguish the goods or services of your business from those of other businesses. It gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license or sell the trade mark. This means that no one else in Australia can commercially use your trade mark within the class of goods and services its registered under. IP Australia is the government body that regulates all Intellectual Property in Australia. As IP agents, Company123 can guide clients through the application process, which involves the following steps: This is an optional step but is strongly advised to allow for clients to be well-informed before proceeding to application which can be costly.This process can involves: Trade Mark Search Report, prepared by our trade mark specialists. with the option to add an: Expedited Analysis Report, coordinated by Company123 with IP Australia which allows for both speedy analysis results and a quicker application process afterwards as well. You can read about this system on the IP Australia website.For further clarification on how Expedition works feel free to call our specialists at 03 9832 0660. Before submitting an application, there are some simple questions to answer first (when conducting an analysis prior to application, these questions are answered as part of the analysis). First, what type of trademark are you applying for? For example, a text or a logo? Each has to be a separate application.  These are the most common types, but there are various specialised and niche types of trademarks, which can be found on the IP Australia website. Next, what class/classes your trademark should be registered for? There are 45 different classes, encompassing a wide range of goods and services. To help you decide what goods or services to list think about the exact nature of your business and ask yourself the following:    Where do you derive your business income?    What is the nature of your business?    What are you known for by your customers/clients?    What products or services does your business provide? IP Australia provides a Trade Mark Assist service that can help further determine what classes are best for your trademark. To lodge an application through Company123, this form has to be filled out.Once payment is made, Company 123 as IP agents proceed to lodge the same day, and the Notice of Filing is given by IP Australia within 1 business day. Next, the proposed trademark is taken under examination, which ordinarily takes 4-6 months.With Expedition, this can be cut down to 1-2 months. (important to note that although you will receive early acceptance, for official registration every trademark has to wait at least 7 months) If successful, the trademark will be issued a Letter of Acceptance, and will proceed to Step 5.If unsuccessful, IP Australia will issue an Adverse Report detailing the issue.From there, there are often options to overcome the objection.Sometimes this involves amending the application by limiting the scope, sometimes providing evidence of Prior Use.Further information can be found here. During this 2 month period, it is advertised for opposition purposes.If there is no opposition (which is common), the application will proceed to Step 6. When a trademark is registered, you will receive a Certificate of Registration and the trademark is valid for 10 years, after which it must be renewed. Company 123 can also handle all your international trademark needs.International Trademarks can be done concurrently as Domestic Trademarks using the Madrid Protocol system. Claiming PriorityIf applying for an international trademark within 6 months of lodging of a Domestic Trademark, the international trademark can claim priority and be backdated to the date of the original domestic lodgement.All countries covered by the Madrid Protocol can be found here.For more information on the international trademark process see here or call our trade mark specialists at 03 9832 0660.

Company123 can help set up your trust quickly, easily and professionally. In our role as tax agents and with our team of legal experts, we can provide a clear, comprehensive deed and all related documents for the fee of $149 plus GST. We provide both Family (Discretionary) Trusts and Unit (Fixed) Trusts at high standards. Trusts are widely used for investment and business purposes.A trust is an obligation imposed on a person or other entity to hold property for the benefit of beneficiaries. While in legal terms a trust is a relationship not a legal entity, trusts are treated as taxpayer entities for the purposes of tax administration. In Australia, the trust fund is a key structure to make sure individuals safely pass on their assets to their chosen beneficiaries. A trust is a great tool for segregating a person's assets from his estate or portfolio, effectively shielding those assets from creditors in bankruptcy proceedings or plaintiffs in lawsuits. The assets in a trust may contain stocks, bonds, cash, real estate, antiques, and fine art.The trustee is responsible for managing the trust's tax affairs, including registering the trust in the tax system, lodging trust tax returns and paying some tax liabilities.Beneficiaries (except some minors and non-residents) include their share of the trust's net income as income in their own tax returns. There are special rules for some types of trust including family trusts, deceased estates and super funds. For more info, you can check out the ATO's website here. The assets of a discretionary trust are separate to the assets of the beneficiaries. As a result, the trust assets may be protected from creditors in circumstances where a beneficiary is sued or made bankrupt. It also allows the trustee to control the assets of individuals who are too young or incapacitated to handle their own financial affairs. It can also help manage and distribute pension/retirement funds during an individual's employment years. The overall tax paid by a family group may be reduced by: Each beneficiary then pays tax at their marginal rate on income distributions received from the trust in each financial year. A discretionary trust may carry forward losses, in certain circumstances. A discretionary trust is entitled to a 50% discount on any capital gains made on disposal of any assets held by the discretionary trust for greater than 12 months. A Family Trust (also known as a Discretionary Trust), one of Australia’s most common small business structures, is ideal for families with private businesses and other income-generating operations. Such trusts give trustees the discretion to decide who receives distributions, and how often payouts occur. Accepted in every Australian state, Family Trusts are relatively easy to establish and operate. A Unit Trust (also known as a Fixed Trust) differs from a Family Trust in that the trustee generally does not hold discretion over the distribution of assets to beneficiaries. These structure divide the trust property into units, similar to shares of stock. Each beneficiary (known as a "unit holder") owns a given number of those units, and at the end of each year, he or she receives a distribution from the trust, based on the number of units held. Ideal when multiple families are involved, Unit Trusts operate somewhat like a company. A Hybrid Trust bears characteristics of both Discretionary and Unit Trusts, whereby the Trustee is empowered to distribute trust income and capital among nominated beneficiaries--as with Discretionary Trusts. However the income and capital is proportionally distributed--as with Unit Trusts, based on the number of units each beneficiary holds. Hybrid Trusts are often the favored structures when there are significant investment assets involved, due to their income tax and capital gains tax benefits. The trustee(s) (there may be more than one) of a trust may be a person or a company (the latter is known as a corporate trustee). In either case, the trustee must be legally capable of holding trust property in their own right. The trustee holds the trust property for the benefit of the beneficiaries.Where the trust is established by deed (which in the case of a deceased estate is the will), the trustee must deal with the trust property in line with the intentions of the settlor as set out in the trust deed. They must also act in accordance with the relevant state or territory law regulating trusts, and with any other applicable law, including tax law.Under trust law, trustees are: Under tax law, the trustee is responsible for managing the trust's tax affairs, including registering the trust in the tax system, lodging trust tax returns and paying some tax liabilities. The sole trustee cannot be the sole beneficiary because a trust is a legal relationship between a trustee and the beneficiary or beneficiaries. If a sole trustee were also the sole beneficiary, then this would be an agreement that a person had with themselves. The law says that no trust can exist in these circumstances.However, a trustee can be a beneficiary of the trust as long as there is at least one other beneficiary as well. It is a common practice to have corporate trustees for family trusts for tax benefits. This ensures the limitation of the trustees’ liability to the corporate asset.Generally, corporate trustees are shell corporations with no, or minimal, assets. The trustee is personally liable for the trust’s liabilities. Therefore, it is common for trusts to have corporate trustees to limit the trustees’ liabilities to the assets of the corporation.Because of this, often, this business structure is more tax effective. Advantages of switching/implementing a corporate trustee structure include: Therefore, corporate trustee can be very beneficial and allow the trust further longevity. A trust beneficiary can be a person, a company or the trustee of another trust.The trustee may also be a beneficiary, but not the sole beneficiary unless there is more than one trustee.Beneficiaries may have an entitlement to trust income or capital that is set out in the trust deed or they may acquire an entitlement because the trustee exercises a discretion to pay them income or capital.Generally, the beneficiaries are taxed on the net income of a trust based on their share of the trust's income – regardless of when or whether the income is actually paid to them. A discretionary trust need not have an appointor and the role has no defined meaning at law. If an appointor position is created under the discretionary trust it is done so under that particular discretionary trust deed (Deed) and the powers conferred on the appointor will depend on the Deed's terms.At a minimum the Deed will confer on an appointor the power to appoint or remove the trustee. The appointor may also be granted protective powers: for instance, the trustee may need the appointor's consent to add or exclude additional classes of beneficiaries, or vary the Deed.The appointor's role is generally seen as the most definitive role in the discretionary trust. This is because, although the trustee under the Deed is granted the discretion as to whom and in what proportion the capital and the income is distributed to beneficiaries, the appointor controls who acts as trustee and, therefore, who exercises those discretions. An appointor may also be advisable for administrative ease: for instance, if the trustee becomes unable to act or insolvent, then it is a relatively simple process for the appointor to remove that trustee and appoint another.An appointor also makes sense as a means of planning for future contingencies. The trustee of a discretionary trust is given full discretionary powers up to the vesting date — usually a period of 80 years. During this time, a trustee may be administering a sizeable trust fund. The presence of an appointor may:    -help ensure that the trustee acts in compliance with its obligations; and    -provides a simple and effective process for replacing the trustee if the trustee falls short in meeting its obligations or becomes conflicted in meeting its duties.Ultimately the answer may turn on the trust's objectives, and whether having an appointor will further those objectives. For instance, if the primary purpose of the trust is asset protection, then for the reasons referred to under 'Other considerations' below, it would be advisable:   - that the trust has an appointor; and    -that the appointor is a trusted family member who is not a named beneficiary. Options include: Successor named in deed. The Deed states who will succeed the appointor on their death. It can be a particular named person, or the executor of the appointor's will (i.e., the appointor's legal personal representative). Successor appointed by will. The Deed states that the appointor is permitted to appoint a replacement appointor under the terms of the appointor's will. That person takes over the appointor role on the appointor's death. Joint appointor succeeded by survivor. The Deed names two (or more) appointors, and provides that on the death of one appointor the survivor(s) continue to act as appointors. Appointor replaces themselves during the term of the Deed. The Deed permits the appointor to appoint additional or replacement appointors. Temporary succession (i.e. due to incapacity). The Deed provides for temporary succession during any period when the appointor is unable to act. The replacement appointor may be determined by one of the methods above. Combination of approaches. The Deed may set out a combination of the above to deal with succession. For instance, on the death of the appointor the appointor's spouse becomes appointor, and on the death of the spouse the spouse's executor becomes appointor.It is recommended that the appointor provisions and succession of the appointor be carefully considered before establishing a discretionary trust. Having provisions in the Deed which deal with the resignation, removal and appointment of the appointor is necessary to ensure certainty of the Deed and remove any confusion when an appointor wishes to resign, dies, lacks capacity or is bankrupt. The settlor must hand over the settled sum to the trustee to be held on the terms of the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The settlor does not have to reside in Australia, however they must be present when the trust deed is settled because he/she is responsible for the trust property becoming vested in the trustee. The trustee must issue a receipt to record the settling sum exchange has occurred. This is the point at which the trust is created because, by executing the trust deed and providing the settled sum:    the settlor has put the trustee in charge of trust property;    the settlor has defined for the trustee which persons fall within the class of beneficiaries, as stated in the trust deed; and    the trustee has agreed to act.The settlor then steps out of the picture. There are tax implications under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936[1] where a settlor creates a trust and:    -has the power to revoke or alter the trust to acquire a beneficial interest in the income derived by the trustee, or take back trust property; or    -the income of the trust is payable to the minor children of the settlor.In such a case, the trustee of the trust will be assessed as having to pay income tax on the income of the trust by the ATO, rather than income tax being assessed in the hands of the beneficiaries of the trust to whom distributions are made.For this reason, it is advisable to limit the settlor's role in a trust to the initial establishment of the trust and payment of the settled sum. To avoid the perception that the settlor's declaration of trust is revocable, the settlor should be unrelated to the trustee and the beneficiaries of the trust. A unit is a piece of property that entitles the unit holder to a specified proportion of the income and capital of the trust.A unit held under a trust is different from a share in a company. A share confers on the holder no legal or equitable interest in the assets of the company; Units under the trust deed confer a proprietary interest in all the property which is subject to trust of a deed.In other words, a unit in a unit trust confers on the unit holder an equitable interest in both the underlying capital and the income of the trust. Just like the discretionary trusts, there is a trustee in a unit trust, who has similar duties and responsibilites. It is also advantageous to have a corproate trustee in a unit trust structure. Instead of beneficiaries, unit trusts have unit-holders. Unit holders,  are all predominantly un-related members of two or more separate families getting together to hold an asset together (usually a large property or shareholding) or run a business together. All income and capital is distributed according to unit holding, rather than by the discretion of the trustee, which is why Unit Trusts are also referred to as "fixed' trusts. The unit holders as a group control the trust. This is because the trust deed gives them the power to direct the trustee and if necessary, dismiss the trustee and appoint another person to act as the trustee instead.The deed specifies the percentage vote required for a resolution of a meeting of unit holders to be effective. Usually it is 50% unless the unit holders decide otherwise. The process required is simply filling out the form, inputting payment, and all relevant and necessary documents will be sent to you within minutes.If needed, we also provide advice as to the what structure is best for your needs and your trust, so feel free to contact us at 03 9832 0660. After receiving the deed and relavant structures, certain states in Australia require the payment of stamp duty. Stamp duty is a state-based tax and therefore applies differently in different states or territories of Australia. You should determine whether you need to pay duty by contacting the relevant revenue authority or seeking assistance from a local lawyer or accountant. Even if you do not need to pay duty, the trust deed may need to be lodged with the relevant revenue authority so they can mark that no duty is payable.Stamping can be arranged either directly through the relevant revenue authority in your state or territory or by a lawyer, accountant or other service provider that offers stamping facilities.In New South Wales, you must pay stamp duty of $500 for each new trust within three months of the trust being established. This is in accordance with the provisions of the Duties Act 1997 (NSW), which is administered by the NSW Office of State Revenue.  If you do not pay the duty within three months then interest is payable until you do pay the duty. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one - for example, ABNs help:    You to deal with the ATO; and    You in dealing with other businesses when supplying goods or services to them, or when purchasing goods and services.Also, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST.More information can be found at www.abr.gov.au. A trust must meet either one of the following 2 criteria to be eligible for an ABN:Criterion 1The entity is any one of:    A company incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 in Australia;    A charitable institution or trustee of a charitable fund in Australia;    A deductible gift recipient in Australia; or    A religious institution in Australia.Criterion 2The entity can answer 'Yes' to each of the following statements:1. Its activity is carried out in any of:    1.1 the form of a business    1.2 the nature of trade, or    1.3 the form of a regular or continuous grant of a lease, licence or interest in property.2. Its activity is carried out in Australia or it makes supplies that are connected with Australia.3. Its activity is not a private recreational pursuit or hobby. After acquiring an ABN and a TFN, the trust can then open a bank account. A bank account should be opened for the trust in the name of the trustee as trustee for the trust. This should occur after the discretionary trust has been established and the trust deed stamped (if stamping is necessary). The bank may require the trust ABN before it will open the account.Once a bank account has been opened, the first deposit in the account should be the settlement sum. The settlement sum should be deposited before any other deposits are made or any other transactions are entered into by the trust. A discretionary trust will usually have an expiry or 'vesting' date in the trust deed that is linked to the expiry of a certain number of years from establishment (limited to 80 years) or to the occurrence of a specific event (for example, the death of a certain person). See the ATO website for more details about the requirements of vesting.

Company123 offers a range of business plans that can be essential to the success of a business, providing vision, direction and a solid foundation of facts and figures. An analysis by researchers at the University of Oregon Department of Economics assessed the success of business plans in aiding with business growth. They found that getting a business plan correlated with increased success in every one of the business goals included in the study, especially financing needs.Industry experts agree that having a business plan is more than just a bureaucratic checklist to secure a loan, but an essential ingredient for a business's growth and guidance.Critical elements of a business plan include detailed projections, marketing strategy, management and ownership experience, and value propositions that entice investors. A strong business plan that includes detailed projections, but also communicates important facts, idea and the strong potential of a business can successfully propel the business into their desired future. It gives your business direction, defines your objectives, maps out strategies to achieve your goals and helps you to manage possible bumps in the road. Good management requires setting specific objectives and then tracking and following up. They help establish what's supposed to happen, and as your business grows, it can help you organize and plan better, and communicate the priorities better. Having your business plan, will allow you to share and explain business objectives with your management team, as previously discussed, but also with your employees and new hires. The planning process helps you learn about the different forces and factors that may affect your success. If you're already in business, it helps you to step back and look at what's working and what you can improve on. If you're seeking finance for your business, you'll need to show banks and investors why they should invest in your business. Most new businesses need both startup and operating capital to get off the ground and without a well-developed business plan there is no chance of getting debt financing from established financial institutions such as banks or equity financing from angel investors (unless they happen to be family members or close friends)Investors and financiers are always looking at the risk of non-repayment, and word-of-mouth is no substitute for written facts and figures in a properly-prepared business plan. As a new, and often hefty, fixed cost, taking on a new rent obligation is an important decision. Do your growth prospects and plans justify taking on this increased fixed cost. Another fixed cost obligation, hiring new people can increase your risk and expenses and needs to be considered carefully. How will new people help your business grow and prosper? What exactly are they supposed to be doing? Displacement can be explained as "Whatever you do is something else you don't do.", i.e. strategizing and being aware of your opportunity cost. Displacement lives at the heart of all small-business strategy. Use your plan to set targets for new alliances, and selected portions of your plan to communicate with those alliances. Share selected highlights or your plans with your attorneys and accountants, and, in certain occasions and industries, consultants. Valuation is the term for establishing how much your business is worth. Usually that takes a business plan, as well as a professional with experience. The plan tells the valuation expert what your business is doing, when, why and how much that will cost and how much it will produce. Often valuation is conducted for the purposes of sale. Usually the business plan is a very important part of selling the business.  It can help buyers understand what you have, what it's worth and why they want it. Regardless of the name you use--strategic plan, annual plan or operational plan--the vast majority of these plans include some or all of the following main points: High-level strategy:  Strategy is focus and guides your growth by assigning priorities. Of the whole range of possible market segments, and the whole range of services and possible sales-and-marketing activities, which are your main priorities? Strategy is often a matter of understanding when and how to say "no" and selecting opportunities. Specific responsibilities, activities, deadlines and budgets: We call these milestones. They're the bricks and mortar of business planning and are critical to business success. Financial plan: One of the most important gains from an annual plan is the financial plan, which of course hinges on cash flow. A business needs to stress its priorities by making sure they get the right amount of money. Growth costs money. The many benefits of having a business plan should be enough to convince you. But in case you’re still wavering, consider what can go wrong if you don’t take time to plan. You risk: The question sounds easy enough. But for some businesses, the answer isn’t as straightforward as you may think. The best way to zero in on exactly what business you’re in is by taking time to craft a mission and vision statement.Consider Amazon. It began as an online bookstore. Then it morphed into a vast online discount retailer, selling everything from food to clothing. A few years ago Amazon turned into a publisher. Now, with the advent of cloud storage, it also provides a place for people to store their books and music.Even small companies often have to give some thought to defining what their business is. Take the example of a garden maintenance company that found itself gaining a reputation for turning bland yards into showpieces. More and more people began to turn to the company not just to maintain their gardens but also to design them. The company began to realize that it could be much more successful — and charge a whole lot more — if it marketed itself as a garden design company. You may think this would be the most elementary of all questions. But in reality, many start-up enterprises fail to formulate a business model — a fancy term that means how they’ll make money. There was even a time, in the early days of the online world, when people dismissed the very notion of a business model as something from the old economy. If you build a website that’s cool enough, the thinking went, success will follow. Well, it didn’t always. A lot of clever websites found themselves scrambling for a way to pay the bills.Even many conventional businesses need to think about their business model to ensure success. A hair salon may make some of its money from cutting, shampooing, and styling hair, for example, but it may also find that it can substantially boost the bottom line by selling hair care products. Thinking through all the different ways that your business can make money is crucial to success. Start-ups require a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, and often plenty of cold cash. One of the biggest blunders new companies make is not thinking ahead about how much money they’ll need to get up and running. When the money runs out before the doors open, the best business idea in the world isn’t going to spell success.A good business plan must take into account everything that is required to start — and how much it’s likely to cost. Building a little cushion into those estimates is always wise. The financial section of your business plan also must address how much it will cost you to run your business, month by month, and how much you need to earn to meet your expenses and make a profit. Chances are you’ll need to make a bunch of decision up-front before you come up with a reliable number — decisions about where you’ll do business, what kinds of equipment and staff you’ll need, a marketing budget, and so on.You’ll then need to think about how much you’ll charge for your product and service and how much you can expect to take in month by month. Needless to say, the more carefully you think through all these questions in advance, the better prepared you’ll be. Build a better mousetrap, the saying goes, and the world will beat a path to your door. Maybe. But to build a better mousetrap, you need to know what customers want and how much they’re willing to spend.The more you know about your prospective customers, the more successful you’re likely to be. Take the time to look at what your customers like and don’t like. The Internet has made it easier to understand customers. All you have to do is read through reviews on Amazon or Yelp to know what people are raving about and what they’re dissing, covering a wide range of products and services. But old-fashioned tools are also effective, including customer surveys, focus groups, and simply observing customer behavior. You can reach your customers these days in more ways than ever before, ranging from billboards, shop signs, newspaper ads, websites, e-newsletters, tweets, mass mailings, Facebook posts, and more. Your business plan should spell out how you intend to reach your customers and maintain an ongoing relationship with them.Social media has created brand new ways to engage in two-way exchanges with your customers. Digital communications have greatly improved customer service for many businesses. But be advised that the Internet has also raised expectations about what great service should be. Customers are savvier than ever, and more demanding. If you’ve invented something unlike anything the world has ever seen before, congratulations. You’re in rare company. If you’re like most businesses, you compete in a marketplace with other players. To succeed, you have to give customers good reasons to choose you over your competitors. An effective business plan should spell out those reasons and develop strategies to make the most of them.To get started, find out all you can about your competitors and their strengths and weaknesses. Then consider how the business you’re planning stacks up. Typically, businesses compete on the basis of price, quality, service, and features. But a company’s image can also be part of its competitive advantage. For example, people buy Newman’s Own foods not only because the quality is good and the price is right but also because of the company’s image of doing good by donating a chunk of its profits to good causes. In a similar way, other companies attract customers by promoting their products or services on the basis of environmental protection. This question may well be the most important one you ponder as you develop your business plan. Most people have a vague sense of what they do well and what they could do better. If you’re part of an organization, you can recognize some of its strengths and weaknesses. But there’s a lot that people don’t face up to. The process of writing a business plan gives you an opportunity to be far more honest and thorough in your assessment. A formal SWOT analysis grid can allow you to measure your strengths and weaknesses against the opportunities and threats in your business environment.This question is so important because business success really depends on leveraging your strengths and addressing your weaknesses. For instance, when an orthopedic institute in southern California noticed that its patient satisfaction scores were slipping, the doctors were puzzled. The institute’s complication rates were very low. The length of time patients spent in the hospital was below the national average. The medical staff, it seemed, were doing a great job. But in surveys, many patients complained that the care felt impersonal and rushed. To remedy the situation, the institute hired social workers who met with patients when they were admitted and again before discharge to talk over their concerns. The institute also scheduled a follow-up call between surgeon and patient a month after discharge. A year later, patient satisfaction scores were back on top. Every business faces challenges, especially in competitive markets or with technological change. Your business plan should describe in detail the particular challenges you face and how you plan to overcome them. The challenges can be part of the business environment you compete in — a crowded field of competitors or regulatory uncertainties, for example. But some of the challenges you face are also likely to be related specifically to your company, such as hiring and holding on to skilled employees, for instance, or responding quickly to changes in the marketplace. The simple answer to this question is money. Make enough money, and any business is a success. But in fact, for most enterprises, the answer is more complex. The most obvious example is a not-for-profit company. Consider a nonprofit community orchestra. Its success is measured in terms of filling seats for its concerts and providing local musicians a chance to play. Or consider a food bank. It spells success in terms of reaching as many people in need and giving them nutritious food as possible.Your business plan should acknowledge all the ways you plan to measure your success. Your financial section will look at dollars and cents. Your goals and objectives will mark off specific mileposts that will help you chart your progress. Your mission and value statements will serve as a guide to the less tangible items that spell success for you. To aid your company in pursuing its development goals, Company123's expert team will combine their two decades of business and legal experience to draft up a tailored Business Plan once you fill in the “Set up Business Plan” form on our website. We offer three perfectly tailored Business Plan options: Ar $199, we offer plans that are perfect for any basic business development goals. Our Standard Business Plan includes:    Key Activities    Key Resources    Value Propositions    Market Analysis    Cost Structure    Revenue Streams & Sales ForecastsThese standard plans can be the first step in applying for more financing, assisting with rental lease applications, outlining your company's mission statement and drawing up business projections. At $399, we offer plans that are highly tailored to achieving all financing ambitions. Our Advanced Business Plans includes:    Executive Summary    Company Description    Market Analysis    Organization & Management    Service/Product Line    Marketing & Sales    Funding Request    Financial ProjectionsThe advanced plans are perfect for business loan applications, sale of business and raising finance. Our most comprehensive and robust business plan includes, and can include by discussion with our expert team, absolutely anything needed for the running and future goals of the company. Our Professional Business Plan includes:    Plan Summary        The Business        The Market        The Future        The Finances    The Business        Business Details        Registration Details        Business Premises        Organization Chart        Management & Ownership        Key Personnel        Product/Service        Innovation        Insurance        Risk Management        Legal Consideration        Operations        Sustainability Plans    The Market        Market Research        Market Targets        Environmental/Industry Analysis        Your Customers        S.W.O.T Analysis    Your Competitors    Advertising & Sales    The Future        Vision Statement        Mission Statement        Goals/Objectives        Action Plan    The Finances        Key Objectives & Financial Review        Assumptions        Start-up Costs        Balance Sheet Forecast        Profit & Loss Forecast        Expected Cash Flow    Break-even Analysis. It is a myth that only start ups need planning. Even as an owner or manager of a small or medium business, it is important to plan and not leave the business only to react to events.There are many benefits of having a business plan in place for an existing company. With a business plan you can: Your business will grow or not depending on a lot of different factors, including overall economic trends, location, specific market needs, hard work and other elements. Businesses that plan do it to guide and influence their growth so they move proactively toward defined objectives rather than just reacting to business events. Having a strategy will allow the business to remain focused. Allocate resources where they'll do the most good. Work toward your strengths and away from your weaknesses. Develop the company by doing the most important things according to your long-term objectives. A plan gives you a place to develop organizational responsibilities. Think of a plan as a business-positioning device. With a plan you can track your progress toward goals, measure results and manage the business. Without a plan, how do you tell whether or not you're moving in the right direction? What do you measure against? Profits aren't cash, and cash isn't intuitive. You spend cash--you don't spend profits. However, businesses don't plan well for cash, and they need to. That may not sound strategic, but it is. It's also the core of an operations plan and an annual plan. Whatever else, you have to plan for cash. Whether it be shareholder agreements, director duties, raising finance or aiming to be on the stock exchange, we can create a plan for you.Company123 can tailor our business plans to any of your needs. Simply click the following Link & complete a short form. We are here to assist you and to answer of questions you may have. Please contact our friendly consultant on support@company123.com.au or 03 9832 0660 for any of your questions.

Company123 offers a high-quality deed for your Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF), helping you save for retirement. To register your new SMSF for $99 plus GST visit our website. Since 1999, the sector has grown from around 200,000 SMSFs with $55 billion in assets to 600,000 SMSFs totalling $750 billion in assets. Today, SMSFs comprise nearly one third of Australia’s total $2.76 trillion retirement system. SMSFs differ from other types of funds by having the members of the fund also be the trustees. This means the members of the SMSF run it for their benefit and are responsible for complying with the super and tax laws.More information can be found on the ATO website. SMSFs provide a range of investment options. Trustees can potentially access direct shares, high-yielding cash accounts, term deposits, income investments, direct property, unlisted assets, international markets, collectables and more. Like all super funds, SMSFs benefit from concessional tax rates. In the accumulation phase, tax on investment income is capped at 15 per cent; in the pension phase there is no tax payable, not even capital gains tax. Carefully considered tax strategies can help you grow your super savings and reduce tax payments as you transition to retirement. SMSFs allow multiple members to run a mixture of accumulation and pension accounts. You’ll be able to adjust your investment mix as it suits you, allowing for a fast response to changes in market conditions, super rules or personal circumstances. SMSFs offer significant transparencies that allow trustees to align their personal goals with their investment decisions. Whether you’re passionate about property, shares or sustainable and ethical investing, SMSFs provide a platform which allows you to understand where your money is invested, with complete visibility over performance and tax treatment. SMSF trustees must lodge an annual tax return and audit, and pay ATO fees (these are capped and not based on a percentage of your super balance). The more an SMSF grows, the more cost-effective it becomes, but the total cost of running an SMSF will depend on the related investments and any costs associated with engaging professional support. An SMSF currently allows a trustee to combine their superannuation assets with up to three other members, such as partners or family members.Consolidating super accounts immediately creates a larger fund balance, which increases the fund’s assets and investment opportunities – with only one set of fees. SMSF: Can have a maximum of four members. All members are either individual trustees or directors of a corporate trustee of the fund. This means all members are involved in managing the SMSF.Other super funds: Usually no limit on the number of members. Professional, licensed trustees are responsible for managing the fund. SMSF: Trustees are expected to have knowledge of tax and super laws and must make sure their fund complies with those laws. Compliance risk is borne by the SMSF trustees, who can be personally fined if their fund breaches the law.Other super funds: Compliance risk is borne by the professional licensed trustee. SMSF: Trustees develop and implement the fund's investment strategy and make all investment decisions.Other super funds: Most allow you some control over the mix and risk level of your super investments but you generally can't choose the specific assets your super will be invested in. SMSF: Trustees must consider whether to purchase insurance for their members. Insurance premiums may be higher than in other super funds.Other super funds: Most offer insurance cover to members. Member insurance usually costs less as large funds can get discounted premiums. SMSF: Regulated by the ATO. Trustees are required to engage with us to manage their fund.Other super funds: Regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Generally members don't have to engage with APRA. SMSF: We are not involved in resolving disputes among members. Disagreements can be resolved through alternative dispute resolution techniques or in court, at the members' own expense. There is no government compensation scheme.Other super funds: Members have access to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and may be eligible for statutory compensation. SMSF: No government financial assistance is available to SMSFs. Members may have legal options under Corporations Law but there is no guarantee that compensation will be awarded.Other super funds: Members may be eligible for government financial assistance in the event of fraud or theft. You need to have the time and skills to manage your SMSF, and there are ongoing running costs.As a trustee of an SMSF you'll be responsible for operating your fund within the law. If you don't, you may face severe penalties and your fund may suffer tax consequences.You'll also need to make investment decisions for the SMSF, including formulating an investment strategy that you review regularly. You'll need to understand the restrictions on the investments an SMSF can make. It costs money to set up and run an SMSF. You might find that the fees you pay for an SMSF are more than you would pay in another type of super fund. Every year that you have an SMSF you'll need to pay for an independent audit and the supervisory levy. Most SMSFs also pay for additional help, such as: You can choose one of the following structures for your fund: -up to four individual trustees-a corporate trustee (essentially, a company acting as trustee for the fund). Individual trustees. Corporate trustee. Individual trustee. Corporate trustee. Individual trustees. Corporate trustee. Individual trustees. Corporate trustee. Individual trustees. Corporate trustee. Individual trustees. Corporate trustee. Individual trustees. Corporate trustee. Once you have decided on which structure if right for you, you will need to appoint a trustee. New funds usually appoint trustees or directors under the fund’s trust deed, and Company123’s SMSF deed has provisions for the appointment, and we provide additional documentation to provide consent. You need to ensure that the people who become trustees or directors of the SMSF: Are eligible to be a trustee or director. Understand what it means to be a trustee or director, which involves: All trustees and directors must: You must keep these documents on file for the life of the SMSF and for 10 years after the SMSF winds up.The ATO may impose penalties if you don't comply. All trustees and directors are bound by the trust deed and are equally responsible if its rules aren’t followed. A trust is an arrangement where a person or company (the trustee) holds assets (trust property) in trust for the benefit of others (the beneficiaries). A super fund is a special type of trust, set up and maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to its members (the beneficiaries).To create a trust, you need: A trust deed is a legal document that sets out the rules for establishing and operating your fund. It includes such things as the fund’s objectives, who can be a member and whether benefits can be paid as a lump sum or income stream. The trust deed and super laws together form the fund’s governing rules. The trust deed must be:•    prepared by someone competent to do so as it's a legal document•    signed and dated by all trustees•    properly executed according to state or territory laws•    regularly reviewed, and updated as necessary. In terms of the SMSF trust deed, Company123 provides comprehensive deeds for $99 plus GST, prepared by a superannuation lawyer. Once your fund is established and all trustees have been appointed (including signing the Trustee declaration), you have 60 days to register the SMSF with the ATO by applying for an Australian business number (ABN). Before you register, you must already have: Once you have completed these steps then you are ready to register. Obtaining an ABN is part of the registration process. When completing the ABN application you should: -ask for a tax file number (TFN) for your fund-elect for your fund to be an ATO-regulated SMSF. If you don't, your fund will not receive tax concessions and the members’ employers can't claim deductions for contributions-register for GST (if necessary). Most SMSFs don't need to register for GST because SMSFs mainly make input-taxed sales, and these don't count towards GST turnover.SMSFs with an annual GST turnover of more than $75,000 must register for GST. Annual GST turnover doesn't include:contributionsinterest and dividendsresidential rent or income generated outside Australia. However, it does include gross income from the lease of equipment or commercial property.As registered tax agents, Company123 offers the service of registering an ABN for your SMSF for $70 plus GST. As an SMSF trustee you may need to deal with two key government agencies. These are: Australian Taxation Office (ATO) – administering the relevant super laws for SMSFsAustralian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) – regulating financial services to protect consumers and manages SMSF auditor registrations.Therefore, the ATO and ASIC are joint regulators of SMSFs. The ATO assists ASIC by: The ATO checks compliance with the law to safeguard retirement income. These regulatory activities include: However, the ATO does not: More information about the ATO’s regulatory role can be found here. ASIC is the regulator responsible for the Corporations Act 2001 and the ASIC Act 2001. These acts regulate the conduct and disclosure obligations of financial services providers (including superannuation trustees). ASIC is also responsible for administering parts of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993. This includes superannuation trustees.As the conduct and disclosure regulator, ASIC is focused on the behaviours of trustees impacting consumers. Their goals in regulation include ensuring that consumers: Therefore, their regulatory activities include: Information about ASIC’s role as a regulator can be found here. You must appoint an approved SMSF auditor to audit your fund each year, not later than 45 days before you need to lodge your SMSF annual return. The auditor examines your fund's financial statements and assesses your fund's compliance with super law. Your SMSF auditor must be: An audit is required even if no contributions or payments are made in the financial year.Before an SMSF auditor can start an audit, you or your professional adviser need to give them information about your accounts and transactions for the previous financial year. Any additional information requested by your SMSF auditor, in writing must be provided within 14 days.Your auditor should advise you of any breaches of the rules. You, as trustee, should rectify any contravention as soon as possible.Your auditor is also required to report certain contraventions to the ATO. Even if you terminated an auditor engagement or the auditor does not finish the audit, if they have identified a reportable contravention, their obligation to report to the ATO remains. See the ATO website for more details about the reporting of SMSF. The ATO has several courses of action when dealing with SMSF trustees who have not complied with super laws. These include: More details can be found here.

A clearance certificate provides certainty to purchasers regarding their withholding obligations. It confirms the withholding tax is not applicable to the transaction. As registered tax agents, Company123 provides certificates for $150 plus GST. The purchaser must withhold 12.5% of the purchase price in transactions involving taxable Australian real property, or an indirect Australian real property interest that provides company title interests, with a market value of $750,000 or more, unless the vendor shows the purchaser a clearance certificate from the ATO. It is the vendor’s responsibility to obtain the clearance certificate and provide it to the purchaser at or before settlement. To avoid unanticipated delays, and to ensure the certificate is valid at the time it is given to the purchaser, vendors seeking a clearance certificate should apply through the online form as early as practical in the sale process.Without being presented with a valid clearance certificate, the purchaser will be required to remit 12.5% of the purchase price to us if no other exclusions apply. More information about these exclusions can be found on the ATO website. The ATO issues clearance certificates within 28 days of receiving the application.Higher risk and unusual cases may also require greater manual intervention, which could take longer.If you lodge your application close to the settlement date, the ATO cannot guarantee it can process it by the settlement date as they will not disadvantage those other applicants who applied earlier by delaying their application to process yours. A clearance certificate is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. It's only valid for the listed vendor and clearance certificate period on the certificate.As long as the clearance certificate is provided by the vendor to the purchaser during the time specified on it, and that this is before settlement occurs, then it does not matter how long into the future the settlement may be. The purchaser does not have to withhold.All parties on the Certificate of Title will require a clearance certificate. For example, joint tenants / tenants in common will need to fill out a form each. It is the vendor’s responsibility to provide the purchaser with the clearance certificate and ensure it's valid.

Company123 offers company registration services, but, as a registered tax and ASIC agent, can also help with matters of voluntary de registration and also reinstatement of companies. If your company meets certain criteria, you can apply for voluntary deregistration. This closes your company and removes your obligations as a company officeholder. Company123 can act as your ASIC agents for the purposes of this process, for which the link can be found on our website. The following are the important things to consider as part of this process. Company officeholders who wish to apply for voluntary deregistration need to pay any outstanding fees and penalties before they apply for deregistration. The application will not be approved if there is still an outstanding amount on the company's account. As a company officeholder, you can use a company's corporate key to few the outstanding balance, under Debtor details, or as ASIC agents, we check the balance as part of the deregistration process. These fees can be paid out to ASIC directly with Bpay or Postbill Pay. To find a company's specific payment details for the purposes of paying outstanding fees, you can search on ASIC's website here. In applying for voluntary deregistration, you will need to make sure to apply at least two weeks before your company's annual review fee due date. When a company lodges an application to voluntarily deregister, ASIC publishes a notice of the intended deregistration. If the notice is published before the review fee is due, you won't have to pay the fee.  For example: if your company's annual review fee is due on 1 June and the notice is published on 30 May, the review fee does not need to be paid.You should apply at least two weeks before the due date; this gives enough time for ASIC to receive your application and publish the notice on their website.If the notice isn't published before the review fee is due, you will need to pay the fee before you can deregister your company. Company123 acts on your behalf as ASIC agents and lodges an Application for voluntary deregistration of a company, or Form 6010. Before ASIC can accept the application, you need to ensure:    all members of the company agree to deregister    the company is not conducting business    the company's assets are worth less than $1000    the company has no outstanding liabilities (e.g. unpaid employee entitlements)    the company is not involved in any legal proceedings and    the company has paid all fees and penalties payable to ASIC.If you apply for deregistration and you do not meet all these requirements (e.g. there are unpaid company fees), ASIC will reject your application and application fee will not be refunded.It is also recommend you complete the following steps before lodging an application:    check any bank accounts in the company's name are closed, regardless of the balance    review all company records/registers to ensure all company property is dealt with (e.g. vehicles, land, shares, trade marks, intellectual property, leases, permits)    all transfers of company property are registered and no property is registered in the company's name    if the company was a trustee, a new trustee has been appointed and no trust property remains registered in the company's name    ensure all registered business names held by the company are cancelled or transferred    ensure any licenses held by the company are cancelled or ceased. If the application is rejected, ASIC will write, advising why there has been a rejection and, in some cases, how to can be overcome. If the application has been approved, ASIC will write confirming the company's impending deregistration and publish a notice on ASIC's Published Notices website. It can take up to two weeks (including postage) for ASIC to process applications and publish a notice on their website.Two months after the notice has been published, the company may be deregistered. In this case, ASIC will send a confirmation notice. A company may be deregistered after it is closed down (e.g. voluntary deregistration), liquidated (by the members, court or creditors) or struck off the register of companies by ASIC (e.g. for outstanding annual review fees).Normally once a company is deregistered:    it ceases to exist as a legal entity and can no longer do anything in its own right    property the company owned (other than trust property) vests in ASIC    property held by the company on trust vests in the Commonwealth (represented by ASIC)    the former officeholders no longer have the right to deal with property registered in the company's name    any legal proceedings in which the company is a party cannot be continued (in so far as they relate to the deregistered company)    you cannot start legal proceedings against the company.Deregistered company property vests in ASIC or the Commonwealth and ASIC is generally the only party legally able to deal with company property after deregistration. However there are some exceptions, e.g. secured parties and Land Titles Office Registrars (who have various powers in relation to land dealings under State/Territory Legislation) can deal with the company's property despite deregistration. Property does not vest in ASIC or the Commonwealth in the following circumstances:    Companies under external administration or in strike-off are still registered companies and ASIC cannot deal with property in a registered company's name. Information on stopping or deferring deregistration can be found here. Business names registered in the name of a company, do not vest in ASIC or the Commonwealth when the company becomes deregistered as they are cancelled by ASIC (according to s50 of the Business Names Registration Act 2011). Companies deregistered under s1440 of the Corporations Law (usually subsidiaries of the State Bank of South Australia). Building Societies, Friendly Societies and Credit Unions deregistered prior to 1 July 1999. If you are seeking to deal with property belonging to any of these bodies, you will need to contact the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, APRA, and/or the Commonwealth Treasury Department to ascertain the relevant State authority that has the power to deal with the property. Property registered in the name of a deregistered or dissolved association or incorporation. Associations and incorporations are generally not registered under corporation legislation but under specific State/Territory legislation. The vesting of outstanding property of those entities will depend on the provisions of the specific legislation the entity was dissolved under. You will need to contact the relevant Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs Department in your State or Territory. Property disclaimed by a liquidator vests in the Crown in right of the State. If you are asserting an interest in such property you need to contact the relevant State Crown Solicitor. (NB. if the disclaimed property is real property in NSW, the relevant contact may be Crown Land NSW.) Reinstatement will restore a company to registered as if it was never deregistered. Company123 can apply to ASIC for reinstatement of your company as registered ASIC agents. Additionally, you can also apply to the court for an order that ASIC reinstate a company. To apply to ASIC for reinstatement of a company as a director, secretary or member, you:    must have been a director, secretary or member of the company at the time of deregistration,    must be able to confirm that upon reinstatement the company will be able to pay its debts as and when they fall due,    cannot be disqualified from managing corporations, and    provide supporting documentation as to why the company should not have been deregistered (where required).If you applied for voluntary deregistration, you will need to prove that the declaration made on the application for voluntary deregistration was incorrect at the time the company was deregistered. If ASIC deregistered the company, you may need to prove that it was an error.To apply to ASIC for reinstatement of a company as a third party, you must:    have started legal proceedings against the company before its deregistration, and    be able to provide copies of court documentation to evidence the legal proceedings. First, you must establish whether ASIC is able to reinstate a company's registration. This can be done by reading The Regulatory Guide 83 or RG 83. Once you have established your company meets the criteria, the next steps involved include: You can use ASIC's search function here to see if the company name is still available. If the company name is no longer available, ASIC will reinstate the company with its name as the Australian Company number (ACN) followed by the legal elements (e.g. ACN 901 901 901 Pty Ltd.).If the name is still available, you may wish to reserve it to ensure it's still available when the company is reinstated. To reserve the name, you need to lodge a Form 410 Application for reservation of a name (Form 410). This reserves the name for two months. Company123 can assist in the lodgement of such forms, in our role as ASIC agents. This can be done using ASIC's website or Company123's form, which will provide an estimate. As part of our role in the process, Company123 would send an online query, requesting a detailed estimate of the fees to be paid. Within 28 days, ASIC sends an email outlining the fees that need to be paid, as well as a Form 581 Application for ASIC Reinstatement (Form 581). Payment is included in our fee. To Send the application, we provide:    the Form 581, and    full payment of fees requested in the step above.Persons acting on behalf of a former officeholder or member must have the application completed and signed by that officeholder or member.Once ASIC has received full payment and an application has been lodged with ASIC it may take up to 28 days for a decision to be made.You may need to take this timeframe into consideration as the company won't be able to conduct business until it has been reinstated.If your application does not meet our requirements, it will be returned to you. There could be delays while ASIC seeks more information. A person who is aggrieved by the deregistration of a company or a former liquidator of a company can apply to the court for an order that ASIC reinstate a company. These applications must be made to a superior court such as the Supreme Court, the Federal Court or the Family Court.You can also apply to the court if ASIC has refused your reinstatement application or if you can't meet the criteria. We recommend seeking your own legal advice before applying for a court order. A company may be deregistered after it is closed down (e.g. voluntary deregistration), liquidated (by the members, court or creditors) or struck off the register of companies by ASIC (e.g. for outstanding annual review fees).Normally once a company is deregistered:    it ceases to exist as a legal entity and can no longer do anything in its own right    property the company owned (other than trust property) vests in ASIC    property held by the company on trust vests in the Commonwealth (represented by ASIC)    the former officeholders no longer have the right to deal with property registered in the company's name    any legal proceedings in which the company is a party cannot be continued (in so far as they relate to the deregistered company)    you cannot start legal proceedings against the company.Deregistered company property vests in ASIC or the Commonwealth and ASIC is generally the only party legally able to deal with company property after deregistration. However there are some exceptions, e.g. secured parties and Land Titles Office Registrars (who have various powers in relation to land dealings under State/Territory Legislation) can deal with the company's property despite deregistration. If a company is solvent, but does not meet the requirements for voluntary deregistration (e.g. has assets worth more than $1000), the company's members can 'wind up' the company. This involves resolving outstanding affairs including:    ceasing or selling operations    payment of outstanding debts and    appointing a liquidator to manage any assets. The steps involved include: To begin winding up a solvent company, a majority of the directors must make a Declaration of solvency (Form 520). This means they believe the company will be able to pay all its existing debts in full within 12 months of the commencement of the winding up.Form 520 must be made and lodged with ASIC. This must be done before the date on which the notice of meeting, as listed in step 2, is sent to members to consider the resolution to wind up the company.It is an offence under the Corporations Act 2001 to make a false declaration of solvency. Penalties can apply. After the solvency declaration has been lodged, the company members must pass a special resolution to wind up the company.All members must have at least 21 days notice (in writing) of the meeting to vote on the special resolution, although this can be reduced by agreement. At the meeting, at least 75% of company members must be in favour of the resolution for it to pass. The company must also appoint a liquidator or liquidators, and the winding up begins from the date the special resolution is passed.The company must lodge Form 205 (Notification of resolution) setting out the text of the resolution that was passed and the liquidator must lodge Form 505 (Notification of appointment or cessation of an external administrator) to advise of their appointment. Notice of the resolution to wind up the company must be published on ASIC's Published notices website by the end of the next business day after the liquidator is appointed. It is required to sign up to the website and pay the appropriate fee before a notice can be published. The liquidator can then begin winding up the company. They must lodge with ASIC a detailed list of receipts and payments for the administration (Form 5602 Annual Administration Return) annually on the anniversary of their appointment.If the liquidation commenced before 1 September 2017, the liquidator will continue to lodge the six-monthly Form 524 (Presentation of accounts and statement) until the six-month period ending on the first anniversary of their appointment date. Thereafter, they will lodge the annual administration return.At any point, if the liquidator thinks the company will be unable to pay their debts in full within 12 months, they must either:    convene a meeting of creditors    appoint a voluntary administrator    apply to the court for the company to be wound up in insolvency. If the liquidator has finished winding up the company before 1 July 2018, they need to lodge Form 523 (Notification of final meeting convened by liquidators) within seven days of the company's final meeting. It must include an account of how the winding up was conducted.The liquidator must also lodge a:    Form 5603 (End of administration return)    Form 5011 (Copy of minutes of meeting).If the winding up finished on or after 1 July 2018, the liquidator is not required to convene a final meeting but must lodge Form 5603 (End of administration return) within one month after the end of the winding up.The company will be deregistered three months after the Form 523 or Form 5603 has been lodged. If the company is insolvent, you can't apply for voluntary deregistration. Unless you refinance the company and make it solvent, you will need to consider voluntary administration or liquidation. ASIC may deregister a company if we believe the company has ceased trading or has outstanding fees and penalties. This includes:    the company has not paid its annual review fee within 12 months of the due date    the company has not responded to a Company compliance notice or    the company has not lodged any documents in 18 months and we believe the company is no longer in business. The steps for an ASIC-initiated deregistration are:    ASIC sends a letter to the company's directors and/or liquidator (if applicable)to advise of the pending deregistration.    ASIC updates the company's status on their register to display as 'SOFF' (Strike off status), meaning it's being deregistered.    ASIC posts a notice on their Published notices website, advising that the company will be deregistered in two months unless stopped.    When two months have passed, ASIC deregisters the company and sends a notice to the directors and/or liquidators to confirm.Once a notice has been published on the Published notices website, it can't be removed, even if deregistration is stopped. If you've applied for voluntary deregistration and changed your mind or ASIC has begun to deregister your company, you may be able to stop deregistration.A third party (e.g. another company) can apply to ASIC to defer deregistration of a company if they are conducting, or plan to conduct, legal proceedings against the company. Depending on why the company is being deregistered, you can stop deregistration by paying the company's annual review fee and any other overdue fees.You must allow enough time for your payment to be processed. If the company is already deregistered, it is too late to apply to stop deregistration. A third party (e.g. another company) can stop ASIC from deregistering a company if:    they are conducting legal proceedings against the company or    they intend to conduct legal proceedings against the company shortly. ASIC will delay deregistration to allow any action to be completed.

This article is designed to be both a guide to the application of Australian and International Trademarks and also an informative overview on various case studies that can help develop the best trademark case and avoid common pitfalls. In a move that garnered a fair amount of media interest, Adidas sued Forever 21 for the development and distribution of several products that supposedly infringed on Adidas’ longtime trademark of ‘three stripes’. The design remains the prime component of the brand’s logo and its products. At the time of the infringement, Adidas stated tremendous investments of several million dollars for the development and the protection of their world-famous logo. Following the charge of trademark infringement, there were no public statements from either of the parties. In December, news emerged that Adidas has agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Forever 21. This also justifies the belief held by certain trademark lawyers that legal disputes can be handled through an alternative dispute resolution. This can be of benefit to both parties as the specific details pertaining to the matter remain private. Massachusetts-based D2 holdings recently filed a lawsuit against MRC II Distribution company, the brand behind the Netflix hit political thriller House of Cards. D2 has held the trademark for House of Cards for "entertainment goods and services" since 2009, which has been licensed to a gaming radio show distributed by Granary Media. MRC reportedly filed for a trademark for House of Cards multiple times for the show which premiered in 2013 and has now been renewed for a fifth season.D2's lawsuit asks for multiple types of infringement to cease, including fan merchandise and gaming machines. It's likely that MRC was aware that D2 held the trademark, based on their repeated failure to obtain a trademark through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The failure could be in the distribution company's decision to change the show's title, based on their inability to obtain a trademark. In one of the more shocking examples of international trademark infringement, a South Korean fried chicken restaurant recently lost a trademark battle with designer Louis Vuitton. The court ruled in the designer's favor after determining that the restaurant's name of Louis Vuiton Dak was too similar to Louis Vuitton. In addition to the name infringement, the restaurant's logo and packaging closely mirrored the designer's iconic imagery.The restaurant was ultimately hit with another 14.5 million fine for non-compliance, after changing their name immediately after the first ruling to LOUISVUI TONDAK. Many brands can avoid similarly expensive legal battles by avoiding mirroring their brand closely after another, even if the products and purchase channels have nothing in common. The British novelist has been the victim of many copyright and trademark infringement allegations over her Harry Potter series. American author Nancy Stouffer alleged that Rowling borrowed heavily from her work Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly. However, the evidence was found to be fraudulent and Stouffer was fined $50,000 for "intentional bad faith conduct". The parent company of New York’s celebrated Coffee Culture Cafe bore the brunt of a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Starbucks for the release of the drink ‘Freddocino’. Starbucks’ primary reservations were with the fact that the drink (Freddocino) shared similarities in texture, name, and packaging with Starbucks’ own Frappuccino, a registered trademark owned by Starbucks. While Coffee Culture Cafe attempted to negate damage by renaming the drink “Freddo”, it wasn’t enough to deter Starbucks from proceeding with the infringement. The verdict remains pending and we look forward to learning more as the case unfolds. A trademark lawyer or agent may be able to alert clients to the possibility of infringement with proposed trademarks to prevent these types of issues from arising. Notorious for its willingness to enter trademark battles, Starbucks has a wide selection of cases to choose from. The world’s largest coffee chain once went after a restaurant in British Columbia because it was called HaidaBucks and took a Texan bar owner to court over a beer he brewed and sold named Star Bock. Sam Buck Lundberg, a coffee shop owner in the small town of Astoria in Oregon, didn’t have long to wait for her Starbucks order when she used her name to brand her shop “Sambucks”. Starbucks sent her a cease and desist letter and reportedly offered her $500 (£400) to rebrand, but when she didn’t comply the case went to court. In 2005, a judge ruled in favour of the coffee giant, ordering her to drop the name “Buck” from everything in her store, including the coffee cups and the front window. Lundberg’s verdict? After the ruling she told ABC News: “People think this is a crock of crap.” In March of 2015 , a jury found Williams and Thicke's 2013 hit song 'Blurred Lines' to be a copy of Mavin Gaye's 1977 hit 'Got to Give It Up'. The duo were asked to pay $7.3 million to Gaye's children, almost half of the 2013 hit's estimated profits of $16 million. The Academy Awards and domain retailer GoDaddy recently concluded a five-year legal battle over "cybersquatting" issues. Initially filed in 2010, the Academy alleged that GoDaddy's decision to allow customers to buy "confusingly" similar domain names such as 2011Oscars.com, allowed profit from individuals who wanted to "park" on these domains and collect revenue.Initially, the Academy managed to demonstrate in court that 57 domains were sold by GoDaddy with the potential for confusion. Ultimately, the judge ruled that GoDaddy did not "possess the requisite bad faith intent to profit" from their sales.While this legal battle was undoubtedly expensive, it may be considered a landmark ruling in the cybersquatting space. Similarly frustrating lawsuits can be avoided when, like in GoDaddy's case, you may not be able to reasonably expect a third-party to "police" your brand trademark. Taylor Swift recently settled a lawsuit brought by Blue Sphere, a clothing company that owns the "Lucky 13" trademark. The organization filed when Swift began selling fan merchandise marked "Lucky 13," and launched a "Lucky 13" sweepstakes among other activities.While Swift insisted that 13 was just a lucky number to her and claimed "harassment" by the plaintiff, the results of the lawsuit were not released publicly. A confidential agreement was reached out of court, and Swift has begun proactively trademarking other phrases and lyrics she uses often to avoid future issues. The parent company of clothing retailer American Eagle, Retail Royalty Company, has filed in the Delhi high court against Pantaloons Fashion & Retail. The lawsuit alleges that the " brand and logo are deceptively similar to its American Eagle Outfitters brand and logo."While Retail Royalty Company is US-based, this case is far from the first example of international retail copyright infringement. Fashion United reports that Gap has also recently filed against India-based brands selling under the name "Gap Two" Even for organizations that are not international, it can be critical to monitor your trademarks on an international scale. Love them or hate them, there's no question that the two-wheeled standing scooter has been associated with Segway since 2001. There's currently a mass of litigation around Segway and competitors. Segway is suing Kickstarter-backed Hovertrax, which is now owned by Razor, as well as Swagway. Razor has also filed against Swagway.VentureBeat notes that the motivation for these lawsuits could be based on more than just the noticeable similarity of the products under mention. Swagway is currently facing extensive safety and accident lawsuits for incidents that involve falls and fires. While it remains to be seen how the patent infringement allegations will be evaluated in court, there's no question that these cases are more complex than simple trademark infringement. They're also motivated by concepts of brand protection, and a desire to distance products from Swagway's reported safety risk. Who has the right to trademark the word “apple,” the Beatles or Apple Inc.? The Beatles came first, with their music company Apple Corps, and then eight years later Steve Jobs introduced Apple Inc. to the world. The two mega-corporations have battled it out in court over the years.After the first round, Apple Inc. agreed to pay Apple Corps a cash settlement and to stay out of the music business. But with the advent of iTunes, the legal wrangling between the two giants heated up again. They reached an apparent settlement after Apple Inc. agreed to purchase Apple Corps’ trademark rights and then license them back to the music company. Is your trademark politically correct? It better be.  The Washington Redskins recently lost their trademark protection for the team name because the USPTO ruled the name was disparaging of Native Americans. They don’t have to change the name of the team, but they have lost the ability to prevent counterfeit Redskins merchandise from entering the country and being sold. The team is currently appealing the ruling. The Wrigley Company wanted to trademark the name “Doublemint,” which, on the face of it, seems reasonable enough. But in Europe, at least, they can’t do it. The ruling against Wrigley stated that the word “Doublemint” lacks an imaginative element. Whereas, Proctor & Gamble were able to trademark their product name Baby-Dry with no difficulty in Europe. The noted distiller discovered that a book cover by popular author Patrick Wensink looked an awful lot like their trademark, so they sent him a cease and desist letter. But the letter was not framed in standard threatening legalese; instead, it was a cheerful reminder to Wensink that, as a recognized fan of whiskey, he might consider changing the cover; and if he did, Jack Daniels would happily contribute financially towards the change.Wensick publicized this letter on his own website and it went viral, garnering Jack Daniels a ton of positive publicity. At 17 years old, Michael Rowe started his own website design company. Looking for a catchy name for the business, he decided to create a parody of computer software giant Microsoft using a variation of his own name. Rowe purchased the URL mikerowesoft.com.The Bill Gates empire caught wind of the site and threatened to sue for trademark infringement. To avoid litigation, they graciously offered Rowe $10 to reimburse the expenses incurred in buying the web address. When the story started hitting online news sources, the outcry from average web surfers was intense. A defense fund was set up in Rowe's name and people donated around $6,000 to help him fight the power.After the online commotion died down, Rowe began to realize just how much was at stake if he saw this case through. His measly $6,000 was nothing compared to the billions Microsoft had at its disposal. And should he lose, Rowe would be responsible for the court costs of a team of Microsoft lawyers, a fee he'd be struggling to pay for the rest of his life. He began to wonder if he should just take his $10 and throw in the towel.However, the bad press Microsoft received was enough to make them sweeten the deal. In the end, Rowe handed over the website in exchange for Microsoft Certification training, a trip for his family to a tech conference in Redmond, Washington, assistance to set up a new website, and an Xbox videogame system. Back in the early 1950s, Gene and Betty Hoots bought the Frigid Queen ice cream stand in Mattoon, Illinois. A few years later, they expanded to a new building, where they sold burgers and fries. When looking for a name for this new venture, it was suggested that a queen needs a king, so they called the business "Burger King."? They registered the name with the State of Illinois in 1959, giving them exclusive rights to the moniker in the Land of Lincoln.However, there was another Burger King you might have heard of that was busy building three dozen burger joints all across the South. Thanks to this success, they expanded into the Midwest and, in 1961, opened a restaurant in Skokie, Illinois, followed shortly by another in Champaign, Illinois, just an hour north of Mattoon. By 1967, Burger King Corporation had opened 50 locations across the state.After years of legal back-and-forth between the companies, Gene and Betty Hoots finally sued the Burger King Corporation in an effort to stop them from using the name Burger King in Illinois. However, because the Home of the Whopper was by then a nationwide chain, the corporate giant was allowed to keep the name.But that didn't mean the Hootses had to change the signs on their building. The courts ruled that they owned the exclusive rights to the name Burger King within their business region, legally defined as a 20-mile radius around town. To this day, if the other Burger King wants to open a location there, they have to pay the Hootses to use the name. When wrestling company Titan Sports changed its name to the World Wrestling Federation it was drawn into a legal fight with another WWF, the World Wildlife Fund, that lasted 13 years. The conservation charity took action to protect its brand from what it described as an “unsavoury” connection with wrestling, and, in 2001 a court in London ruled in its favour. Not one to take a beating lying down, the World Wrestling Federation challenged the ruling, and, after that was dismissed, it threatened to appeal. The wrestlers eventually gave in and spent millions rebranding to World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE. It also used the line “Get The ‘F’ Out” as a marketing slogan. After the World Wildlife Fund’s victory, a spokesman for the charity said: “It’s been the wrestlers against a cute little panda bear. And the panda won.” Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that allows your to distinguish the goods or services of your business from those of other businesses. It gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license or sell the trade mark. This means that no one else in Australia can commercially use your trade mark within the class of goods and services its registered under.IP Australia is the government body that regulates all Intellectual Property in Australia. As IP agents, Company123 can guide clients through the application process, which involves the following steps: This is an optional step but is strongly advised to allow for clients to be well-informed before proceeding to application which can be costly.This process can involves: Trade Mark Search Report, prepared by our trade mark specialists    A Trade Mark Search Report will outline the likely outcome of your application, highlighting any potential difficulties, problems or potential conflicts.    The search report will also provide advice in regards to appropriate classes, if the text, phrase or logo needs to be changed as all as well as some general trade mark information.    The search report is a great starting point if you are unsure about Trade Marks, as this allows you to see how likely your mark will be registered without paying the full fee.    Search reports are generally delivered with 5 business days and if you are happy with the outcome, you can proceed to the application. with the option to add an: Expedited Analysis Report, coordinated by Company123 with IP Australia which allows for both speedy analysis results and a quicker application process afterwards as well. You can read about this system on the IP Australia website.For further clarification on how Expedition works feel free to call our specialists at 03 9832 0660. Before submitting an application, there are some simple questions to answer first (when conducting an analysis prior to application, these questions are answered as part of the analysis).First, what type of trademark are you applying for?For example, a text or a logo? Each has to be a separate application.  These are the most common types, but there are various specialised and niche types of trademarks, which can be found on the IP Australia website.Next, what class/classes your trademark should be registered for?There are 45 different classes, encompassing a wide range of goods and services.To help you decide what goods or services to list think about the exact nature of your business and ask yourself the following:    Where do you derive your business income?    What is the nature of your business?    What are you known for by your customers/clients?    What products or services does your business provide?IP Australia provides a Trade Mark Assist service that can help further determine what classes are best for your trademark.To lodge an application through Company123, this form has to be filled out.Once payment is made, Company 123 as IP agents proceed to lodge the same day, and the Notice of Filing is given by IP Australia within 1 business day. Next, the proposed trademark is taken under examination, which ordinarily takes 4-6 months.With Expedition, this can be cut down to 1-2 months. (important to note that although you will receive early acceptance, for official registration every trademark has to wait at least 7 months) If successful, the trademark will be issued a Letter of Acceptance, and will proceed to Step 5.If unsuccessful, IP Australia will issue an Adverse Report detailing the issue.From there, there are often options to overcome the objection.Sometimes this involves amending the application by limiting the scope, sometimes providing evidence of Prior Use.Further information can be found here. During this 2 month period, it is advertised for opposition purposes.If there is no opposition (which is common), the application will proceed to Step 6. When a trademark is registered, you will receive a Certificate of Registration and the trademark is valid for 10 years, after which it must be renewed. Company 123 can also handle all your international trademark needs.International Trademarks can be done concurrently as Domestic Trademarks using the Madrid Protocol system. Claiming Priority. If applying for an international trademark within 6 months of lodging of a Domestic Trademark, the international trademark can claim priority and be backdated to the date of the original domestic lodgement.All countries covered by the Madrid Protocol can be found here.For more information on the international trademark process see here or call our trade mark specialists at 03 9832 0660.

A company is a legal entity formed by a group of individuals to engage in and operate a business, commercial or industrial, enterprise. The benefits of starting a company include income diversification, a strong correlation between effort and reward, creative freedom and flexibility. The disadvantages of starting a company include increased financial responsibility, increased legal liability, long hours, responsibility for employees and administrative staff, regulations, and tax issues. The history of companies is the history of individuals pursuing ambitions and the regulations that both promoted and complicated that pursuit. Prior to the 17th century, the first corporations were created in Europe as not-for-profit entities to build institutions, such as hospitals and universities, for the public good. They had constitutions detailing their duties overseen by the government. Straying outside these was punishable by law.Only in the 17th century did making money become a major focus for corporations. Their wealth was used to finance European colonial expansion. Companies were used by the imperial powers to maintain draconian control of trade, resources and territory in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.First in an ignoble line was the East India Company, set up by British merchant adventurers and granted the Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1600. Partners combined their personal stock, turning it into company stock to create the world's first commercial corporation. It shipped out gold and silver to Asia in return for spices, textiles and luxury goods. The East India Company expanded into a vast enterprise, conquering India with a total monopoly on trade and all the territorial powers of a government. At its height, it ruled over a fifth of the world's population with a private army of a quarter of a million. Corporations as we know them came to being in Britain with an 1844 Act allowing them to define their own purpose. The power to control them thus passed from the government to the courts. In 1855, shareholders were awarded limited liability: their personal assets were protected from the consequences of their corporate behaviour. In 1886 a landmark decision by a US court recognized the corporation as a 'natural person' under law. The 14th amendment to the Constitution: 'no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property' - adopted to protect emancipated slaves in the hostile South - was used to defend corporations and strike down regulations.This was the beginnings of the concept known as ‘corporate personhood’, where a company is essentially an artificial person in that it is an entity separate from the individuals who own, manage, and support its operations.A company has many of the same legal rights and responsibilities as a person does, like the ability to enter into contracts, the right to sue (or be sued), borrow money, pay taxes, own assets, and hire employees. In the 1970s Milton Friedman and his 'Chicago School' economists developed ultra free-market ideas based on deregulation and privatization that harked back to the laissez-faire capitalism of the 19th century (hence the term 'neoliberalism'). This was to become the economic orthodoxy of globalization. In the early 1980s the full political resources of corporate America mobilized to regain control of the political agenda and the court system. Thatcher and Reagan, using the Chicago School ideas, made the world safe for corporations. They dismantled the social contract through tax cuts, ignoring unemployment, rolling back social welfare and increasing privatization. Prior to 1991, the states had jurisdiction for company registration. Though corporations law in Australia had historically closely followed developments in English law, it was mostly the concern of each separate state legislature, and there were significant differences in corporations legislation between the states. Each state had a specific process and therefore a unique history of company registration. For example, in New South Wales: Company Regulation began in the Deeds Registration Branch of the Registrar General (established 1857) and involved authorising local and foreign companies to operate in New South Wales. The Companies Act of 1874 placed the responsibility of company registration with the Registrar General until a Registrar of Joint Stock Companies was appointed.[i] The Registrar-General continued to hold this position until 1937.[ii] The Registrar maintained a register of Public Companies (later known as Liability Companies) from 1874, and under the No Liability Mining Companies Act 1881, was required to maintain a register of No Liability Mining Companies. In 1955 the Registrar General established a separate Companies Branch.[iii] The Companies Act 1961 (Act No. 71 1961) established a Registrar of Companies.[iv] In preparation for this change the Companies Branch (1955-1962) was physically removed from the Registrar General's Department on 19 February 1962.[v] Company Regulation subsequently came under the control of the Companies Office (1962-1971) and Corporate Affairs Commission (1971-1990) before it ceased to be a state activity in 1991, when the Australian Securities Commission (a federal body), took over responsibility for company legislation and regulation. On Jan 2nd 1991 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, ASIC, was formed to replace the National Companies & Securities Commission and the states' corporate affairs commissions.  The states' files on companies that were currently registered at the end of 1990 were given to the new body, ASIC. The Corporations Act of 2001 brought even more changes to company regulations. The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Corporations Act, or CA 2001) is an Act of the Commonwealth of Australia which sets out the laws dealing with business entities in Australia at federal and interstate level. It deals primarily with companies but also with other entities, such as partnerships and managed investment schemes. The Act is the primary basis of Australian corporations law. The Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act 2004 simplified the statute, which, at 3,354 pages, dwarfs those of other nations such as Sweden, whose corporations statute is less than 200 pages long. The Corporations Act is the principal legislation regulating companies in Australia. It regulates matters such as the formation and operation of companies (in conjunction with a constitution that may be adopted by a company), duties of officers, takeovers and fundraising. Most significantly it introduced Australian Company Numbers (ACNs). ACNs are a unique nine-digit number issued by ASIC to every company registered under the Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001 as an identifier. The number is usually printed in three groups of three digits. It must be quoted on all correspondence and invoices issued by that company. An ACN is not required on (at least): packaging and labelling, including envelopes and transport documents; advertisements which do not make a specific offer which is capable of being accepted (such as advertisements which only promote the company and its goods or services in general); credit cards and credit card vouchers; machine-generated receipts, including cash-register receipts; business cards and 'with compliments' slips; and items which are not documents (e.g., vehicles, television advertisements). An ACN remains unchanged even if a company has a name change or is deregistered. A similar system is used for non-company entities such as trusts, and for foreign companies. Prior to the introduction of the 9 digit ACN, company information was filed under the company name, which might vary from 1 to 80 characters. This is an inefficient way to run a filing system, and can lead to problems, particularly if two company names differ in one of the middle digits, for example: Strudle Pty Ltd and Stradle Pty Ltd. Unique identifiers, like the ACN, help reduce fraud by firstly clearly differentiating companies and/or subsidiaries with similar names, since companies with similar names will tend to have completely different ACNs. Also if a company changes its name for any reason, including phoenix company, the ACN remains the same. The ACN is generated using an algorithm with the last digit being a check digit allowing the number to be verified. The ABN is generated using an algorithm where the first two digits are check digits, see [1]. The last 9 digits of an ABN do not always comply with the ASIC ACN algorithm, for example the Australian Tax Office ABN 51 824 753 556. There are a number of countries who have versions of this system, including Cambodia, Canada, with CA identification numbers for textile dealers, Brazil, with CNPJ, the UK, with Registered numbers, and the US, with Registered Identification Numbers. Furthermore, when GST was introduced, the ACN was incorporated into the process. A company's Australian Business Number (ABN) frequently includes the ACN as the last nine digits.[3] The ABN indicates that a person, trust or company is registered with the Australian Business Register (ABR). The ABR facilitates and streamlines many Australian business-to-government and government-to-business processes, such as Australian Tax Office transactions involving the collection and remittance of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Goods and services tax (GST) is a tax of 10% on the sale (supply) of most goods and services consumed in Australia. In general, an organisation that is required by law to 'register' for GST purposes:• is required to pay GST to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) if it sells something (ie, goods, services), and• can claim an 'input tax credit' from the ATO for the amount of GST included in the price of goods and services it purchases.Your organisation may be required by tax laws to pay GST on any goods and services it supplies. For further information see the ATO website. As discussed, according to the Corporations Act 2001, a company is a legal entity which:  •    can perform all the functions of a body corporate•    can sue and be sued•    has perpetual succession•    can acquire, hold and sell property. A company's name must indicate its legal status. That is, if it is a proprietary company, then the word ‘Proprietary' or the abbreviation ‘Pty' must be included in the name, and if the liability of the company is limited, the word ‘Limited' or the abbreviation ‘Ltd' must appear at the end of its name. The following are the types of company forms most frequently encountered: A proprietary limited company is a form of privately held company within Australia that is commonly used for conducting business. The minimum requirement to establish a company is that there must be a minimum of one director and one shareholder.  According to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) a proprietary company cannot have more than 50 non-employee shareholders or engage in fundraising or selling its shares to the public. At least one of the directors needs to reside within Australia and be over the age of 18 years. There are large proprietary companies and small proprietary companies. A proprietary company is judged to be large if it satisfies at least two of the following criteria:  •    Annual revenues of  $10 million or more•    Assets of $5 million or more•    50 or more employeesLarge proprietary companies are required to lodge their annual accounts with the ASIC. However, companies can often find ways of avoiding this requirement. Public companies are permitted by law to raise money from the public by offering their shares for sale, usually listing them on the share market. The people who purchase these shares are called shareholders. You can recognise a public company because it must put the word ‘Limited’ or the abbreviation ‘Ltd’ after its name.Public companies must have a minimum of three directors and at least one secretary. Two of the directors and the secretary are required to be residents of Australia. These are usually smaller than a public company and generally are referred to as private companies or shelf companies. There can be between one and fifty shareholders, yet raising money by selling shares to the public is not permitted. Being ‘Limited by Shares’ literally means that the liability is limited to the value of the shares of the company.Small businesses predominately use a private company for their trading as a means to identify and differentiate their brand from their competitors.There is a requirement for a minimum of one director and one shareholder.  At least one of the directors must reside in Australia. According to Corporations Act 2001 section 204A, a secretary is not required any longer. A company ‘Limited by Guarantee’ is often the preferred structure used by sports clubs who are ‘non-trading’ businesses. The shareholders must ‘Guarantee’ in writing the amount they are willing to contribute to the company should the company be unable to meet its debts. There are times where there is a requirement for a special type of company to be used for a specific purpose. One type of special purpose company is a Self Managed Superannuation Fund Trustee company. For this to be classed as a special purpose company, a provision within the company’s constitution needs to be included and upon registration of the company, ASIC needs to be notified that the company’s sole purpose is to act as the trustee of the SMSF. Proprietary companies must have at least one shareholder but no more than 50 non-employee shareholders. These are the company owners. It must have at least one director. While it’s not necessary, you may also choose to have a company secretary. While there must be a registered office, the proprietary company doesn’t have to open it to the public. A public company must also have at least one shareholder, but there’s no upper limit to how many shareholders it can have. It’s common for a company to shift from being proprietary to public because it has more than 50 shareholders. Most companies choose to become a small unlisted public company in that situation.A public company must have at least three directors, two of which must be ordinarily resident in Australia. It also needs at least one company secretary and a registered office that is available to the public during certain hours. A proprietary company can’t do any fundraising activities that need a prospectus. They can only offer their own shares to existing shareholders or their employees. Usually, proprietary companies raise money by accessing credit from financial institutions or are funded by their directors.The directors of a proprietary company may refuse to register a transfer of shares in the company for any reason. This is why proprietary companies are also known as private companies, and one of the reasons why families often choose this structure – it allows them to keep control over the company’s ownership. Any public company, whether listed or unlisted, can raise capital by issuing shares to the public. The Corporations Act 2001 does have a number of disclosure requirements that must be made to investors when the company is fundraising. Typically, these are included in a prospectus. As disclosure documents need to be lodged with ASIC, it’s strongly advised that you get professional assistance in preparing them. A large proprietary company must lodge financial statements, an annual director’s report and audited accounts with ASIC unless it has an exemption. Some small proprietary companies may also need to do so but are more likely to be exempt. Public companies of every size must also disclose their financial statements, directors’ report and audited accounts. They must also:•    provide those reports to their shareholders•    make their constitution available to their shareholders•    hold an Annual General Meeting•    maintain a share registerIf the public company is listed, they must also give their shareholders 28 days notice of their AGM and make their remuneration report available. Proprietary companies are either limited by shares or by unlimited share capital. The former means that shareholders are only liable for the nominal value of their shares, while the latter means that there is no limit placed on their liability. Public companies vary in the extent of their liability depending on which of these four forms the company takes:1.    Public companies limited by shares: Shareholders are only liable for the nominal value of their shares.2.    Public companies limited by guarantee: Shareholders are limited by a specific amount that they are willing to contribute if the company is wound up.3.    Unlimited public companies with a share capital: Shareholders’ liability is not limited.4.    No liability public companies: This applies only to mining companies who meet certain benchmarks. Most small proprietary companies are limited by shares and will have ‘Ltd’ after their business name to indicate their status. We are an ASIC registered agent, agent no. 34511.ASIC registered agents can lodge documents including company registrations on behalf of third parties.We are also an ASIC accredited software provider. This means we have our own direct electronic link to ASIC, allowing us to lodge your registration at any time of day, any day of the week.To get started with your company registration, fill in our online form.For some more information on the registration process see the ASIC website. The total fee is $532 which includes all government fees, our service fee and GST. The ASIC registration fee is $495 and our service fee, inclusive of GST, is just $37.For $37 you get the convenience of being able to lodge your company 24/7 from the comfort of your own home/office, and also having all your company documentation such as consents, share registry, opening minutes etc automatically prepared for you. ASIC also charge an annual fee on the anniversary date of registration, ie if you registered a company today the annual fee would be payable in one years time. Annual fees vary depending on the type of company, they can be viewed on our ASIC fee page.Optional extras include: For an extra $50, Company123 as registered tax agents will apply for ABN, TFN and GST for your company.For an optional $55 extra Company123 will also print, bind and deliver your documentation.

When putting your vision into action, there are a number of important factors to consider and tips that can make everything from registration to operation of your business much easier. The following tips address important aspects to consider before implementing your business vision. Know yourself, your true motivational level, the amount of money you can risk, and what you're willing to do to be successful.Firstly, why do you want to start a business? Use this question to guide what kind of business you want to start. Different reasons may lead to different styles of business. For example, if you want extra money, maybe you should start a side hustle, or if you want more freedom, maybe it's time to leave your 9-to-5 job and start something new.Once you have the reason, start asking yourself even more questions to help you figure out the type of business you should start, and if you have what it takes. The following are important questions to ask to ensure you are picking a business you can succeed at: Be completely honest with your answers. This will create a foundation for everything you do moving forward, so it's better to know the truth now than later. Performing an honest analysis will then help with finding a need that you have the skillset to fill, that you want to fill, and that will produce enough income to build a profitable business. If yet to develop your business idea, there are ways several questions that can aid with finding the need that you can fill: Ask yourself what's next. What technology or advancement is coming soon, and how will that change the business landscape as we know it? Can you get ahead of the curve? Fix something that bugs you. People would rather have less of a bad thing than more of a good thing. If your business can fix a problem for your customers, they'll thank you for it. Apply your skills to an entirely new field. Many businesses and industries do things one way because that's the way they've always been done. In those cases, a fresh set of eyes from a new perspective can make all the difference. Use the better, cheaper, faster approach. Do you have a business idea that isn’t completely new? If so, think about the current offerings and focus on how you can create something better, cheaper or faster. As part of these, consider the operational needs of the business and if they are feasible for your situation and skills. For instance, if you’re selling items, how will they be delivered? How much customer support will be needed – either to answer questions about the product, or to respond to people whose shipments haven’t arrived? Will you need to accept credit cards? Will you invoice customers? Who will follow up to be sure you’re paid? Who will build and maintain your website and social media presence?  Will you be able to use a virtual assistant for such tasks, or will you have to hire employees? Even if you’re starting a small personal service business, these are issues you should consider and plan for. Often, this step should be done in conjunction with the previous step, as the best ideas are developed in combination with solid research. One of the biggest mistakes startups make is to assume a lot of people will want to buy a particular product or service, because the business owner likes the ideas or knows one or two people who want the product or service. To minimize your risk for loss, never assume there is a market. Research the idea. Talk to real potential prospects (who aren't family and friends) to find out if what you want to sell is something they'd be interested in buying, and if so, what they'd pay for the product or service. For example, you can conduct interviews by telephone or face to face. You can also offer surveys or questionnaires that ask questions like “What factors do you consider when purchasing this product or service?” and “What areas would you suggest for improvement?”. Let people interact with your product or service and see what their take is on it. A fresh set of eyes can help point out a problem you might have missed. Plus, these people will become your first brand advocates, especially if you listen to their input and they like the product. Furthermore, research your competitors. No matter what type of business you are starting or running, you will have competitors. Even if there is no other business offering exactly what you plan to sell, there is very likely to be other products or services your target customers are using to satisfy their need.  To be successful, you need to research the competition and find out as much as possible about what they sell and how they sell it. Competitive research is something you should plan on doing on an ongoing basis, too. Once you have considered all the above important factors and taken all actions to be prepared for the success of your business, it is time to action your vision. It is important to register your business legally, to ensure you can protect your idea and begin operations in the most efficient way. This includes: Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia.You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. Step 1: fill in a company registration form at Company123Step 2: receive all company documents within minutes, sign and fileStep 3: recieve ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. For some more information on the registration process see the ASIC website. If in doubt we recommend that you discuss your needs with an accountant or solicitor for professional advice. Company123 provides free consultations if needed and over the phone advice within business hours of 9-6pm at 03 9832 0660. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one, for example, ABNs help you: Also, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST.More information can be found at ato.gov.au. As registered tax agents, Company123 can register your company for ABN/TFN/GST during the company registration process. Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that allows your to distinguish the goods or services of your business from those of other businesses. It gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license or sell the trade mark. Registering an Australian trademark means that no one else in Australia can commercially use your trade mark within the class of goods and services its registered under.Likewise, for International trademarks, depending on the countries selected. Company123 are IP agents that can guide you through the application and registration of both Australian and International trademarks.You can find more information on the process here. It is important to consider multiple potential avenues of funding, which could include: Take a look and consider your own resources, circumstances and life state to figure out which one works best for you. Traditional lenders don't like new ideas and giving money to new businesses that do not have a proven track record. Save up first, as well as approach potential investors. Work out your financial fall-back plan first, and it will ensure you do not hit a snag while building your business due to running out of money. This includes finding a location and building a team. In terms of a Location, your priorities will differ depending on need but its important to consider factors such as: demographics, foot tragic, competition, infrastructure, styles of operation etc. In terms of building a team, it important to remember that handing off responsibilities can allow for higher collaboration and specialisation. As part of this, it is important to seek professional help when needed. If you're not an accountant or bookkeeper, hire one (or both). If you need to write up a contract, and you're not a lawyer, hire one. You will waste more time and possibly money in the long run trying to do things yourself that you are not qualified to do. An analysis by researchers at the University of Oregon Department of Economics assessed the success of business plans in aiding with business growth. They found that getting a business plan correlated with increased success in every one of the business goals included in the study, especially financing needs.Industry experts agree that having a business plan is more than just a bureaucratic checklist to secure a loan, but an essential ingredient for a business's growth and guidance.Critical elements of a business plan include detailed projections, marketing strategy, management and ownership experience, and value propositions that entice investors. A strong business plan that includes detailed projections, but also communicates important facts, idea and the strong potential of a business can successfully propel the business into their desired future. Whether it be shareholder agreements, director duties, raising finance or aiming to be on the stock exchange, we can create a plan for you. On the Company123 website, you can choose from Standard, Advanced and Professional business plans, depending on your needs. The Standard plans can be the first step in applying for more financing, assisting with rental lease applications, outlining your company's mission statement and drawing up business projections. The Advanced plans are perfect for business loan applications, sale of business and raising finance. The Professional plans are our most comprehensive and robust business plan includes, and can include by discussion with our expert team, absolutely anything needed for the running and future goals of the company. Company123 can tailor our business plans to any of your needs. Simply click the following Link & complete a short form. You'll constantly be competing for these customers in the marketplace, and you can never simply rest on your laurels. What's profitable now, won't necessarily be profitable next year or 10 years from now. So, don't let yourself fall into the "this is the way I've always done things" rut. Keep your eyes and ears open for new things. Are there newer or better ways to market your products and services? Are customers asking for something you're not offering? Is there a different type of customer you should be targeting? Get answers by reading everything you can about your industry and listening to your customers. Keep researching the market, hiring good people and making a superior product and you'll be on your way to building the empire you always dreamed about.

If you're looking for ways you can earn a few extra bucks with a side hustle, you'd likely encounter hundreds of strategies for make some money. However, depending on your unique needs and your skills, earning a respectable amount of cash, and doing it quickly, might be well within your reach. No matter where you're from or what you do for a living, thanks to the conveniences afforded to us by the internet, making money is no longer a constant and never-ending struggle. With the proverbial world at our fingertips, as long as you know how to tap into the vast amount of opportunities found in the digital ether of cyberspace, you can earn some extra income, even if you're in a tight bind. Depending on what your side hustle is, there’s potential for earnings, and that extra money is a great way to start shoring up your savings or invest the money into your current business. A side hustle is all about your personal growth, development, and entrepreneurial creativity. Think about what you would supplement your current work with if you had the chance. You’d learn how to communicate with customers, market your brand, determine your pricing, and much more. These are incredibly useful skills for the business world, skills that are transferable to other jobs besides your side hustle.The more experience you gain with these skills, or whatever skills you develop from your personal side hustle, the more clarity you could gain on whether or not your current career is truly what you want to do. Whatever your side hustle may be, it’s all about finding your passion and following it through — Without the major commitment of leaving your current work or investing all of your time into something you’re not certain of.Furthermore, side hustles are flexible, and if you’re not enjoying your side hustle, you can start a new one, all without having committed all your time, energy and finances to it. Some of the strategies listed below offer a quick fix for making some money, others will take a sizable investment of your time. Either way, select a method that fits within your skill set and ensure that you deliver a serious amount of value. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. According to data gathered by financial publications, it appears not all side hustles are created equally. The data shows the following are the most lucrative side hustles, as compared to the average of 11 hours per week, annual income of $12,609 with a $25 per hour pay: Real Estate. Management Consulting. Investment management. Investment banking. Hospitality. Accounting. Professional coaching. E-learning. Restaurants. Automotive. The least lucrative side hustles included: farming, arts & crafts, health & fitness. Cosmetics, music, design, writing & editing, photography, entertainment, events services. However, just as with any business, even these side hustles have the potential to become a passion and develop into a successful business, adding extra savings and funds into a person’s life. A common side hustle, photographer may require sacrificing weekends and free time to photograph other people’s events, but require minimal up front investment, centred on mostly getting the best equipment. This makes it a popular side hustle that can becoming highly profitable with the right level of dedication. Bola Sokunbi made $70,000 through starting a photography side hustle, all while working a full-time job. Running Onada Photography for seven years, Bola started off as a self-taught photographer taking wedding photos and evolved with better equipment and better skills, until she, at one point, earned 70,000 a year from a side hustle she did in between her full-time job. As her business grew, she expanded her services and offered lifestyle photo sessions as well as portraits.  She eventually sold all her equipment for a profit, ultimately saving 100,000 and investing profits into her retirement savings. A full time worker combined his love of science fiction and photography to start a photography session specialising in cosplay photography and unique portrait and wedding photography sessions, earning $1,600 a month. A California government employee becomes a part-time wedding photographer after posting an ad on Craigslist in order to gain experience before shooting . M.B Boucai began selling gluten-free baked goods at a farmers market in Los Angeles, in between their roles as writer, director and performance artist. The pop-up bakery, Super Bloom, earns $20 an hour, earning a total of $3,200 a month, making it a highly profitable side hustle. While working on becoming successful in their field, using their culinary talents in their free time has let them support their lifestyle and the growth of their career. A woman who transformed her passion for her new ketogenic diet into a $2000 a month side hustle by producing a ketogenic cookbook. A long-time fitness geek who innovated his way into six figure annual sales with chocolate and vanilla flavoured protein powder made from crickets. Art is often a less lucrative career to take on full time, and therefore many artistic souls choose instead to take it up as a side hustle, following their passion without the risk, while still able to have the stability of a full time income. On April Fool’s Day in 2014, Brian Thompson started a website turning tweets into physical artwork. Working as a copywriter and creative director full time, Brian has managed to turn Permanent140.com into a lucrative hobby, even expanding to offer custom laser engravings at LasersMakeItAwesome.com, with his creations bringing in around $1,500 a month. A graphic designer started a side business drawing caricatures for $250 an hour and now earns more than $100,000 working part-time. GE engineer used his skills to make and sell hand-crafted slate artwork to all 50 states. In addition to bringing in a great side income, it’s also given him more courage and security to make decisions at his day job. Starting off with a simple investment of $250 of their own cash in 2015, David Gaylford and two of his friends launched Bushbalm, a skincare company that creates essential oil blends to soothe skin, prevent ingrown hairs, and reduce redness on sensitive areas of the body. Now the business brings in around $2,500 a month. After seeking a method to conquer her own skin issues, one woman took to YouTube to help others shed their skin insecurities as well. Five years later, she has her own multi-million dollar skincare line serving people all over the world. A stay-at-home mother started a podcast about essential oils and pulled her family off government assistance. Nicole Buergers left her corporate marketing job in 2015 to found Bee2Bee Honey Collective, a commercial and backyard beekeeping service in Houston, Texas. Buergers now installs and maintains beehives around the city and harvests the honey to sell. Her niche services bring in an average of $4,000 a month. An Oregon native who began a business prepping, cleaning, repairing and restoring animal skills and now earns an average of $1,600 a month, with her busiest season being fall and winter thanks to hunting season. After the loss of a beloved family pet, an engineer creates a specialized product business in a very unconventional industry, chicken harnesses, with almost $0 in manufacturing costs and is now bringing in an average of $1,500 a month from her business. A couple decides to go into manufacturing novelty baseball sweaters after receiving a lot of attention about them at a baseball game. A former corporate employee in Ireland runs a merchandising hustle on Amazon.com that brings in as much as $17,000 in profit in a single month. She does this with no inventory, no risk, and no paid traffic. An attorney started a jewelry company with purpose, employing disadvantaged women in Detroit to help them transition from a life of dependence into one of self-reliance. In the age before easy online shopping, a bartender discovers a way to supplement the tips she lost during a recession by reselling clothing to her friends. After searching for answers to questions about his first cruise, a copywriter decides to take matters into his own hands by creating an informative blog. A British man wrote a series of reviews about fish tanks and ended up building a completely passive income business as an Amazon affiliate. He now earns $700/month without doing anything for it at all. A musician found financial freedom by growing a blog and starting an e-course teaching other people how to play jazz. After discovering that his passion for goaltending has little to no online presence, a hockey fan decides to create his own resource blog.

An Australian Business Number (ABN) is the important first step to begin trading and building your successful business. Company123 offers quick and simple ABN registration as tax agents at our ABN registration form. The following points can guide you on whether you currently need an ABN and answer various other related queries. Call us today on 0398320660 to get in contact with a business consultant. Yes, if the individual is a sole trader.’Individuals carrying on an enterprise are entitled to an Australian business number (ABN) and are known as ‘sole traders’, which is the simplest and cheapest business structure. If you're a sole trader, you are: As a sole trader, you are responsible for your own super and the super of any other workers you employ. You can begin trading by registering now. If you have been engaged to carry out activities as an employee, you are not entitled to an ABN for that activity. Therefore, employees are not entitled to their own ABN. If you do not meet the criteria of a sole trader, than you can pursue other business structures. The next cheapest to set up is a partnership structure. A partnership is a group or association of people who carry on a business and distribute income or losses between themselves. For example, if you and a friend or family member decide to set up a business together, you might operate it as a partnership. A partnership is relatively inexpensive to set up and operate. The partners share income, losses and control of the business. A written partnership agreement is not essential for a partnership to exist, but is a good idea. A partnership agreement should outline how income or losses will be distributed to the partners and how the business will be controlled. A partnership agreement can help prevent misunderstandings and disputes about what each partner brings to the partnership, and what they are entitled to receive from the income of the business. This is particularly important for tax purposes if the profit or losses are not distributed equally among partners. The partners in a partnership are not employees, therefore still eligible for an ABN, but the partnership might also employ other workers. Partners are responsible for their own superannuation arrangements. However, the partnership is required to pay superannuation for its employees. As a partner you can't claim deductions for money drawn from the business. Amounts you take from a partnership are not wages for tax purposes. In a partnership business structure: - income, losses and control of the business are shared among the partners  -  the partnership has its own TFN and must lodge an annual partnership return showing all income and deductions of the business  -  the partnership doesn't pay income tax on the profit it earns – each partner reports their share of the partnership income in their own tax return  - each partner pays tax on their share of the partnership profit at the individual tax rate and may be eligible for the small business tax offset  -  the partnership must apply for an ABN and use it for all business dealings  - the partnership must be registered for GST if its annual GST turnover is $75,000 or more. You can set up a partnership here. A partnership can be a: •    family partnership – where two or more partners are related•    limited partnership – where liability of debts and obligations for one or more partners is limited•    'other' partnership – where partners are equally responsible for the business and have unlimited liability for the debts and obligations (commonly known as a general law partnership). If these structures are relevant to your current situation, you can proceed with your ABN application here. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one, for example, ABNs help you: - to deal with the ATO; -  in dealing with other businesses when supplying goods or services to them, or when purchasing goods and services. -  confirm your business identity to others when ordering or invoicing. -  avoid Pay As You Go (PAYG) tax on payments you receive. - claim energy grants credits. - obtain an Australian domain nameAlso, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST. More information can be found at ato.gov.au.To obtain an ABN, your company must: • be able to demonstrate that the business structure is in place;• be carrying on an enterprise in Australia;• in the course of carrying on an enterprise, make supplies connected with the indirect tax zone or have undertaken sufficient activities to commence an enterprise; or• be a Corporations Act company.More information on ABNs, including who is entitled to apply, is set out on the ATO's website. If you believe your company is eligible, you can register your ABN here. If you want to look up information about a registered ABN, such as to check that your details are up to date or check the details of a supplier, you can do this on the ABN Lookup website. ABN Lookup allows you to search publicly available information supplied by businesses when they register for an ABN. You can find the Australian Business Registry here. If you cannot find your ABN, you may not have one already. You can register one here. Goods and services tax (GST) is a tax of 10% on the sale (supply) of most goods and services consumed in Australia. In general, an organisation that is required by law to 'register' for GST purposes: • is required to pay GST to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) if it sells something (ie, goods, services), and• can claim an 'input tax credit' from the ATO for the amount of GST included in the price of goods and services it purchases. Your organisation may be required by tax laws to pay GST on any goods and services it supplies. For further information see the ATO website. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one - for example, ABNs help: Also, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST.More information can be found at www.abr.gov.au. A trust must meet either one of the following 2 criteria to be eligible for an ABN:Criterion 1The entity is any one of:    A company incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 in Australia;    A charitable institution or trustee of a charitable fund in Australia;    A deductible gift recipient in Australia; or    A religious institution in Australia.Criterion 2The entity can answer 'Yes' to each of the following statements:1. Its activity is carried out in any of:    1.1 the form of a business    1.2 the nature of trade, or    1.3 the form of a regular or continuous grant of a lease, licence or interest in property.2. Its activity is carried out in Australia or it makes supplies that are connected with Australia.3. Its activity is not a private recreational pursuit or hobby. After acquiring an ABN and a TFN, the trust can then open a bank account. A bank account should be opened for the trust in the name of the trustee as trustee for the trust. This should occur after the discretionary trust has been established and the trust deed stamped (if stamping is necessary). The bank may require the trust ABN before it will open the account. You can apply for an ABN along with a tax file number (TFN) as part of registering your fund with the ATO. Your fund will be eligible for tax concessions, and can receive contributions and rollovers after it is registered with the ATO. A superannuation entity must be set up correctly – in line with the superannuation legislation – to be entitled to an ABN. This requires the following steps: You can set up your self-managed superfund with our qualified professionals here.If you would like further inquire about SMSF ABNs feel free to email our consultants at support@company123.com.au or call 03 9832 0660. Other types of ABNs include: A deceased estate's entitlement to an ABN is dependant on the legal personal representative (LPR) carrying on an enterprise so as to finalise the affairs of the estate. Applicants must be one of the following: You cannot use an ABN held by the deceased person as an individual sole trader for business purposes after the person's death. The LPR may only need to apply for an TFN if they are not carrying on an enterprise but required to manage post date of death income. Cooperatives carrying on an enterprise and registered with the relevant state or territory authorities are entitled to an ABN. Incorporated entities entitled to an ABN if carrying on an enterprise are: If carrying on an enterprise, the following can also be entitled to an ABN: It's your responsibility to maintain your Australian business number (ABN) details. You must update your details within 28 days of becoming aware of any changes, including changes in addresses etc. Updating your ABN details will ensure: The fastest way is using your myGovID online. You can see how to create an account at the video below. For further information, please see the ATO website. You can't update: You will need to contact the ATO directly. Name changes made by the ATO and ASIC will update the ABR. If you're closing your business, or changing your business structure, it's likely you'll need to cancel your ABN. You'll need to cancel your ABN when changing from a: If your business is no longer operating you need to cancel your ABN on the ABR website.

Company123 as ASIC agents provide a quick and simple business name registration through our easy online form. You have the option for both 1 year and 3 year business name registration. We are also happy to offer renewal of business name services, through a similarly easy online form. A registered business name helps customers find, identify and connect with your business. You can have multiple business names linked to your Australian business number (ABN). If you want to trade your business under a specific name, you need to register it as a business name with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). It’s an offence to carry on business under an unregistered business name unless you trade under your own name such as Mary Jones. If you want your business to trade under a name that is different from your legal name, then you’ll have to register it as a business name. You only have to register your business name once. The business names register is National and once registered, the business name can be used Australia wide. If you're in business, the name of your company is probably one of your most valuable assets. An effective name is one that establishes a strong identity and describes the type of business you're conducting. It's not unusual for companies to go through one or more name changes as they grow. Choosing a name for a company can be the first step in developing a new identity for the business and establishing a new image. It's the first impression the public will have of your growing company. When choosing a business name, keep the following tips in mind:    -Choose a name that appeals not only to you, but also to the kind of customers you're trying to attract.  - -To get customers to respond to your business on an emotional level, choose a comforting or familiar name that conjures up pleasant memories.    -Don't pick a name that's long or confusing.    -Stay away from cute puns that only you understand.    -Don't use the work "Inc." after your name unless your company is actually incorporated.    -Don't use the word "Enterprises" after your name; this term is often used by amateurs. ‘Trading name’ is an old term, and now ‘trading name’ and ‘business name’ can be used interchangeably. Specifically, a ‘trading name’ refers to an unregistered name that businesses could use before the introduction of the National Business Names Register on 28 May 2012.A trading name is not a registered business name. If you wish to continue using a trading name, you need to register it as a business name. The Australian Business Register and ABN Lookup still display unregistered trading names however they will be removed from November 2023 and only registered business names will be displayed. A transition period from 28 May 2012 to 31 October 2023 is in place to allow businesses affected by the removal of trading names sufficient time to inform their customers, suppliers and other stakeholders of any changes to the name that they use to conduct their business. ‘Business name’ is the newest and most correct term and refers to names registered with ASIC after May 2012. Business name refers to the title your business operates under. You can register a business name here. Registering  your business name doesn’t give you any exclusive trading, branding or ownership rights over that name. Only a trademark can offer that kind of protection. Even though registering your business name means it’s registered nationally, it doesn’t mean that another business can’t operate with a similar name. To be able to completely protect your brand, and be able to legally stop other businesses from using your brand name commercially, you should also register a trademark. Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that allows your to distinguish the goods or services of your business from those of other businesses. It gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license or sell the trade mark. This means that no one else in Australia can commercially use your trade mark within the class of goods and services its registered under.IP Australia is the government body that regulates all Intellectual Property in Australia. As IP agents, Company123 can guide clients through the application process. Please call 03 9832 0660 for further trademark help or explore our trademark applications options here. Owning both the business name and trademark for your business gives your brand the ultimate protection. Your business name is registered nationally, however to extend that protection overseas, once registering an Australian trademark, you can register an International Trademark. Company 123 can also handle all your international trademark needs. International Trademarks can be done concurrently as Domestic Trademarks using the Madrid Protocol system. If applying for an international trademark within 6 months of lodging of a Domestic Trademark, the international trademark can claim priority and be backdated to the date of the original domestic lodgement. All countries covered by the Madrid Protocol can be found here. For more information on the international trademark process see here or call our trade mark specialists at 03 9832 0660. A legal name is the name of the entity that appears on all official documents or legal papers. It can be different to your business name. If you’re a company, it will be your full company name including proprietary limited (PTY LTD or any variation). For example, the legal name ABC Pty Ltd. This name will be established through company registration. If you’re a sole trader, your legal name will most likely be your own name. Other legal names include the name of a partnership or an incorporated association. If you want your business to trade under a name that is different from your legal name, then you’ll have to register a business name with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). You can do that here. You will need to register a business name if you carry on business within Australia and are not trading under your own name. Here are examples of when you need to register a business name: If this situation applies to you, you can register a business name here. Exceptions to needing a business name include: -if you are operating as an individual and your operating name is the same as your first name and surname   -if you are in a partnership and your operating name is the same as all the partners' names, or    -if you are an already registered Australian company and your operating name is the same as your company's name. Here are examples of when you don’t need to register a business name: You can’t update a registered business name, even if you only want to make a slight change to it. If you want to trade under a different business name, you must register a new one. You can either cancel your existing business name (if you don’t want to use it anymore), or keep your existing business name (in case you want to use it later or for a different part of your business). In order to have the business name incorporated into a company, you will need to first register a company. Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia.You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. Step 1: fill in a company registration form at Company123.Step 2: receive all company documents within minutes, sign and fileStep 3: receive ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. In order to ensure the business name transfers you will need to make sure the individual who owns the business name is either a director or shareholder. You will also need to input the business name’s ABN to the question “Is your company name a registered business name”. If in doubt we recommend that you discuss your needs with an accountant or solicitor for professional advice. Company123 provides free consultations if needed and over the phone advice within business hours of 9-6pm at 03 9832 0660. If a company is already in existence and wants to own the business name, there is a separate process for transfer. Company123 offers this service through ASIC connect as ASIC agents, as described here. You can see more about this process at the video below. If you are retiring or ceasing business, you can cancel your business name. You can do this through ASIC connect, as seen here. As ASIC agents, Company123 also offers this service. Please call or email our specialists for more information.

A successful business plans covers the basics of organization and finance but also goes beyond to showcase the company's vision and unique offerings to the market. Company123 offers a range of business plans that can be essential to the success of a business, providing vision, direction and a solid foundation of facts and figures. To aid your company in pursuing its development goals, Company123's expert team will combine their two decades of business and legal experience to draft up a tailored Business Plan once you fill in the “Set up Business Plan” form on our website.We offer three perfectly tailored Business Plan options: Ar $199, we offer plans that are perfect for any basic business development goals.Our Standard Business Plan includes:    Key Activities    Key Resources    Value Propositions    Market Analysis    Cost Structure    Revenue Streams & Sales ForecastsThese standard plans can be the first step in applying for more financing, assisting with rental lease applications, outlining your company's mission statement and drawing up business projections. At $399, we offer plans that are highly tailored to achieving all financing ambitions.Our Advanced Business Plans includes:    Executive Summary    Company Description    Market Analysis    Organization & Management    Service/Product Line    Marketing & Sales    Funding Request    Financial ProjectionsThe advanced plans are perfect for business loan applications, sale of business and raising finance. Our most comprehensive and robust business plan includes, and can include by discussion with our expert team, absolutely anything needed for the running and future goals of the company.Our Professional Business Plan includes:    Plan Summary        The Business        The Market        The Future        The Finances    The Business        Business Details        Registration Details        Business Premises        Organization Chart        Management & Ownership        Key Personnel        Product/Service        Innovation        Insurance        Risk Management        Legal Consideration        Operations        Sustainability Plans    The Market        Market Research        Market Targets        Environmental/Industry Analysis        Your Customers        S.W.O.T Analysis    Your Competitors    Advertising & Sales    The Future        Vision Statement        Mission Statement        Goals/Objectives        Action Plan    The Finances        Key Objectives & Financial Review        Assumptions        Start-up Costs        Balance Sheet Forecast        Profit & Loss Forecast        Expected Cash Flow    Break-even Analysis. Within the overall outline of the business plan, the executive summary will follow the title page. It should summarize what you expect your business to accomplish. This is your five-minute elevator pitch. It may include a table of contents, company background, market opportunity, management overviews, competitive advantages, and financial highlights. It’s probably easiest to write the detailed sections first and then extract the cream to create the executive summary. The statement should be kept short and businesslike, probably no more than half a page. It could be longer, depending on how complicated the use of funds may be, but the summary of a business plan, like the summary of a loan application, is generally no longer than one page. Within that space, you'll need to provide a synopsis of your entire business plan. Key elements that should be included are:    Business concept: Describes the business, its product and the market it will serve. It should point out just exactly what will be sold, to whom and why the business will hold a competitive advantage.    Financial features: Highlights the important financial points of the business including sales, profits, cash flows and return on investment.    Financial requirements: Clearly states the capital needed to start the business and to expand. It should detail how the capital will be used, and the equity, if any, that will be provided for funding. If the loan for initial capital will be based on security instead of equity, you should also specify the source of collateral.    Current business position: Furnishes relevant information about the company, its legal form of operation, when it was formed, the principal owners and key personnel.    Major achievements: Details any developments within the company that are essential to the success of the business. Major achievements include items like patents, prototypes, location of a facility, any crucial contracts that need to be in place for product development, or results from any test marketing that has been conducted. Make it easy for the reader to realize at first glance both your needs and capabilities. This is where you explain why you're in business and what you're selling. If you sell products: describe your manufacturing process, availability of materials, how you handle inventory and fulfillment, and other operational details. If you provide services: describe them and their value proposition to customers. Include other details such as strategic relationships, administrative issues, intellectual property you may own, expenses, and the legal structure of your company.Optional inclusions that pair well with this section, include: How you price your product is important because it will have a direct effect on the success of your business. Though pricing strategy and computations can be complex, the basic rules of pricing are straightforward:    -All prices must cover costs.    -The best and most effective way of lowering your sales prices is to lower costs.    -Your prices must reflect the dynamics of cost, demand, changes in the market and response to your competition.    -Prices must be established to assure sales. Don't price against a competitive operation alone. Rather, price to sell.    -Product utility, longevity, maintenance and end use must be judged continually, and target prices adjusted accordingly.    -Prices must be set to preserve order in the marketplace. Spell out your market analysis and describe your marketing strategy, including sales forecasts, deadlines and milestones, advertising, public relations and how you stack up against your competition. If you can’t produce a lot of data analysis, you can provide testimonials from existing customers. Begin your market analysis by defining the market in terms of size, structure, growth prospects, trends and sales potential. Ideally, your market analysis will show that you know the ins and outs of the industry and the specific market you’re planning to enter.To further enhance this section, you can include the following: A good business plan will present a clear comparison of your business to your direct and indirect competitors. You’ll need to show that you know their strengths and weaknesses and you know how your business will stack up. If there are any issues that could prevent you from jumping into the market, like high upfront costs, it’s best to say so.According to theory, the performance of a company within a market is directly related to the possession of key assets and skills. Therefore, an analysis of strong performers should reveal the causes behind such a successful track record. This analysis, in conjunction with an examination of unsuccessful companies and the reasons behind their failure, should provide a good idea of just what key assets and skills are needed to be successful within a given industry and market segment.Through your competitor analysis, you will also have to create a marketing strategy that will generate an asset or skill competitors don't have, which will provide you with a distinct and enduring competitive advantage. In your business plan, it’s important to describe how you intend to get your products and services in front of potential clients. In order to accomplish this, the promotion strategy must encompass every marketing tool utilized in the communication effort.As you pinpoint the steps you’re going to take to promote your products, you’ll need to mention the budget you’ll need to implement your strategies. Once the market has been researched and analyzed, conclusions need to be developed that will supply a quantitative outlook concerning the potential of the business. The first financial projection within the business plan must be formed utilizing the information drawn from defining the market, positioning the product, pricing, distribution, and strategies for sales. The sales or revenue model charts the potential for the product, as well as the business, over a set period of time. Most business plans will project revenue for up to three years, although five-year projections are becoming increasingly popular among lenders. Provide bios of your company executives and managers and explain how their expertise will help you meet business goals. Investors need to evaluate risk, and often, a management team with lots of experience may lower perceived risk.You’ll introduce your company managers and summarize their skills and primary job responsibilities. If you want to, you can create a diagram that maps out your chain of command.Don’t forget to indicate whether your business will operate as a partnership, a sole proprietorship or a business with a different ownership structure. If you have a board of directors, you’ll need to identify the members.This section can also include: The organizational structure of the company is an essential element within a business plan because it provides a basis from which to project operating expenses.The four stages for organizing a business are:1. Establish a list of the tasks using the broadest of classifications possible.2. Organize these tasks into departments that produce an efficient line of communications between staff and management.3. Determine the type of personnel required to perform each task.4. Establish the function of each task and how it will relate to the generation of revenue within the company. This is where you provide the numbers that back up everything you described in your organizational and marketing sections. The three common statements are a cash flow statement, an income statement and a balance sheet. Include conservative projections of your profit and loss statements, balance sheet, and your cash flow statements for the next three years. These are forward-looking projections, not your current accounting outputs. The income statement is a simple and straightforward report on the proposed business's cash-generating ability. It's a score card on the financial performance of your business that reflects when sales are made and when expenses are incurred. It draws information from the various financial models developed earlier such as revenue, expenses, capital (in the form of depreciation), and cost of goods. By combining these elements, the income statement illustrates just how much your company makes or loses during the year by subtracting cost of goods and expenses from revenue to arrive at a net result--which is either a profit or a loss. The cash-flow statement is one of the most critical information tools for your business, showing how much cash will be needed to meet obligations, when it is going to be required, and from where it will come. It shows a schedule of the money coming into the business and expenses that need to be paid. The result is the profit or loss at the end of the month or year. In a cash-flow statement, both profits and losses are carried over to the next column to show the cumulative amount. Keep in mind that if you run a loss on your cash-flow statement, it is a strong indicator that you will need additional cash in order to meet expenses. The balance sheet is divided into three sections. The top portion of the balance sheet lists your company's assets. Assets are classified as current assets and long-term or fixed assets. Current assets are assets that will be converted to cash or will be used by the business in a year or less. Other assets that appear in the balance sheet are called long-term or fixed assets. They are called long-term because they are durable and will last more than one year.After the assets are listed, you need to account for the liabilities of your business. Like assets, liabilities are classified as current or long-term. If the debts are due in one year or less, they are classified as a current liabilities. If they are due in more than one year, they are long-term liabilities. Once the liabilities have been listed, the final portion of the balance sheet-owner's equity-needs to be calculated. The amount attributed to owner's equity is the difference between total assets and total liabilities. The amount of equity the owner has in the business is an important yardstick used by investors when evaluating the company. Many times it determines the amount of capital they feel they can safely invest in the business. This section can also be followed with a Request for Funding, if necessary. If you need funding, you can devote an entire section to talking about the amount of money you need and how you plan to use the capital you’re trying to raise. If you’ll need extra cash in a year or two to complete a certain project, that’s something that’s important to disclose.

When running a business, it is important to distinguish whether you can register a trademark, or a patent or even if you already own copyright, all of which can bring value to your business. Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that allows you to distinguish the goods or services of your business from those of other businesses. It gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license or sell the trade mark. This means that no one else in Australia can commercially use your trade mark within the class of goods and services its registered under. IP Australia is the government body that regulates various forms of Intellectual Property in Australia. Copyright and trademark are two different things; governed by two separate departments and two separate laws.Trademarks require official registration in order to claim ownership and protection. Without official registration you may claim something is your ‘trademark’, but, you are not provided with legally enforceable rights to that ‘trademark’ unless you go through the official process.Copyright is automatic so you do not need to register. If you are the original creator/author, then you are entitled to display a copyright notice, and, you are provided the right to communicate your work to the public, promote it for sale and make alterations or adaptations to that work. If you find someone else is copying your work you may be entitled to take infringement action. For works created since January 2005, copyright generally lasts for the life time of the creator or author + 70 years. Where the duration is dependent on the year of publication, copyright will last for 70 years after it is first published. As IP agents, Company123 can guide clients through the application process, which involves the following steps: This is an optional step but is strongly advised to allow for clients to be well-informed before proceeding to application which can be costly.This process can involves: Trade Mark Search Report, prepared by our trade mark specialists. •    A Trade Mark Search Report will outline the likely outcome of your application, highlighting any potential difficulties, problems or potential conflicts.•    The search report will also provide advice in regards to appropriate classes, if the text, phrase or logo needs to be changed as all as well as some general trade mark information. •    The search report is a great starting point if you are unsure about Trade Marks, as this allows you to see how likely your mark will be registered without paying the full fee. •    Search reports are generally delivered with 5 business days and if you are happy with the outcome, you can proceed to the application. with the option to add an: Expedited Analysis Report, coordinated by Company123 with IP Australia which allows for both speedy analysis results and a quicker application process afterwards as well. You can read about this system on the IP Australia website. For further clarification on how Expedition works feel free to call our specialists at 03 9832 0660. Before submitting an application, there are some simple questions to answer first (when conducting an analysis prior to application, these questions are answered as part of the analysis).First, what type of trademark are you applying for? For example, a text or a logo? Each has to be a separate application.  These are the most common types, but there are various specialised and niche types of trademarks, which can be found on the IP Australia website. Next, what class/classes your trademark should be registered for? There are 45 different classes, encompassing a wide range of goods and services. To help you decide what goods or services to list think about the exact nature of your business and ask yourself the following:    Where do you derive your business income?    What is the nature of your business?    What are you known for by your customers/clients?    What products or services does your business provide? IP Australia provides a Trade Mark Assist service that can help further determine what classes are best for your trademark. To lodge an application through Company123, this form has to be filled out. Once payment is made, Company 123 as IP agents proceed to lodge the same day, and the Notice of Filing is given by IP Australia within 1 business day. Next, the proposed trademark is taken under examination, which ordinarily takes 4-6 months.With Expedition, this can be cut down to 1-2 months. (important to note that although you will receive early acceptance, for official registration every trademark has to wait at least 7 months) If successful, the trademark will be issued a Letter of Acceptance, and will proceed to Step 5.If unsuccessful, IP Australia will issue an Adverse Report detailing the issue.From there, there are often options to overcome the objection.Sometimes this involves amending the application by limiting the scope, sometimes providing evidence of Prior Use.Further information can be found here. During this 2 month period, it is advertised for opposition purposes.If there is no opposition (which is common), the application will proceed to Step 6. When a trademark is registered, you will receive a Certificate of Registration and the trademark is valid for 10 years, after which it must be renewed. Patents grant exclusive rights to exploit inventions for a period of time. Novel processes and/or compositions created by a company may rise to the level of patentable inventions that can be registered with the USPTO or may constitute trade secrets of the company.A patent is a legally enforceable right for a device, substance, method or process. For your application to be successful, your invention must be new, useful and inventive or innovative.When granted, a patent will give you exclusive commercial rights to your invention (a monopoly). Benefits of having a patent. The protection provided by the Australian patent system contributes to the success of new inventions and the millions of dollars in earnings they generate.A patent will:    give you the right to stop others from manufacturing, using and/or selling your invention in Australia without your permission    let you license someone else to manufacture your invention on agreed terms or take legal action against people who are using your invention without your permission    encourage Australians to continue their research, to develop new and innovative products, exploit new technology and promotes the transfer of technology to Australia    give our trading partners the incentive to provide similar rights and thereby protect our exports in markets overseas. The type of patent you hold will determine the duration of your protection.•    A standard patent lasts for up to 20 years.•    An innovation patent only lasts for up to eight years. (The innovation patent is being phased out, learn more).•    Pharmaceutical patents can last up to 25 years. A patent can be owned by:•    the inventor(s)•    the person who has legally obtained rights to the invention from the inventor(s) or an intermediary•    a company, organisation or other employer of someone who made the invention in the course of their normal duties. You must provide an address for legal service and this needs to be in Australia or New Zealand. Your address for correspondence can be anywhere in the world.A firm or partnership is unable to obtain a patent. The partners in the firm or partnership can, however, obtain a patent jointly in their own names. Having considered all the issues, you may decide that patenting is not the best option for your particular circumstances. You may prefer to keep your invention as a trade secret. When making this decision, you should assess the risk of someone discovering your invention through industrial espionage or, if your invention is a product, by reverse engineering. You also need to consider the consequences of someone else independently developing the same invention. Another alternative is to openly use and publish details about your invention. Publicly disclosing an invention will prevent someone else obtaining a patent for it. However while no one would have a commercial monopoly on your invention, your competitors would be free to use it for their own benefit. All Australian patent applications must be filed with IP Australia. It is also recommended to engage an attorney specialising in patents. For more on the process, see the IP Australia website. A design right is a type of intellectual property (IP) to protect designs. It is registered under the Designs Act 2003. Design registration aims to protect designs that have an industrial or commercial use. A registered design gives you, the owner, exclusive rights to commercially use, licence or sell it.Australian designs are protected under the Designs Act 2003 which came into force on 17 June 2004. The new Act was introduced to update existing legislation that dated back to 1906. Under the 1906 Act, all designs were examined and registration only occurred following examination. The current legislation, Designs Act 2003, assists in the protection of the overall appearance of a product resulting from one or more visual features of the product and takes into account the perspective of the informed user. Today, approximately 7000 new products are protected by design registrations each year in Australia. These registrations vary from new dress designs through to mobile phones and cars and a range of other objects in between. Some designs can not be legally registered. These include designs for medals, Australian currency and scandalous designs. Integrated circuit layouts are automatically protected by a modified version of copyright. Protection for artwork is automatically protected by copyright. You do need design protection if your artwork is applied to a product, which gives that product a unique look. Protects:  Drawings, art, literature, music, film, broadcasts, computer programsMeaning: The owner's original expression of ideas is protected, but not the ideas themselvesExample: Games of Thrones TV series. Protects: Any confidential information, including secret formulas, processes, and methods used in productionMeaning: These types of IP rights give creators certain rights and privileges depending on the type of IP protectionExample: Coca-Cola has used trade secrets to keep its formula from becoming public for decades. Protects:  Layout designs or plans of integrated circuits used in computer-generated designsMeaning: Similar to copyright, the owner’s original layout design is protected, but they have a unique form of protectionExample: Computer chips or semi-conductor chip designs in pacemakers and PCsFor more details on types of automatic protections, please read further: Copyrights protect original creative expressions or works of authorship. The moment an idea or creative concept is documented on paper or electronically it is automatically protected by copyright in Australia. Copyright protects the original expression of ideas, but not the ideas themselves. Common works protected by copyright include books, films, music, sound recordings, newspapers, magazines and artwork. It also protects originally created typographical arrangements, databases, media broadcasts, computer programs and compositions of other people's work such as academic journals or CD compilations. Copyright protection is provided under the Copyright Act 1968 and gives you exclusive rights to license others in regard to copying your work, performing it in public, broadcasting it, publishing it and making an adaptation of the work. Copyright is managed by the Department of Communications and the Arts, rather than IP Australia. Trade secrets are commercial information strictly guarded in secrecy having economic value to a business.A trade secret is different from a trade mark. IP Australia does not ‘register’ trade secrets. A trade secret is proprietary knowledge and it is up to you to protect that knowledge. One way you might keep this knowledge out of competitors’ hands is by ensuring employees or distributors sign confidentiality agreements. Examples of trade secrets include:•    the age-old recipe for Coca-Cola•    the combination of herbs and spices used in Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Coca-Cola company has used trade secrets to keep its formula from becoming public over a period of decades. It never applied for patent protection, so it was never required to disclose the formula. Common law provides protection for infringement of trade secrets, breach of confidentiality agreements and passing off trade marks. Proving a breach of confidentiality under common law can be complex and is potentially more costly than defending registered rights. Secrecy does not stop anyone else from inventing the same product or process independently and exploiting it commercially. It does not give you exclusive rights and you are vulnerable when employees with this knowledge leave your firm. Trade secrets are difficult to maintain over a long time or when many people know the secret. When contractors and employees leave, you should ask them to provide written undertakings that they will not compete with your business after they leave, in addition to signing a confidentiality agreement. It is often much easier to prove competition than breach of confidentiality. These undertakings are difficult to enforce and need to be prepared by your legal adviser. You need to be careful that the undertaking does not restrict the contractor's or employee's right to earn a living. Circuit layouts are the layout designs or plans (topographies) of integrated circuits used in computer-generated equipment. They are sometimes referred to as computer chip or semi-conductor chip designs. As with copyright, this is the responsibility of the Department of Communications and the Arts, not IP Australia. Circuit layout rights automatically protect original layout designs for integrated circuits and computer chips. While these rights are based on copyright law principles, they are a separate and unique form of protection. A circuit layout is a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional location of electronic components in an integrated circuit. Circuit layouts are usually highly complex and the intellectual effort in creating them is considerable and may be of great value. An integrated circuit or chip made from a layout is vital in all kinds of electronic devices, from pacemakers to personal computers. If you are the owner of a layout design, you are not required to register it to be granted rights. As the owner of an original circuit layout, you have the exclusive right to:•    copy the layout in a material form•    make integrated circuits from the layout•    exploit it commercially in Australia. Commercial exploitation may occur by importation, sale, hire or distribution of a layout or an integrated circuit made according to the layout. The duration of protection from the first commercial exploitation, continue for 10 years. The first commercial exploitation must occur within 10 years of creation of the layout, or 10 years from when it was made. So the maximum possible protection period is 20 years from the year of making an eligible layout.

Although based in Australia, in our increasingly globalised world, it can be productive to consider different ways to maximise business benefits by selecting the very best place to start your business. Some economic activities, such as producing and selling alcohol and firearms, are regulated by the Federal Government. The more hoops local authorities require you to jump through to obtain or renew a license, the less welcoming the local business climate will seem. Licenses tend to apply only to industries with strict professional standards, such as medicine and law, or those that directly affect public safety, such as construction (which typically involves licensing and permitting). In other places, licensing is much more common. If local authorities require entrepreneurs in your industry to obtain a business license, it’s one of the first things you need to do. Most licenses need to be renewed at regular intervals as well, anywhere from once per year to once per decade. And if your business does onsite projects in different cities and states, you need to keep up on licensing and permitting requirements in those locations too. No matter where they operate, businesses have to pay local (city or county), state, and federal taxes. Federal tax rates don’t vary from place to place, but local and state taxes certainly do. In high-tax areas, it’s not uncommon for individuals to pay state and local income taxes, businesses to pay state and possibly local corporate taxes, and both to pay local property taxes. Cities with lighter zoning regulations generally allow more types of business activity in more places. For instance, Houston is infamous for extremely light-touch zoning that, in theory, allows pretty much any business to operate pretty much anywhere – and essentially any type of structure to be built.If you’re a sole proprietor running a service business out of a home office or garage, zoning codes won’t affect you too much, even in less forgiving cities. However, they could quickly become an issue as your business grows – local authorities are likely to frown on the increased traffic, noise, parking hassles, and strain on local infrastructure. And if you’re starting a more intense business, such as a manufacturing or logistics operation, you’ll need to lease space in an industrial park right away. U.S. businesses must follow thousands of pages of local, state, and federal business regulations. Federal regulations, such as OSHA workplace safety rules and federal wage regulations, don’t vary from place to place – though specific federal regulations apply only to specific industries or businesses of a certain size.Local and Regional AmenitiesDifferent people value different amenities, with the precise mix for each person or family dependent on age, lifestyle, marital and family status, and a host of other factors. Examples include the following: •    Above-average public schools•    Mild or sunny climate•    Lots of open space and opportunities for recreation•    Strong, welcoming social and community networks•    Ample social services, whether public or nonprofit•    Safe streets and communities•    Good internal (roads, public transit) and external (airports, rail, interstate highways) transportation assets. Markets with lots of like-minded businesses tend to have well-developed private networks and resources that benefit early-stage companies. Industry-specific business incubators, where new entrepreneurs collaborate with established companies and receive valuable mentoring from seasoned industry hands, are increasingly common.In such supportive environments, leaders of mature firms naturally become mentors to promising early-stage companies, perpetuating a virtuous cycle. While traditional banks exist everywhere, they’re unwilling to lend to entrepreneurs with untested ideas and limited revenues. In many cases, even established businesses struggle to find adequate credit.The funding problem is particularly acute in cutting-edge industries such as software, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing. If you’re in a cutting-edge field, you can benefit greatly from access to deep-pocketed angel investors and venture capitalists capable of funding costly but necessary pre- and post-revenue activities like research, development, and marketing. Some areas are blessed with an ample supply of talented workers hungry to put their skills to work for ambitious entrepreneurs – or become entrepreneurs themselves. The presence of major research universities and laboratories, a long history of specialization in a particular industry, and strong professional networks all contribute to deep regional talent pools.Some areas are known for attracting talent of a particular nature. If you’re starting a business that requires a particular type of expertise, local labor force characteristics could well determine where you choose to locate. Though cost of living is more often viewed as an issue for individuals, it directly affects the cost of starting and running a business too. For instance, CNBC’s annual Top States for Business ranking typically finds a close correlation between cost of living and cost of doing business.Most notably, your area’s cost of living affects  how much you need to pay your employees to keep them well-fed – and encourage them not to seek higher-paying work at a nearby competitor. In high-cost areas, business supplies and inventory can be more expensive as well, particularly in areas with high transportation costs. Though cost of living is more often viewed as an issue for individuals, it directly affects the cost of starting and running a business too. For instance, CNBC’s annual Top States for Business ranking typically finds a close correlation between cost of living and cost of doing business.Most notably, your area’s cost of living affects  how much you need to pay your employees to keep them well-fed – and encourage them not to seek higher-paying work at a nearby competitor. In high-cost areas, business supplies and inventory can be more expensive as well, particularly in areas with high transportation costsIf you’re starting a business in an industry known for union activity, avoid legal action and other adverse consequences (such as picketing) by following local best practices – and be sure to budget more for labor. There are a multitude of ways to assess the business environment of a country and many countries rank high depending on the factors and the priorities entrepreneurs place on different aspects of incorporation. The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is the best place to incorporate if you are an internet entrepreneur with worldwide income that you want to park offshore. BVI has the most reputable company formation setups of all offshore jurisdictions.One of the most advantageous aspects of a BVI International Business Company is that you can pair this incorporation with a bank account in a reputable jurisdiction, such as Hong Kong or Singapore. Asian banks are particularly willing to work with BVI companies.In general, banks are so willing to work with BVI because:    the country takes the requirements for filing companies seriously,    they have been established as an offshore centre    there are additional forms that are required to set up an International Business Company in BVI, namely the beneficial owners declaration. Banks feel comfortable with this jurisdiction. Downsides to BVI:•    Not as cheap to incorporate as some other places (f.e. Belize).•    Registered office fees and government fees are also somewhat higher. Denmark is seen as one of the easy countries in Europe to incorporate a business in, and it really has some great pros going for it: •    With “flexicurity” you get the most flexible hiring and firing rules in the world, reducing the costs of scaling business operations up or down.•    You are able to register and finish your incorporation in days, not weeks.•    There are no resident requirements for the management, including CEO and Board of Directors.•    No notarial deeds.•    It’s tax efficient to establish your business in Denmark compared to other Nordic countries.•    Danish company law is modern and in conformity with the current EU legislation. Norway has a strong economy and most communication with the government can be done digitally.Registering a property is fast, and complying with tax laws is relatively straightforward. Resolving insolvency in Norway is also low-cost, with fees averaging 1% of the bankrupt entity’s value. In general, benefits include: •    Great for digital nomads, as all communication is done digitally•    Focus on tech based business•    Highly skilled workers in IT, finance, design and music tech•    Entrepreneurs have access to industrial expertise, investors and talent•    Economic and governmental stability•    Long-standing trade ties with the EU•    Well-developed communication and transport infrastructures. However, downsides include: •    Getting construction permits can be lengthy•    Labour regulations are quite rigid. New Zealand is considered one of the easiest countries to do business in, because: •    incorporating a business takes only a day,•    registering a property can be done in two days,•    the workforce is skilled and educated,•    labor costs are low,•    in terms of taxes, there are no payroll, social security or capital gains taxes, and•    it sets up LLCs that are their own legal entity, separate from shareholders. Singapore is known for the many international businesses that station their headquarters there. Due to strong trade and investment opportunities, the city attracts global entrepreneurs and leaders, and has been named the most competitive Asian country to start a business. Singapore has long been considered one of the best places to do business in the world because it. •    is one of the wealthiest nations in the world,•    is politically stable,•    is an easy location to do business,•    has a strong labor force, and imposes no dividend or capital gains taxes. Belize is a good place for an internet entrepreneur to incorporate because:    Banks allow you to set up an account without being on site in Belize    Great for merchant accounts    Can be used for a variety of different businesses    No taxes    Low setup costs    Banks allow high-risk merchant accounts (f.e. gambling, pharma- or adult industry)The main con is that it does not have the most reputable jurisdiction. Nevis is one of the best places to incorporate from an asset protection standpoint. If you are running a business that is fraught with liability, it makes sense to go to a place where the claimant has to post a bond in order to bring a suit against you. In order to sue your company, a person will have to file a suit in Nevis and pay for the court proceedings. Further Nevis Pros: •    Privacy, since there is no country-wide register•    Good asset protection•    Lawsuit protection•    Government and prime minister willing to discuss passports with entrepreneurs. Despite these advantages that Nevis has going for it, there is one caveat: like Belize, it doesn’t have the most reputable jurisdiction – yet? There are several factors that make the United States a good country to start a business in: •    The workforce is diverse and skilled.•    It is a recognized leader in research and development as well as innovation.•    You can also find a wide variety of funding sources: investment firms, banks, venture capitalists and angel investors. But the US is a big country with 50 states to choose from. The key factors mentioned above can vary from state to state. Then there’s the question whether you’re a US-resident wanting to incorporate a business in the US or a foreigner – does that make a difference? It does, but don’t worry. There’s a general rule of thumb you can follow: •    If you’re a US-resident, you should incorporate your business in the state you live in.•    If you’re a non-US-resident, you should incorporate your business in Delaware. Incorporating a company in the United Kingdom (UK) is both fast and affordable, making it one of the easiest countries in Europe to set up and run a business in, for the following reasons: Incorporating a company can be completed in an hour – for £14.    The tax authorities understand that new companies generally aren’t profitable in their early years.    The British government offers various tax benefits for investors, founders and employees.Some of the best places to start a business in the UK include Derby, Stoke, Belfast, Stirling and Durham. Starting a business in Australia can also be simple, and can be done in various ways, depending on your tax, liability and cost requirements. Starting from the most cost-effective route, new business owners can choose to register an ABN under their name as a sole trader and begin trading within minutes. Sole trader ABNs can be registered here. Slightly more expensive than the ABN registration, you can choose to register a business name for one or three years and trade under this name. An ABN is required to register a name to trade under, so many different types of entities can own a business name. You can choose to register your business name under your sole trader ABN or set up a company and have multiple trading names under its ABN. Business Names can be registered here. At a higher cost, you can register a company to run your business through. Generally, this can be considered the best option, as it comes with company tax rates, limited liability and a greater legal protection and structure. Companies can be registered in five minutes here. Globally, the World Economic Forum uses the indicator of ‘business dynamism’ to rank countries according to its business environment and innovation. In these business dynamism rankings, the US was ranked No. 1, scoring a global high of 86.5 points out of 100 in the category. The business dynamism ranking factored in several metrics, such as the cost and speed of starting a business in each country, the attitudes of entrepreneurs toward risk, and the willingness of companies to embrace disruptive ideas. "An agile and dynamic private sector increases productivity by taking business risks, testing new ideas, and creating innovative products and services," the report said. "In an environment characterized by frequent disruption and redefinition of businesses and sectors, successful economic systems are resilient to technological shocks and are able to constantly re-invent themselves." Overall, the following are the highest scoring countries important to consider when selecting a country for your next business venture: 1.    Unites States : 86.52.    Germany: 81.63.    Netherlands: 80.34.    Sweden: 79.85.    Israel: 79.66.    Denmark: 79.17.    United Kingdom: 798.    Finland: 78.39.    Norway: 7710.    Ireland: 76.911.    Iceland: 76.612.    New Zealand: 76.413.    Canada: 7614.    Japan: 75.715.    Australia: 75.216.    Singgapore: 74.717.    Hong Kong: 74.518.    Belgium: 73.819.    Malaysia: 73.820.    Switzerland: 72.621.    Taiwan: 72.422.    South Korea: 71.623.    Thailand: 7124.    Slovenia: 70.325.    Czech Republic 70.2 With America scoring high in business dynamism, it can be an important locale to consider at least expanding to.For an American focus, Personal finance website WalletHub looked at 100 cities in the U.S. and compared them based on three different categories: business environment, access to resources and business costs:The top 20 top cities are: 1.    Orlando, FL2.    Oklahoma City, OK3.    Miami, FL4.    Austin, TX5.    Tampa, FL6.    Charlotte, NC7.    Durham, NC8.    Raleigh, NC9.    Atlanta, GA10.    Denver, CO11.    Fort Worth, TX12.    Jacksonville, FL13.    Houston, TX14.    St. Petersburg, FL15.    Dallas, TX16.    San Antonio, TX17.    Irving, TX18.    Laredo, TX19.    Oakland, CA20.    Irvine, CAAll are highly business friendly cities, however, depending on the value you’ve placed on the previously discussed factors, you may find some cities more suitable than others. Some cities are more popular with start-ups than others. The survey found that number three on the list, Miami, Florida, is home to the most startups per 100,000 residents at 234.72, which is 3.2 times more than in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is the city with the fewest at 74.40 per 100,000 residents.If cost of living is a top concern, you might consider number 18 on the list, Laredo, Texas, which has the lowest cost-of-living index according to the study. It’s probably not a surprise that tech hub San Francisco has the highest cost-of-living index. San Francisco has the highest annual rent for office space at $80.22 per square foot, while Toledo, Ohio, has the lowest annual average rent at $11.93 per square foot. Lincoln, Nebraska, has the most accessible financing while San Bernardino, California, has the least. Detroit, Michigan, has the lowest labor costs with a median annual income of $27,838, which is 4.4 times lower than in Fremont, California, which has the highest labor costs with a median annual income of $122,191.

The act of creating a business plan shifts a mere idea into a working strategy. A well thought out business plan is paramount to the success of such ideas where the business plan is the basis of bringing in investors and laying out the steps for profit. The business plan details what the company’s status, current needs, and its prospects. It must portray the company in an honest manner whilst also being attractive to the intended target audience. The plan must present the company’s current financial projections, demands from prospective buyers and explain past and present major structural decisions made by the owner. Because they struggle so hard to assemble, organise, describe, and document so much, it is not surprising that managers sometimes overlook the fundamentals. We have found that the most important one is the accurate reflection of the viewpoints of three constituencies. 1. The market, including both existing and prospective clients, customers, and users of the planned product or service. 2. The investors, whether of financial or other resources. 3. The producer, whether the entrepreneur or the inventor. A problem is an unmet or underserved need of people you have observed. Your business is relevant because you propose to meet this need. For example, Netflix in its budding days identified a problem with video stores. It was time consuming and inconvenient to go to the video store every time you felt like watching a new movie. Ensure you are constantly addressing this issue as it is fundamentally central to how your business will operate. Ask yourself: • What do I sell or offer? Why? • To whom do I sell? • What is the history of the business? • What is my vision for the future? • What is different about the services I offer? • What is the legal structure of the company? Here, you bring out your business idea that will solve the problem you had highlighted above. Your product and/or service is immediately justified because of the problem you had introduced to the audience beforehand. Again, looking at Netflix, the company initially solved the problem of time consumption and inconvenience by delivering movies directly to customers’ homes. Defining the problem you are solving for your customers is by far the most critical element of your business plan and crucial for your business success. If you can’t pinpoint a problem that your potential customers have, then you might not have a viable business concept. To ensure that you are solving a real problem for your potential customers, a great step in the business planning process is to get away from your computer and actually go out and talk to potential customers. Validate that they have the problem you assume they have, and then take the next step and pitch your potential solution to their problem. Is it a good fit for them? Once you have described your target market’s problem, the next section of your business plan should describe your solution. Your solution is the product or service that you plan on offering to your customers. What is it and how is it offered? How exactly does it solve the problem that your customers have? For some products and services, you might want to describe use cases or tell a story about a real user who will benefit from (and be willing to pay for) your solution. 3. Business Model. A business model highlights how your organization will create and capture value or make money. You will need to provide details like production costs, selling costs, pricing strategy and distribution channels, among others. Consider the example of YouTube. YouTube’s business model hinges on users who by and large engage on the platform for free. YouTube leverages this ever-increasing user base to attract advertisers, which provides revenues. The market analysis includes a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of a particular group your business will target. You should include the size of the said market, regulatory considerations and customer segments along with their respective buying powers and patterns. Think about your industry and what you think the future trends will be. Then analyse your competition. Determine what size of the market they hold and then clearly define where you fit into the mix. For example, Swedish furniture brand Ikea’s US target market could be described as urban young professionals who like Scandinavian style and are willing to put in a little set up work themselves to save money on quality furnishings. These individuals spend, on average, $8,000 on furnishing when they move into a new home or apartment. In this section, identify your main competitors, who could turn into competitors with time and what differentiates you from them. Take the example of coffee giant Starbucks. Their competitor analysis would yield large brands like Dunkin’ Donuts, Panera Bread and McDonald’s McCafé, as well as boutique coffee shops on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. Starbucks differentiates itself through providing specialty coffee products of consistent quality under a national brand. Strong financial projections include an income statement, a cash flow statement and a balance sheet. These detailed spreadsheets will not fit into a one-page business plan. Instead, simply include one or two graphs that illustrate the crux of your financial projections. This is often what entrepreneurs find most daunting, but it doesn’t have to be as intimidating as it seems. Business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. That said, if you need additional help, there are plenty of tools and resources out there to help you build a solid financial plan. A typical financial plan will have monthly sales and revenue forecasts for the first 12 months, and then annual projections for the remaining three to five years. Three-year projections are typically adequate, but some investors will request a five-year forecast. Following are details of the financial statements that you should include in your business plan, and a brief overview of what should be in each section. Your sales forecast is just that—your projections of how much you are going to sell over the next few years. A sales forecast is typically broken down into several rows, with a row for each core product or service that you are offering. Don’t make the mistake of breaking down your sales forecast into excruciating detail. Just focus on high-level buckets at this point. For example, if you are forecasting sales for a restaurant, you might break down your forecast into these groups: lunch, dinner, and drinks. If you are a product company, you could break down your forecast by target market segments or into major product categories. Your sales forecast will also include a corresponding row for each sales row to cover the Cost of Goods Sold, also known as COGS (also called direct costs). These rows show the expenses related to making your product or delivering your service. COGS should only include those costs directly related to making your products, not regular business expenses such as rent, insurance, salaries, etc. For restaurants, it would be the cost of ingredients. For a product company, it would the cost of raw materials. For a consulting business, it might be the cost of paper and other presentation materials. Your income statement, also known as the profit and loss (or P&L), is where your numbers all come together and show if you’re making a profit or taking a loss. The P&L pulls data from your sales forecast and your personnel plan and also includes a list of all your other ongoing expenses associated with running your business. The P&L also contains the all-important “bottom line” where your expenses are subtracted from your earnings to show if your business is making a profit each month or potentially incurring some losses while you grow. The most common income statement items include; • Sales (or income or revenue): This number will come from your sales forecast worksheet and includes all revenue generated by the business. • Cost of goods sold (COGS): This number also comes from your sales forecast and is the total cost of selling your product. For service businesses, this can also be called the cost of sales or direct costs. • Gross margin: Subtract your COGS from your sales to get this number. Most profit and loss statements also show this number as a percentage of total sales (gross margin/sales = gross margin percent) • Operating expenses: List all of your expenses associated with running your business, excluding the COGS that you already detailed. You should also exclude taxes, depreciation, and amortization. However, you do include salaries, research and development (R&D) expenses, marketing expenses, and other expenses here. • Total operating expenses: This is the sum of your operating expenses. • Operating income: This is also known as EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. This is a simple calculation where you just subtract your total operating expenses and COGS from your sales. • Interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization: If you have any of these expense streams, you will list them below your operating income. • Total expenses: Add your operating expenses to interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to get your total expenses. • Net profit: This is the all-important bottom line that shows if you’ve made a profit, or taken a loss, during a given month or year. The cash flow statement often gets confused with the profit and loss statement, but they are very different and serve very different purposes. While the P&L calculates your profits and losses, the cash flow statement keeps track of how much cash (money in the bank) that you have at any given point. The key to understanding the difference between the two statements is understanding the difference between cash and profits. The simplest way to think about it is when you make a sale. If you need to send a bill to your customer and then your customer takes 30 or 60 days to pay the bill, you don’t have the cash from the sale right away. But, you will have booked the sale in your P&L and shown a profit from that sale the day you made the sale. The last financial statement that most businesses will need to create as part of their business plan is the balance sheet. The balance sheet provides an overview of the financial health of your business. It lists the assets in your company, the liabilities, and your (the owner’s) equity. If you subtract the company’s liabilities from assets, you can determine the net worth of the company. The binding and printing must not be sloppy; neither should the presentation be too lavish. A stapled compilation of photocopied pages usually looks amateurish, while bookbinding with typeset pages may arouse concern about excessive and inappropriate spending. A plastic spiral binding holding together a pair of cover sheets of a single colour provides both a neat appearance and sufficient strength to withstand the handling of a number of people without damage. A business plan should be no more than 40 pages long. The first draft will likely exceed that, but editing should produce a final version that fits within the 40-page ideal. Adherence to this length forces entrepreneurs to sharpen their ideas and results in a document likely to hold investors’ attention. Background details can be included in an additional volume. Entrepreneurs can make this material available to investors during the investigative period after the initial expression of interest. The cover should bear the name of the company, its address and phone number, and the month and year in which the plan is issued. Surprisingly, a large number of business plans are submitted to potential investors without return addresses or phone numbers. An interested investor wants to be able to contact a company easily and to request further information or express an interest, either in the company or in some aspect of the plan. Inside the front cover should be a well-designed title page on which the cover information is repeated and, in an upper or a lower corner, the legend “Copy number______” provided. Besides helping entrepreneurs keep track of plans in circulation, holding down the number of copies outstanding—usually to no more than 20—has a psychological advantage. After all, no investor likes to think that the prospective investment is shopworn. The two pages immediately following the title page should concisely explain the company’s status, its products or services, the benefits to customers, the financial forecasts, the venture’s objectives in three to seven years, the amount of financing needed, and how investors will benefit. It is arguably the most important section in the entire business plan. This is a tall order for a two-page summary, but it will either sell investors on reading the rest of the plan or convince them to forget the whole thing. Most executive summaries include: • Mission Statement. • Company history and leadership. • Competitive advantage overview. • Financial projections. • Company goals. If investors don’t like your Executive Summary, they won’t read any further, so this section is critical. Concisely describe what your business does and what market need it solves. Of critical importance, describe your “unique success factors,” which are the 4-7 reasons why your business will be successful. The executive summary of your business plan introduces your company, explains what you do, and lays out what you’re looking for from your readers. Structurally, it is the first chapter of your business plan. And while it’s the first thing that people will read, I generally advise that you write it last. Why? Because once you know the details of your business inside and out, you will be better prepared to write your executive summary. After all, this section is a summary of everything else you’re going to write about. Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. In fact, it’s very common for investors to ask for only the executive summary when they are evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation, and more in-depth financials. Because your executive summary is such a critical component of your business plan, you’ll want to make sure that it’s as clear and concise as possible. Cover the key highlights of your business, but don’t into too much detail. Ideally, your executive summary will be one to two pages at most, designed to be a quick read that sparks interest and makes your investors feel eager to hear more. After the executive summary include a well-designed table of contents. List each of the business plan’s sections and mark the pages for each section. Even though we might wish it were not so, writing effective business plans is as much an art as it is a science. The idea of a master document whose blanks executives can merely fill in—much in the way lawyers use sample wills or real estate agreements—is appealing but unrealistic. Businesses differ in key marketing, production, and financial issues. Their plans must reflect such differences and must emphasize appropriate areas and deemphasize minor issues. Remember that investors view a plan as a distillation of the objectives and character of the business and its executives. A cookie-cutter, fill-in-the-blanks plan or, worse yet, a computer-generated package, will turn them off. Write your business plans by looking outward to your key constituencies rather than by looking inward at what suits you best. You will save valuable time and energy this way and improve your chances of winning investors and customers. A good business plan will not only identify ways to make your business idea work, it can also help you identify reasons why your idea might not work so you can address them before you invest time and money. After which you would need a force field analysis – for each issue identified in your SWOT analysis, identify the positives and negatives of each issue and the actions you will take to address the issue. Investors are interested in not only what problems may arise, but more importantly how you can tackle them and in the best way possible. Using internal and external data, the technique can guide businesses toward strategies more likely to be successful, and away from those in which they have been, or are likely to be, less successful. Independent SWOT analysts, investors, or competitors can also guide them on whether a company, product line, or industry might be strong or weak and why. Strengths describe what an organization excels at and what separates it from the competition: a strong brand, loyal customer base, a strong balance sheet, unique technology, and so on. For example, a hedge fund may have developed a proprietary trading strategy that returns market-beating results. It must then decide how to use those results to attract new investors. Weaknesses stop an organization from performing at its optimum level. They are areas where the business needs to improve to remain competitive: a weak brand, higher-than-average turnover, high levels of debt, an inadequate supply chain, or lack of capital. Opportunities refer to favourable external factors that could give an organization a competitive advantage. For example, if a country cuts tariffs, a car manufacturer can export its cars into a new market, increasing sales and market share. Threats refer to factors that have the potential to harm an organization. For example, a drought is a threat to a wheat-producing company, as it may destroy or reduce the crop yield. Other common threats include things like rising costs for materials, increasing competition, tight labour supply. and so on. Creating a SWOT analysis involves identifying and analysing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a company. It is recommended to first create a list of questions to answer for each element. The questions serve as a guide for completing the SWOT analysis and creating a balanced list. The SWOT framework can be constructed in list format, as free text, or, most commonly, as a 4-cell table, with quadrants dedicated to each element. Strengths and weaknesses are listed first, followed by opportunities and threats. Here at Company123, our expert team will combine their two decades of business and legal experience to assist you in creating your Business Plan once you fill in the form on our website. We offer a range of bespoke Business Plan options: At $199, we offer plans that are perfect for any basic business development goals. Our Standard Business Plan includes: Key Activities. Key Resources. Value Propositions. Market Analysis. Cost Structure. Revenue Streams & Sales Forecasts. These standard plans can be the first step in applying for more financing, assisting with rental lease applications, outlining your company's mission statement and drawing up business projections. At $399, we offer plans that are highly tailored to achieving all financing ambitions. Our Advanced Business Plans includes: Executive Summary. Company Description. Market Analysis. Organization & Management. Service/Product Line. Marketing & Sales. Funding Request. Financial Projections. The advanced plans are perfect for business loan applications, sale of business and raising finance. Our most comprehensive and robust business plan includes, and can include by discussion with our expert team, absolutely anything needed for the running and future goals of the company. The Business. The Market. The Future. The Finances. Business Details. Registration Details. Business Premises. Organization Chart. Management & Ownership. Key Personnel. Product/Service. Innovation. Insurance. Risk Management. Legal Consideration. Operations. Sustainability Plans. Market Research. Market Targets. Environmental/Industry Analysis. Your Customers. S.W.O.T Analysis. Vision Statement. Mission Statement. Goals/Objectives. Action Plan. Key Objectives & Financial Review. Assumptions. Start-up Costs. Balance Sheet Forecast. Profit & Loss Forecast. Expected Cash Flow.

A lot of confusion exists surrounding the need for a business name. In this article we will go through a few FAQ: Yes, to apply for a registered business name you will need to have (or be in the process of applying for) an Australian Business Number (ABN). In order to run a business operation, you need to have an ABN. If you would like to operate and trade under a name which is different to the name of the legal entity, eg Jacob Mowing services PTY LTD for a company or Jacob Smith as a sole trader, you require a business name. If instead you would want to operate simply as Jacob Mowing services, you need to have that name registered. The legal name of an entity is the name that appears on all official documents and legal papers. If you have a private company, the legal name typically will have PTY LTD (or any variation of ‘proprietary limited’). If you have registered as a sole trader your full name that was registered with the ABN will be the name of the legal entity. Below is a useful diagram from the Small Business WA website demonstrating when you would need a Business name. Yes, a single ABN can have more than one business name. The business names will help customers and clients find, identify and connect with your business. The name of your business is at your full discretion. It is important to choose something that will help your customers easily identify and connect with your product or service. You can change your Business Name as your business will grow and change so it is not uncommon for businesses to go through numerous name changes over its life. As such there is no need to stress too much about choosing the perfect name. However here are a few tips: • Have the target customer in mind when you’re choosing the name of your business. • Choose something that excites both you and your customers. • Make sure it won’t get mistaken for another business name. • Have fun with it. Alliterations such as Brainy Ben, Cool Cakes etc make your Business have a fun ring to it. • Don’t spend to much time on it though. You can always change it at a later date. You are able to check the availability of a business name by clicking the link to our website Company123 here. There are three criteria for determining whether a business name is available under the Business Names Registration Act 2011 and the Business Names Registration (Availability of Names) Determination 2015: A business name is identical or nearly identical to another name if, despite the characters used in the name, it may be pronounced the same as the other name. Eg; ‘Cool@maths’ is the same as ‘Kool at mathz’ ‘100% fun’ is the same as ‘one hundred percent fun’ ‘Dollars and scent’ is the same as ‘$ and scent’ A business name is identical or nearly identical to another name if the words and expressions in the name are taken to be the same. i. Build, builders, buildings, building services, construct, constructions, construction services, fabrications, developments. ii. roofing, roofing services, roof repairs, roof restorations, roofing solution. iii. auto body repairs, body repairs, body shop, body works, crash repairs, dent removal, motor body repairs, panel beating, panels, panel works, smash repairs, detailing. iv. massage centre, massage therapy, remedial massage, sports massage, therapeutic massage, massage. i. Australian, Australia, Aussie, Aus, Aust. ii. Victorian, Victoria, VIC. iii. Tasmanian, Tasmania, TAS. iv. New South Wales, NSW etc. i. 1, one. ii. 2, two etc. iii. %, percent. iv. @, at. v. &, and. i. fuel, petrol, petroleum, diesel. ii. pics, pix, shots, snaps. iii. bedding, mattress, bed. iv. fone, phones. v. footwear, shoes. vi. bicycles, bikes, cycles. A word or expression mentioned in Schedule 2 is a restricted word or expression in relation to entities and businesses unless the Minister has given written consent to the use of the word or expression. Eg. i. Ambulance, Ambulance service. ii. Bank. iii. Chamber of Commerce. iv. Chamber of Industry. v. Charity. vi. Charter. vii. Credit Union. viii. Fire Brigade. ix. GST. x. Incorporated. xi. RSL. xii. Made in Australia. xiii. Police. xiv. Stock exchange. You can only use these terms if indeed you have the rights to do so. This also includes using terms such as NDIS without the permission of that government agency. A Business Name can be considered undesirable if it is considered by ASIC to be offensive to the general public or members of a section of the general public. i. The Crown. ii. Commonwealth Government. iii. A department, authority or instrumentality of the Commonwealth Government; iv. The Government of a foreign country. v. A charitable organisation. vi. Member of the Royal Family. Interestingly the legislation also specifically includes that any non-consensual association with Sir Donald Bradman or Mary MacKillop is not permitted as a Business Name. Further note that when creating a Business Name the following do not assist in the differentiation between to Business Names. They will be considered the same if the only difference is: 1. Use of “a”, “an” or “the”. 2. Use of entity types such as association, co-operative, incorporated, limited, pty, etc. 3. Whether a word is singular or plural. 4. Font, upper/lower case, spaces, hyphens, punctuation marks, accents. 5. An abbreviation or acronym. 6. Use of domain name indicators such as “www”, “net”, “org” or “com”. ‘Trading name’ is an old term, and now ‘trading name’ and ‘business name’ can be used interchangeably. Specifically, a ‘trading name’ refers to an unregistered name that businesses could use before the introduction of the National Business Names Register on 28 May 2012. A trading name is not a registered business name. Now, any name you wish to ‘trade’ under needs to be registered with ASIC for it to be valid. The Australian Business Register and ABN Lookup still display unregistered trading names however they will be removed from November 2023 and only registered business names will be displayed. A transition period from 28 May 2012 to 31 October 2023 is in place to allow businesses affected by the removal of trading names sufficient time to inform their customers, suppliers and other stakeholders of any changes to the name that they use to conduct their business. However, these businesses are able to register their old trading names through ASIC to have a valid Business Name. ‘Business name’ is the newest and most correct term and refers to names registered with ASIC after May 2012. Business name refers to the title your business operates under. You can register a business name here. A. If your business name is registered in more than one state or territory, all your business names will have transferred to ASIC's national business names register. You may now have multiple identical business names registered to you. You can choose to keep one business name record (e.g. the business name with the latest registration expiry date) and cancel the registration of your other remaining business names. There is no fee to cancel a business name. Keeping only one business name may reduce the administrative burden of maintaining several business name registrations (including receiving multiple notices for each registration) and minimise the potential for confusion from consumers in determining the business name holder’s correct details. Even though a Business Name must be unique, it doesn’t grant you any exclusive trading, branding or ownership rights over that name. A trademark however, once registered with IP Australia gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license and/or sell the trademark. Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that grant you these protections where no one in Australia will be able to use the registered trademark for the class of goods and services it’s been applied under. You are welcome to contact us at Company123 as IP agents to help you through the application process. Please call us at 03 9832 0660 for a trademark consultation or explore our trademark services here. Most of the information on the Business Names Register is available free of charge. Some information is only available by purchasing an extract. The fee charged will depend on the type of extract you purchase. It is a good idea to check the free information available before paying for an extract. More information is available about the ASIC fees on their search fees page. You can buy a current and historical business name extract using ASIC Connect. Extracts for business name holders cannot be purchased online. You will need to complete an Application for person and organisation information from the business names register. From there you can find who the current owner of the Business name is and all prior owners of that Business Name whether it be an individual or another entity. Personal information about the Business Name owner is not available to public for reasons of privacy. Examples of private information include the owner’s date and place of birth as well as their residential address. The Business address can be shown in some circumstances however if the principal place of business is the same as the owner’s residential address, only the city, suburb, state and postcode will be shown. The service of documents address will always be displayed in full, even if it's the same as the holder's residential address. You can request that ASIC supress these details on the register. If ASIC approves a request to suppress details, they'll remove information from their registers. The word 'suppressed' will appear where information has been suppressed. Do I need to display a record of registration of my Business Name? The owner of a Business name no longer needs to display a record of the registration of that Business name in the shopfront. This used to be a rule however was removed in 2012. If you still would like a printed version of your certificate or if you would like it framed for your personal needs, you can ask for one on our Business Name Registration form. However, Businesses must display their business name itself in places where they are open to the public. For example, on their shopfront. Once the business name has been registered, we'll email you a copy of your record of registration. You can then trade using the name. If your details change, you must update your details with us. (for example, if you've moved addresses). You must prominently display your business name wherever you're open to the public, like at your storefront. You must also include your ABN on any business correspondence that you send out, like invoices or purchase orders. To check your business name details through the Business Names Index: Step 1 - Go to ASIC Connect search. Step 2 - Select 'Business Names Index' from the drop down box in the top right corner. Step 3 - Enter the ABN or name of the business you're looking for. You'll see a list of matching results on the business names register. Step 4 - Select your business name from the list. You'll see a summary of the business name details. You can also save them as a PDF. How do I know when my Business Name is ready for renewal? You can check the renewal date for your registered business name on ASIC Connect. Select the Business Names Register tab and search within the Business Names Index which you select from the drop-down box. If you don't renew your business name on time, ASIC may cancel it. Find out more about ASIC initiated cancellation of a business name. The law does not allow you to transfer or assign a business name to another holder. However, you can choose to cancel the business name and notify us of your consent to transfer the business name to another holder. This can be done in the same transaction. When you submit a request to cancel the business name, select the Cancel and transfer option. We will then email you the transfer number. You can then provide this number to the new proposed business name holder, where they can use it to apply to register for the business name. If the new registration does not occur within three months from cancellation, the transfer number will expire and the name will become available for the public to register.

Voluntary deregistration shuts down your company as a legal entity and removes all obligations of the officeholders including paying annual ASIC fees, lodgement of reports and updating company details. A company can only become deregistered if it follows certain criteria. If your company owes money to creditors or is insolvent and cannot pay back its creditors, deregistration is not an option. If this is the case, you will need to involve a liquidator. • all members of the company agree to deregister. • the company is not conducting business. • the company's assets are worth less than $1000 • the company has no outstanding liabilities (e.g. debts) • the company is not involved in any legal proceedings. • the company has paid all fees and penalties payable to ASIC, and. • it is recommended that all the company’s tax and superannuation obligations are up to date. To find out what you need to do, visit the Australian Taxation Office's website. If your company does not fulfil these requirements, it likely will need to be wound up by a liquidator. See below for more details. It is important to note that even if your company is worth less than $1000 before it is deregistered, all remaining assets vests in either ASIC or the Commonwealth. As such, you should ensure that all company assets are dealt with accordingly before it is fully deregistered. This is because once a company does not exist as a legal entity, the officeholders no longer have legal rights to the company’s assets. Making false or misleading statements carries a heavy penalty where some offences can lead to 5 years imprisonment. It is therefore recommended that before you voluntarily deregister your company, you seek legal advice if you are unsure, and in any event, conduct thorough searches including: • share registries - if your company owned shares, regardless of whether the shares are held beneficially or as a trustee. • land titles offices - if your company owned real property, or held any other interest over real property e.g. mortgage or caveat and. • bank accounts - regardless of whether your company owned the account beneficially or as a trustee. If your company is worth more than $1000 and is solvent, it goes through the process of winding up. Winding up a company involves selling a company's assets and distributing the proceeds amongst creditors and shareholders. In order for the deregistration of a solvent company, a majority of directors need to make a Declaration of solvency. This informs ASIC that you believe you will be able to meet pay back all creditors in full within 12 months of the commencement of the winding up. The form that must be signed is called a 520 form. After the lodgement of the 520 form, a special resolution must be passed by the company members to wind up the company. They must have 21 days of notice in writing of the meeting to vote on the resolution. In order for the winding up to go ahead, 75% or more of members have to vote in favour of resolution. The resolution will also appoint an accredited liquidator or liquidators. The formal date the ‘winding up’ begins is the date this resolution is passed. This step requires the lodgement of the 205 Form (notification of resolution) and the liquidator needs to lodge the 505 Form to advise ASIC of their appointment as liquidator in charge of winding up. After the special resolution has passed, it must be published on ASIC’s Published notices website by the end of the next business day. To do this, you will need to sign up to the website. The liquidator begins the process of winding up. They lodge with ASIC a list of receipts and payments from debtors and creditors on the anniversary of their appointment as liquidator. The form required for this is Form 5602. If the liquidator does not believe the company is solvent during this process they must wind up in insolvency and appoint a voluntary administrator. After the liquidator finishes winding up, they must submit the 5603 Form (End of administration return) within one month. The company will then be deregistered by ASIC within three months after 5603 has been lodged. When a company is deregistered, it's still shown on ASIC registers. The status will show as 'Deregistered'. Under the Corporations Act 2001, all records are property of ASIC after deregistration however they should not be sent to ASIC. The directors of the company prior to deregistration must keep the company’s records for 3 years. If the company is being liquidated, the liquidator must keep company books and records for five years after deregistration. If your company is insolvent, it cannot be in business or trading as per usual. If a company does indeed conduct business heavy penalties applies under the Corporations Act. There are different ways to go about this as we will discuss below. If you’ve received advice that your company can return back to solvency, you can appoint a qualified liquidator who will be appointed as voluntary administrator. The voluntary administrator’s job is to bring the company back into solvency through the settling of debts in the best way possible. This can be the best course of action in some cases. The voluntary administrator takes control of the company and investigates and reports to creditors about the company’s financial standing. If they believe that the company cannot be saved, the voluntary administrator arranged the company’s affairs in such a manner that would lead to a better return to creditors than if the company shut down or wound up. These aims are expressly written in a deed called the DOCA (Deed of Company Arrangement). A voluntary administrator can be appointed by: • the directors (by resolution of the board and in writing) • a secured creditor (with a security interest in all or substantially all of the company’s property) • a liquidator (or provisional liquidator). Voluntary administration begins on the appointment of the voluntary administrator. The voluntary administrator must hold the first meeting of creditors within eight business days of being appointed, unless the court allows an extension of time. At least five business days’ notice of the meeting must be given to creditors. • Creditors can vote at the meeting to: • replace the administrator, and/or. • form a committee of inspection. The voluntary administrator will investigate the affairs of the company and create a report to the outstanding creditors on the alternative options available to the company. These will be discussed at the next step. In this meeting the creditors and the voluntary administrator must decide the company’s future. This meeting must occur within 25 business days of being appointed. The creditors can decide to: • Return the company back to the directors. • Accept a DOCA (as discussed above) which will need to be signed within 15 business days of the meeting. • Put the company into liquidation. This would lead to the voluntary administrator to become the liquidator. The voluntary administrator must follow the above steps. By taking control of the company, they have the full extent of power of the directors, where they can sell or close the company business and sell individual assets. Indeed, while the voluntary administrator is appointed by the company directors, they are meant to be fair and impartial, acting in the best interests of both the creditors and the directors. The voluntary administrator is also responsible for reporting to ASIC possible offences by people involved in the company. After the creditors have made their decision, the voluntary administrator must make a detailed account of all receipts and payments made with ASIC. The voluntary administrator, if they incur and expenses during their appointment, they are paid with the available assets of the company. If there is insufficient funds available, the administrator is personally liable to pay these costs. As such, they must decide whether to continue to use or occupy property owned by another party to conduct their investigation. If a company enters a DOCA, the deed must be signed within 15 business days of the second meeting (as will be discussed below). If this does not occur, the company will go into liquidation. The DOCA is a binding deed. It binds all unsecured creditors (creditors that do not have a security interest in the company such as a mortgage) and it binds secured creditors (creditors that have a security interest) that voted in favour of the deed. The court can make an order that binds people by the deed even if they voted against it in the creditors deed. If a creditor has a personal guarantee against a company director however, they can still act on it to be repaid their debt. The deed must contain certain information including: • Name of the deed administrator (the voluntary administrator’s name) • Assets that will be used to pay outstanding creditors. • Details and extent of the debt that would be paid. • Order in which creditors will be paid i.e. Employees have priority in outstanding wages. • The rights that are suspended against the company. • Conditions that create the DOCA. • Conditions in which the DOCA is terminated. • Prescribed provisions as per the Corporations Act including the powers of the voluntary administrator and appointment of the people who will assist the process (committee of inspection) The voluntary administrator must ensure the company carries through the commitments of the DOCA. Creditors and directors can also play a role in monitoring the DOCA. They can contact the administrator to raise issues such as missed deadlines for repayment or other express terms of the deed not being met. The consequences of not meeting the terms of the deed are discussed at the meeting of the creditors and implemented in the deed. The deed administrator must give notice to parties as soon as possible after becoming aware of a contravention of the DOCA. The voluntary administrator can call a creditors meeting after the creation of the deed to consider a proposed variation to the DOCA. The creditors can also request the administrator to call a meeting if they pass a resolution for the variation of the deed or if over 25% of the creditors ask the voluntary administrator in writing to do so. They can also call a meeting if its less than 25% and greater than 10% if they pay for the cost of holding the meeting. The administrator can call a meeting if the people requesting the meeting agree to pay the costs of the meeting. These requests must be reasonable however otherwise the voluntary administrator does not have to comply. They must state reasons as to why the request is unreasonable. In order for dividends to be paid to the creditor, they need to give the voluntary administrator proof of debt by completing the proof of debt form. The creditors need to attach copies of receipts and invoices relevant to the claim. • the obligations under the DOCA have been fulfilled and creditors have been paid. • the DOCA automatically terminates following certain conditions being met (as set out in the DOCA). In this case, the DOCA may provide that the company will go into liquidation because the conditions have been met. • the deed administrator calls a meeting of creditors (on their own initiative or at the direction of creditors or the committee of inspection if one has been formed), and creditors vote to end the DOCA. This may occur because there has been a breach of the DOCA or it is unlikely the terms of the DOCA can be fulfilled. At this time, creditors may be asked to vote to put the company into liquidation, or. • the DOCA is terminated because a creditor, the company, ASIC or any other interested person applies to the court and the court is satisfied that: The company goes into liquidation if the court believes the DOCA should be terminated. While the company is in voluntary administration: • Unsecured creditors cannot begin, continue, or enforce the claims against the company without a court or administrator’s consent. • Secured creditors cannot enforce their security interest without a court or administrator’s consent. • Creditors with a personal guarantee from a director cannot act on the guarantee without the courts consent. • Creditors cannot commence a court application to put the company in liquidation. • Owners of property used by the company or those who lease the property to the company cannot recover their property during this period. If a company does not believe that they will be able to save a company, or if a court decides to liquidate the company’s assets, they will need to appoint a liquidator. Usually the voluntary administrator will act as the liquidator in these circumstances. Similar to a voluntary administrator, the liquidator takes control of the company so its affairs can be wound up in an orderly and fair way to benefit creditors. The most common type of liquidation is a creditors’ voluntary liquidation where an insolvent company’s shareholders vote to appoint a liquidator or when the creditors of that company vote for liquidation following the voluntary administration process as seen above. The other type of liquidation, a court liquidation, a liquidator is appointed by the court following an application by one of the creditors. However, directors and shareholders can also make a liquidation application to the court. Similar to a voluntary administrator, their role is to: • protect, collect and sell the company’s assets. • investigate and report to creditors about the company’s affairs, including: • inquire into the failure of the company – and possible offences by people involved with the company – and report to ASIC. • distribute money from the collection and sale of assets after payment of the costs of the liquidation, including the liquidator's fees (subject to the rights of any secured creditor) – first to priority creditors, including employees, and then to unsecured creditors. Within 10 business days of their appointment as liquidator they must give creditors notice of their appointment and advise creditors on their right to: The liquidator must send a report to creditors within three months after their appointment containing information about: A liquidator can recover, for the benefit of all creditors, certain payments the company made to individual creditors (known as ‘unfair preferences’) in the six months before the start of the liquidation. A creditor receives an unfair preference if, during the six months before liquidation, the company is insolvent and the creditor suspects (or ought to suspect) the company is insolvent and receives payment of their debt (or part of it) ahead of other creditors. To be an unfair preference, the payment must put the creditor receiving it in a better position in the winding up than other unsecured creditors. Not all payments from the company to a creditor in the six months before liquidation are unfair preferences. The Corporations Act provides various defences to an unfair preference claim. If a liquidator seeks to recover a payment that has been made to you, the liquidator should provide you with reasons and evidence to establish that claim. You may wish to obtain independent legal advice on the merits of the liquidator’s claim before repaying any money. A liquidator may call a creditors’ meeting from time to time to inform creditors about the liquidator’s progress, to find out creditors’ wishes on a matter or to approve the liquidator’s fees. You can use a creditors’ meeting to ask questions about the liquidation and tell the liquidator what you know about the company. ASIC is also entitled to attend and participate in a meeting of creditors should there be a reason to do so. A committee of inspection may be formed to assist and advise the liquidator in both a court liquidation and creditors’ voluntary liquidation. The committee of inspection also: The liquidator must have regard to, but is not always required to comply with, such directions. To conclude closing a company can be a very complex process. Especially when dealing with an insolvent company where a liquidator or voluntary administrator must be appointed. The more simple methods however including voluntary deregistration can be completed on our website under the register company tab.

Total taxation revenue collected in Australia in 2019-20 was $552.0 billion which made up of 27.8% of total Australian GDP. Of that taxation revenue, almost 60% was made up of taxation on individuals and taxation on enterprises. The rules on taxation are very complex and the amount paid by an individual depends on many different factors and circumstances. At Company123 you can have unlimited legal and tax consultations for $150 a month. Our two experts have a combined 50 years of experience and will assist you in making the best decision regarding your tax. Each business structure is taxed in a different manner and the amount of income you generate under each structure will have an effect on the rate of taxation. Each company structure has its own benefits and obligations and have great purpose depending on the circumstance. Different factors will influence the decision as to what business structure to create such as the reporting requirements to ATO or ASIC, the amount of legal liability you intend of having and how much power you have over your business. When most people think of a small business owner, a sole trader comes to mind. A sole trader is a business structure which applies to individuals. It means that you and your business are not separate legal entities. As such, you are legally responsible for all aspects of the business and are accountable for any losses the business may make. However, creating a sole tradership is inexpensive and does not require very extensive reporting requirement to the relevant authorities. All you need to do to be a sole trader is to have an Australian Business Number (ABN). You can apply for an ABN through the Australian Business Registry (ABR) or you can apply through our website. If you would like to operate a business under a commercial name that is not your legal name, you will have to apply for a Business Name. You can apply for a Business Name on our website. This business name will be owned by your individual ABN. You can apply for more than one business name per ABN. Under this structure you will pay tax according to the income the business makes. This income is essentially your own personal income given that the business operates under your ABN and is not a separate legal entity. For Australian residents, the taxation brackets for individuals are as follows: It is important to note that you will need to register your business for Goods and Services Tax (GST) if your annual turnover is expected to be more than $75,000. • Simple to set up and operate. • You retain complete control of your assets and business decisions. • Fewer reporting requirements. • Any losses incurred by your business activities may be offset against other income, such as your investment income or wages (subject to certain conditions). • Allows you to use your individual tax file number (TFN) to lodge tax returns. • You are not considered an employee of your own business and therefore don’t pay payroll tax, superannuation or workers’ compensation on income you draw from the business. • Relatively easy to change business structure if your business grows or if you wish to wind things up. • Unlimited liability which means all your personal assets are at risk if things go wrong. • Little opportunity for tax planning – you can’t split business profits or losses with family members and you are personally liable to pay tax on all the income from the business. • You cannot employ yourself. For tax time, it is important that you put aside money to pay you income tax at the end of the financial year. Usually, you will do this by paying quarterly Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments. If you are a sole trader, you don’t have to make super contributions to a super fund for yourself. However, you may want to consider super as a way of saving for your retirement. You can also create a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) through our website. By contributing to your super, you may be able to claim a tax deduction. A partnership is a business structure made up of 2 or more people who distribute income or losses between themselves. It is common for Law firms, financial companies and many small businesses to operate under a partnership. Similar to a sole trader, the partners are not separated from the business are liable for any losses and debts the business makes. However, the amount liable depends on the type of partnership created. A partnership is a contractual legal relationship between the partners with a view to bring profit to the business. As such, creating a partnership is vital to have all terms and intricacies of the relationship defined. It is important to have a good relationship with your partner and be in the same mind about how the business will be run. If a partner leaves or a partner joins there will need to be a variation to this agreement. A partnership agreement will have terms regarding: • The roles of each partner. • How the partnership will run. • The way profits and assets will be distributed. • What happens if a new partner joins. • What happens when a partner leaves. • How the partnership will be disbanded. • General Partnership is where all partners are equally responsible for the management of the business, and each had unlimited liability for the debts and obligations in may incur. • Limited Partnership is made up of general partners whose liability is limited to the amount of money they have contributed to the partnership. Limited partners are usually passive investors who don’t play any role in the day-to-day management of the business. Different states have different rules on how to register limited partnerships. • Incorporated Limited Partnership is where partners can have limited liability for the debts of the business. However, under this partnership there must be at least one general partner with unlimited liability. If the business cannot meet its obligations, the general partners become personally liable for the losses. • Cheap to set up. • Relatively easy to change the structure. • More capital available relative to sole trader. • Have more people to create ideas. Disadvantages of a partnership: • Partners’ liability is potentially unlimited. • You are liable for the decisions of fellow partners. • Difficult circumstances arise when a new partner joins or a partner leaves. For tax time, the profits and losses of the businesses are split amongst the partners as per the partnership agreement. The partnership doesn’t pay income tax on the profit, rather each partner reports their share of the partnership income in their own tax return as per the tax brackets above. However, the partnership has its own TFN and ABN and must lodge an annual partnership return showing all income and deductions of the business. Please refer to the Partnership Act 1963 and the Corporations Act 2001 for more information regarding the formation of partnerships. Unlike sole traders and partnerships, a company is a separate legal entity to those running the business. As such the largest difference between these structures is how it is taxed. A company is run by its directors and owned by its shareholders. As it is a separate legal entity, it is able to act in its own regard as a ‘natural person’ and enter into agreements in its own name. There are two types of companies: a private and public company. A proprietary (private) company cannot raise money through the general public. Other requirements are that it must have at least one shareholder, one director and not more than 50 shareholders that are not also employees. There are also public companies. These companies are allowed to allocate shares to the public as a means of raising capital. These shareholders own small fractions of the company. A public company must have at least one shareholder, one secretary and at least three directors. There are also much more strict reporting requirements for these larger public companies. • As it is a separate legal entity, shareholders have limited liability and as such have their personal assets protected. If the company is in debt, only company assets can be used to pay liabilities. • Tax rate capped at 30% • Company can continue beyond the life of its shareholders. • A range of Government grants and incentives available for companies. • Control of your company is diluted with the more shareholders you have. • High cost of setting up the company due to ASIC fees. • Higher reporting standards. • More complex structure will require higher level of business understanding. • Companies cannot access 50% capital gains tax discount. The Corporations Act 2001 applies very strictly to companies and have to regularly correspond to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in the form of an annual review. You will also need to keep records that show your compliance with the Act where you will need to have a registered officer, a principal place of business, regular company meetings, a written records of meetings and resolutions. ASIC will have to be notified of any changes to these business details within 28 days. All financial records must record and explain transactions and financial positions and performance where they will need to be audited. Control of your company will be diluted depending on the way shares are allocated to shareholders. Directors govern the internal management of the company and have obligations to act in good faith, act in the best interests of the company, exercise care and diligence, prevent the company trading while insolvent and assist the liquidator in the winding up of the business. Companies need to acquire an ACN (Australian Company Number) though the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Company123 can help you get your ACN through our website. This number is separate to an ABN that one may have as a sole trader. However, if your company is running a business, it will require both an ABN and an ACN. An ACN is an identifier of your company registration where it must be present on company documents such as invoices, orders, receipts and other legal documents, its acts as a way that ASIC can monitor the activities of your company. An ABN is used more so for taxation purposes where it is needed to register for Goods and Services Tax and payroll tax as well as the TFN. If neither an ABN or ACN is present, you could face a fine from the ATO or ASIC, respectively. For companies that had less than $25 million turnover for the 2017-18 income year and less than $50 million for the 2018-2019 income year, the tax rate is 25% for 2021-2022. This taxation rate will likely continue in future years. Another requirement for the base rate entity company tax rate is that 80% or less of the company’s income comes from passive income. This is because the company must be carrying on a business. Passive income includes income such as: corporate distributions, royalties and rent, interest revenue and capital gains. The full company tax rate for companies that do not meet the above requirements is 30%. Examples of companies that may have to pay the full tax rate includes trustees of corporate unit trusts, public trading trusts or corporate limited partnerships. However, this rate is taxed from the first dollar earned as companies do not have a tax-free threshold. A company tax return will need to be lodged each year with a company structure. This is separate to your individual tax return you may have as a sole trader. Directors of the company will likely assist with the lodging of the company tax return but will need to submit their own personal one as well on top of that. Money can be allocated to directors as a form of wages and as a salary but cannot be considered as drawings. Companies are taxed on the taxable income. This is the profit of the business less the deductions which can be claimed. This then will be taxed at the company rate as discussed above. Winding up the company can be a more difficult task than it would be to shut down the business of a sole trader or partnership. A sole trader is able to cancel their ABN within 28 days of ceasing trading. In a similar manner a company can deregister their ACN with ASIC. However, as a company holds assets separate to the way a sole trader would hold their own assets, the process of winding up the company will require extra work to sell assets and pay off any debts and liabilities. If your company has less than $1000 you can deregister your company through our website. If your company has more than $1000, a majority of directors need to make a declaration of solvency. This informs ASIC that you will be able to settle all debts to creditors within 12 months of the commencement of the winding up of the company. After which a resolution will need to be passed with a majority of 75% of members being in favour of the resolution. This resolution will appoint the liquidator that will settle the assets. They lodge with ASIC a list of receipts and payments from debtor sand creditors. IF the liquidator doesn’t believe the company is solvent and rather is insolvent, they will wind up the company in insolvency and must appoint a voluntary administrator. After this process the company will be deregistered with ASIC. A company that is deregistered is still shown on ASIC registers, where the status of the company will show as ‘Deregistered’. Under the Corporations Act 20021, all records are property of ASIC after deregistration due to the fact that the directors of the company are no longer part of the company at this stage. They are however obligated to keep the company records for another three years. If the company is being liquidated, the liquidator must keep the company books and records for another five years after deregistration. A trust is a relationship between numerous parties where a trustee will hold assets for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Family businesses are often set up as a trust so that each family member can be made beneficiary without having any involvement in how the business is run. The trustees in discretionary trusts are able to distribute income in a manner that is most beneficial from a tax point of view. For example, capital gains can be distributed to those that have a capital loss within the trust structure as to minimise Capital Gains Tax. The way the income can be distributed is at the discretion of the trustee in a discretionary (family) trust. You can set up a trust through our website and create yourself a trust deed expertly drafted by Company123. We also can set up what is known as a unit/fixed trust where a unit trust operates in a similar manner as to what shares do. Profit is divided according to the terms set out in the trust and can only be amended by changing the deed. A tax must have its own tax file number for lodging its annual tax return and GST if it has a turnover of $75000 or more. If all trust income is distributed to adult Australian residents, the trust itself doesn’t pay tax but those allocated income will be paying tax according to their own marginal tax rate after the allocation of trust income. Further, if all or part of the net trust income is distributed to non-residents or minors, the trustee is assessed on the that share on behalf of the beneficiary – these beneficiaries may need to declare their share of the trust’s net income in their own income tax returns and can claim a credit for the tax paid on their behalf by the trustee. As such if a beneficiary qualifies for a franking credit offset, they are also required to include the amount in their assessable income Where the trust accumulates net trust income and does not distribute it to the beneficiaries of the trust, the trustee is taxed on the income at the highest marginal rate. It is worth noting that in a family dispute, the Family Law Courts of Australia will consider any assets owned by discretionary trusts to which a spouse is a beneficiary as a form of financial resource and can factor this into their judgements regarding the split of assets. In the case of bankruptcy, trusts may offer some protection provided the bankrupt person is not the appointor or trustee and provided the bankrupt person has not transferred wealth to the trust with the intention to defeat creditors. A loss made by the trust cannot be distributed to beneficiary. However. It can be carried forward and used to reduce the trust’s net income in a later year. • Asset protection in the event of divorce or bankruptcy. • Trusts are eligible for a 50% capital gains discount. • Trusts do not have any contribution limits unlike Superannuation funds. Disadvantages of a trust. • Losses cannot be distributed. • Trusts have an expiry date of 80 years and may create a Capital Gains Tax event. • Any income earned that is not distributed is taxed at the maximal marginal tax rate. • There are some costs involved in establishing and maintaining the trust. Many different factors should be taken into account as to how to run your business and under what structure. You will need to take into consideration the different costs and benefits of each structure and ultimately what is right for you and your business. Indeed, while you are able to change your structure over time and expand your business, it is beneficial to make the right decisions earlier on to save time and headache. Speak with our business consultants at 03 9832 0660 for more information.

Every director covered by the corporations act must register their Director IDs by November 30 2022. The Director Identification Number (DIN) is a new Federal regime requiring all Australian company directors, or anyone who intends to become a director to obtain a unique number. It is a 15-digit identifier that will be kept by the individual permanently, similar to a TFN. As there are over 2.7 million companies on the Australian Company Register, over 2 million directors will need to apply to the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) to apply for a DIN. Set up as part of the Australian Government’s Digital Business plan and implemented in June 2020 through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Registries Modernisation and Other Measures) Act 2020 (Cth). The new legislation added a new scheme under Part 9.1A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) with the requirements set out from sections 1272-1272H. A director ID starts with 036, which is the 3-digit country code for Australia under the International Standard ISO 3166 and ends in a generated 11-digit number and one more digit used for error detection. Even if a director changes companies, stops being a director, changes their name or moves interstate or overseas, they will keep the same DIN. Once you obtain your DIN through the ABRS, apply for your company through company123 for instant registration with ASIC. The ABRS is a new Federal service that works together with the Australian Securities and Investments commission (ASIC) that will bring together more than 30 AISC registers in one place. As per the ABRS website the new service will: The DIN will be the first service to be delivered by the ABRS. By 2024 the ABRS plans to transition the following functions to one place: This ensures that a more synergised experience for company directors in the future. The ABRS seeks to create a single source of trusted and accessible business data in order to: Given the increase in cyber crimes in recent years, the DIN aims to both protect the privacy of those doing the right thing and make it more difficult for those doing the wrong thing. Below is explained various activities the DIN will attempt to prevent: Illegal phoenix activity occurs when a new company, for little or no value, continues the business of an existing company that has been liquidated or otherwise abandoned to avoid paying outstanding debts, which can include taxes, creditors and employee entitlements. This occurs when company directors transfer the business to a new company without paying the true market value and leave any incurred debts with the old company. Once the assets have been transferred, the old company is placed in liquidation. A liquidator is then appointed and given that there are no assets to recover, unfortunately no accounts payable can be paid. This is usually done with the same directors of the old company being the directors of the new company. The DIN will help track the directors’ activity and will assist regulators in pursuing this illegal activity. The economic impact of illegal phoenix activity is found to be between $31 and $298 million in unpaid entitlements and costs the Government in over 1.5 billion in unpaid taxes and compliance. The penalties include large fines and up to 15 years imprisonment for those involved. Directors in a company, while indeed a separate entity to the company itself, have rights and obligations which are stringently enforced by regulatory bodies. When a company director breaches the law, they can be personally liable for the company’s debts and claims can be taken against them personally. It is important to note that director’s obligations may continue even after the company has ceased trading and has been deregistered. Fraudulent directors from time to time use a company as a means to avoid debts or losses. However, under certain circumstance even the director may be liable for debts incurred by the company when the company does not have sufficient means to pay those debts when they fall due. This is usually the case in insolvency. It is a director’s duty to ensure that a company does not trade while it is insolvent. As such, it is important that directors understand the signs of insolvency such as cash flow issues, problems paying back suppliers and other creditors on time as well as other issues such as ongoing legal cases. If a company is insolvent, they need to assess whether the company can liquidate sufficient assets to bay debts when they fall due. If a director allows for a company to trade while it is insolvent, the director may be acting illegally and be in preach of the Corporations Act 2001. This attracts a penalty of $200,000 and imprisonment of up to 5 years. Other obligations the director breaches while a director of the company, they may be liable for. If a director acts illegally and as a result causes the company to suffer loss in the form of legal fees or by any other means, the director may have to compensate the company for the loss under the Corporations Act 2001. Other examples include where the company has employees, they are responsible to ensure the company meets its Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding and Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC) obligations. The DIN will prevent events such as: Read the full media release from ASIC here. On the 22nd of March 2022, ASIC put out a media release, that showcased an illegal phoenix. The former engineering company directors have been disqualified from managing corporations for the maximum period of five years due to their involvement in the failure of numerous companies. ASIC found that both directors had: ASIC also found that one of the directors: According to the media release, At the time of ASIC’s decisions, the six companies owed a combined total of $5,401,007.66 to unsecured creditors, including $4,751,142.43 to the ATO. Another case study example is article published by the ABC news on 14 February 2020 about 'dummy director' scam that is using vulnerable Australians and leaving them in debt. You can read the full ABC article here. The ABC news article had uncovered a scam that targeted vulnerable Australians. This scheme turned vulnerable people into directors or 'dummy directors' of a company, which in turn led to them being used by these companies to avoid paying creditors and avoid paying huge bills to the tax office. This scam was also used to pile up expenses on a shell company's accounts and when the time came to pay, the company was liquidated. The two case studies above are one of many reasons as to why the Director Identification Number is being introduced, however, the introduction of the Director Identification Number can also protect against issues presented in the cases above. As mentioned at the start, Corporations Act Directors have until November 30 this year to register for a Director Identification Number. To be a director under the Corporations Act, you must: For more information on the Corporations Act, visit the ASIC website. If a person became a director or an alternate director of a company or other registered Australian body (such as an incorporated associated registered with AIC and which trades outside of the state of registration or a foreign company registered with ASIC) which is governed by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth): As seen above, if you became a director: To be a director under the CATSI Act, you must: For more information on the CATSI Act, visit the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) website. If a person became a director or an alternate director of a company which is governed by the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth): As seen above, if you became a director: If you can’t apply by the date you need to, you can complete an Application for an extension of time to apply for a director ID. From 1 November 2021, Australian resident directors will be able to apply via the ABRS website. This will require a myGovID account on a smart device. If one does not wish to apply through the myGovID app, they can apply through their identification details including; If the director of the Australian company is a foreign resident, they can apply if they have Australian documentation as per the above options. To complete the online application, the foreign director will need to lodge a paper application and provide: The following people are authorised to certify the identity documents outside Australia are: The certifier must, in the presence of the foreign director, certify that each copy is a true and correct copy of the original document. This involves: This is likely to be a time-consuming process. We recommend that foreign resident directors commence this process as soon as possible. Once the director has received the DIN, it must then be passed on to the relevant regulatory body being ASIC for companies under the Corporations Act or ORIC for companies under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation Act. Updating details for the DIN is a similar process to the application. If a director’s details change, the ABRS must be notified. This can be done through the ABRS website. The director must also inform the company of these changes in a meeting within 7 days for a Corporations Act company and 14 days for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island company. The company is also required to notify ASIC of the change within 28 days to avoid unnecessary late fees. If a director does not comply with the obligations set under the new Act and causes an offence in relation to the DIN, they may incur and infringement notice leading to civil penalties to over $1 million and possible criminal charges up to 12 months of imprisonment. Possible breaches include applying for more than one DIN and using fraudulent information to obtain a DIN. The ABRS will provide support and guidance to directors to assist them to understand and meet their director ID obligation. ASIC’s enforcement role covers four new director ID offences under the Corporations Act 2001: A DIN will show regulators which companies a director is linked to. It is the obligation of the company secretary to ensure that information about a company and its officeholders is handled according to their legal obligations and is secure. It is not planned that a DIN will be public information in a similar manner to the privacy surrounding a TFN. However, this is subject to change in the future. (1) The Registrar must, by notifying a person who has applied under section 1272A, give the person a director identification number if the Registrar is satisfied that the person's identity has been established.  (1A) The Registrar may make a request of the person under subsection (5) for the purposes of satisfying the Registrar that the person's identity has been established.             (2) The Registrar must make a record of the person's director identification number.             (3) The Registrar may, by notifying a person, cancel the person's director identification number if:                     (a) the Registrar is no longer satisfied that the person's identity has been established; or                     (b) the Registrar has given the person another director identification number.             (4) If:                     (a) at the time the person is given a director identification number under this section, the person is not an eligible officer; and                     (b) the person does not, within 12 months after that time, become an eligible officer;the person's director identification number is taken to have been cancelled at the end of the 12 month period.             (5) The Registrar may request, but not compel, the person:                     (a) if the person has a tax file number--to give the Registrar a written statement of the person's tax file number; or                     (b) if the person does not have a tax file number:                              (i) to apply to the Commissioner of Taxation for a tax file number; and                             (ii) to give the Registrar a written statement of the person's tax file number after the Commissioner of Taxation has issued it. (1) An eligible officer must have a director identification number.=             (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if:                     (a) the officer applied to the Registrar under section 1272A for a director identification number:                             (i) before the day the officer first became an eligible officer (or an eligible officer within the meaning of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 ); or                             (ii) if the regulations specify an application period--within that period, starting at the start of that day; or                            (iii) within the longer period (if any) the Registrar allows under section 1272E, starting at the start of that day; and                     (b) the application, and any reviews arising out of it, have not been finally determined or otherwise disposed of.Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (2): see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .             (3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the officer became an eligible officer without the officer's knowledge.Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (3): see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .             (4) An offence based on subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.Note: For strict liability , see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code .             (5) A person who contravenes, or is involved in a contravention of, subsection (1) contravenes this subsection.Note 1: Subsection (5) is a civil penalty provision (see section 1317E). Contact the ABRS on 13 62 50 for more information regarding DIN or visit the ABR website at https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number. Please note the material in the blog is of a general nature and is current as of 25/11/2022. It is not intended to be legal advice and it is recommended that you seek professional advice in relation to DIN.

So, you’ve finally decided to take a leap faith, registered your business and have it up and running.What comes next are challenges in your first 3 years that can make or break a business.When putting your vision into action, there are several important factors to consider and tips that can make everything from registration to operation of your business much easier. However, we often have high expectations, but they are always adjusted by reality. A company is a legal entity formed by a group of individuals to engage in and operate a business, commercial or industrial, enterprise. All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. According to data published by the Bureau of Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses have a high failure rate. About 20 percent of small business’ fail within their first year, and 60% within the third year. There are many reasons as to why a small business can fail in their first year. These reasons can range from the external environment of your business to your internal environment.Some of these reasons may include: One of the difficult situations for a new business owner is knowing when they need help; especially from managing the financial side of their small business to marketing. It may be a way to save costs, but by handling these aspects of the business, their focus may be pulled away from other important duties that require their attention or cause them to become burnt out. Burn outs usually occur from being completely exhausted from overworking. There are many apps and digital connectivity designed to help small businesses and to avoid possible burn out. These digital resources can help streamline operations, support ongoing growth and customer service, and reduce time on any office and administration tasks. By utilising the variety of digital resources out there, business owners can delegate tasks to people or technology with ease and efficiency and without the likelihood of burning out. Another reason small businesses fail within the first year, is due to new owners not being able to fully identify their own strengths and weaknesses. When identifying your top strengths and weaknesses, you as a business owner, have clarity over your situation. Instead of taking on everything, why not focus on your strengths and seek out resources that can look after aspects of your business that you identified as your weakness?For example, as a small business owner, if you have little experience with budgeting and cashflow, you can hire an accountant or bookkeeper to look after the financial aspects of your business and what you are left with is extra time in the day to overlook other aspects of your business or take the time to upskill yourself on topics like bookkeeping and cashflow, so that eventually, you can handle the financial aspects as well. “All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year.” -    Simon Sinek, Start with Why. Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause, or belief - WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care? People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. Somewhere along the way business owners forget WHY they started out in the first place. Thus, why some business’ fail within the first three years. Without understanding your ‘why’ and identifying what motivates you; how you react and think in your companies challenging times can put either put you at an advantage or a disadvantage.Tough situations/periods are part of the journey. There will be external events, outside of your business where you will have zero control over; whether laws are passed that affect the way you operate day-to-day, the economy, changes in consumer demands, or more recently the pandemic. What matters most is how you will control your reactions and your thoughts when your business is going through challenging times. Focusing on your ‘WHY’ can become a powerful tool that will help you in your journey and can be advantageous in the long term. As a business owner, running a small business is both exciting and rewarding. But challenging. There are many specific components to consider, including but not limited to: your companies business plan, financial aspects, legal matters, and overall marketing. A lot of this takes time to help your small business thrive within its market. Many people start a business and go onto run that business having high expectations, within its first three years. However, when those expectations are not met, many are business owners are surprised leading some of them to become discouraged, while others look to their planning. There are plenty of determined small business owners and entrepreneurs who have shared many expectations of what it takes to succeed with a new business. Without first researching the myths and facts and informing themselves of these, small business owners develop high expectations, when they start out or when they have been operating for a while. There are several common assumptions most small business owners have when starting their businesses: You ever heard of “Get Rich Quick” schemes? Many people who start their businesses assume that they can get rich quickly. In reality, typical start-ups will most likely start becoming profitable within its third year. It takes time for companies that develop products to make profit, compared to companies that are home-based online businesses. As it costs more to manufacture, sell, and transport those products. Companies making new products take more time to become profitable than home-based online businesses. This is because it costs more to manufacture, transport, and sell these products. As mentioned, above; on why 20% of new businesses fail; one of those reason were small business owners and entrepreneurs trying to do everything themselves to save money. But as we discussed above, this can be counterproductive and burn you out. As a new business it is always crucial to watch your spending, and that it is always best to delegate to people or programs. Once you have the budget to expand your team, do so. You can hire people directly or hire contractors to help with the day-to-day tasks of your business. The quickest way for a business to grow is to learn to understand your strengths and weaknesses and then appropriately delegate. The concept or idea of Work-life balance is different to everybody. Everybody has their perceptions of what a work-life balance is.  It is often assumed by people that business owners have plenty of free time to relax and pursue hobbies. These assumptions are rarely true, especially for a new small business. This type of freedom mentioned above only occurs when business owners build a successful and sustainable business or if you are an expert level multitasking individual, who can handle everything thrown at you. But nobody has such skill in multitasking, and it can be challenging to build a successful and sustainable business, with long hours. A work-life balance can be different for employees and business owners. A business owner can expect to work most days of their week on making their start-up thrive within its beginning stages. But its not always work, work, work; finding a balance is crucial as you are your most crucial investment. Remember; your business reflects your health. If you’re not healthy, neither is your business.Find ways to manage your time efficiently and experiment with improving productivity. There are plenty of tools out there that can set your schedule and reminders and plan your day. Marketing is an effective way of engaging with customers and helps to build and maintain your company's reputation. Many inexperienced small business owners think that a simple viral video or placing bids for ads on Google can help them reach profitability quickly. But without a proper foundation, such as a compelling website, for your brand, you are simply throwing away money that could be used to reinvest into building a better foundation, such as a better performing website. Small business owners can waste billions of dollars advertising on social media by believing that “They don’t Need to Worry about Marketing Straight Away”. Viral videos can create traffic to your business but will not increase sales or create a customer base with a vested interest in your business. Typically, viral videos are high cost and do not equal more customers.Instead, what a business owner needs to do is, invest in strong branding. Branding can make or break your business. Strong branding will build brand awareness and increase brand equity, whereas weak branding will make your company forgettable. Business owners, including entrepreneurs, from time to time assume that a brand entity and overall brand for their business will develop over time, even if they do nothing to actively shape the identity of the business. Without these steps, your business’ identity is underdeveloped and underwhelming. And that will in the long term hurt your business.Word of mouth marketing is fantastic – but every fire needs a spark to get it started. That means that you need to figure out how you’re going to encourage people to start talking about your business, products, and services from day one. Apple, for example, never leave these critical branding elements to chance. Which is one of the key reasons that have made them the most successful brands, because they carefully craft their brand identity to support their brands. Apple enthusiasts didn’t know they needed the iPhone until Steve Jobs introduced them to it. When Jobs designed the iPhone, he didn’t know that people wanted a smartphone, but he did know that his customers were looking for more functionality from their phones. This in turn has given them a massive customer base and loyalty to the brand. Every business whether, new or established needs a marketing strategy. Many business owners see that their products or services are great and unique to the market and assume that people will want them immediately. However, this rarely happens in the market, and you cannot convince the market to love your products or services. What's profitable now, won't necessarily be profitable next year or 10 years from now. So, don't let yourself fall into the "this is the way I've always done things" rut. Keep your eyes and ears open for new things. Are there newer or better ways to market your products and services? Are customers asking for something you're not offering? Is there a different type of customer you should be targeting? Get answers by reading everything you can about your industry and listening to your customers. You, as a business owner must ensure that your products and services are not only high-quality but are also marketed to the right target audience. A great business owner thinks carefully about who their target market is, and what kind of problems they face. That’s the only way you can make sure you’re creating something that will speak to the right people. These are the first steps to building a successful business. In the lifetime of your business, it is also crucial and advantageous if you also adjusted along the way and explored experimenting with your products and services and its quality in order to find a strong product-market or service-market that it can fit into. It is always best to start by asking yourself these questions: As you introduce your product to the market, make sure that you listen to the feedback your customers give you and pivot accordingly too. Your audience will let you know what you need to do to be successful. Just listen. By investing in time in studying your target audience, you can understand them as individuals better. You don’t want to be just another ordinary business selling similar products or services without any difference. Which is why you should strive to build a brand people love.So… Ready to take that plunge and begin registering your company? Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia. You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. Step 1: Fill in a company registration form at Company123.Step 2: Once registered, receive all company documents within minutes, sign, and file.Step 3: Receive your companies ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. Anyone can, however you must have at least one director that resides in Australia and a physical Australian address for the registered office of the company. If none of the directors are eligible to work in Australia, you will be able to register a company but you may not be able to trade. In terms of providing Australian directorships, Company123 cannot provide a registered office service or resident director service to international applicants. To find some providers do a search for 'resident director service Australia'. We are an ASIC registered agent, agent no. 34511. ASIC registered agents can lodge documents including company registrations on behalf of third parties. We are also an ASIC accredited software provider. This means we have our own direct electronic link to ASIC, allowing us to lodge your registration at any time of day, any day of the week. To get started with your company registration, fill in our online form. For some more information on the registration process see the ASIC website. If in doubt we recommend that you discuss your needs with an accountant or solicitor for professional advice. Company123 provides free consultations if needed and over the phone advice within business hours of 9-6pm at 03 9832 0660. The total fee is $560.40 which includes all government fees, our service fee and GST. The ASIC registration fee is $512 and our service fee, inclusive of GST, is just $48.40. For $48.40 you get the convenience of being able to lodge your company 24/7 from the comfort of your own home/office, and having all your company documentation such as consents, share registry, opening minutes etc automatically prepared for you. ASIC also charge an annual fee on the anniversary date of registration, i.e., if you registered a company today the annual fee would be payable in one year’s time. Annual fees vary depending on the type of company, they can be viewed on our ASIC fee page. Here at company 123, not only do we register your company for you, but we also offer ongoing support. Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, is quoted as saying "change is the only constant in life.". Not only is change always happening, but it is also unavoidable. Being afraid of change is expected. Especially when change comes unexpectedly, and everything you are used to becomes different. This is no different to your business. Changed your address? Is there a change in directors or shareholders? We can help you with the changes in your company and can finalise these changes via ASIC, so you don’t have to!

A lot of confusion exists surrounding Business name registrations and Company Name registrations.Often, the confusion is around choosing what is right for your needs.So, lets break both down and discuss their differences. A business name is simply a name under which you conduct a business. You must register a business name in Australia, unless you trade under your own name, or fall within an exemption.For example, if you trade solely in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Registration on the Business Names Register identifies who is behind a business name. A company is a separate legal entity registered with ASIC.  A company has its own name which is required to include the legal terms or abbreviations 'PTY' and/or 'LTD' at the end of the name.A company may choose to register a business name if it wants to carry on a business using its name without the legal terms, or if it wants to use a different name. If you would like to operate and trade under a name which is different to the name of the legal entity. For example, Jacob Mowing services PTY LTD for a company or Jacob Smith as a sole trader, you require a business name. If instead you would want to operate simply as Jacob Mowing services, you need to have that name registered. While a business name is mainly used to conduct a business. The legal name of an entity is the name that appears on all official documents and legal papers. If you have a private company, the legal name typically will have PTY LTD (or any variation of ‘proprietary limited’). If you have registered as a sole trader your full name that was registered with the ABN will be the name of the legal entity. You can have multiple business names under a single Australian Business Number (ABN). Having multiple business names can help customers and clients find, identify, and connect with your business. Yes, to run a business operation with a registered business name, you need to have an ABN. The name of your business is at your full discretion. It is important to choose something that will help your customers easily identify and connect with your product or service. You can change your Business Name as your business will grow and change so it is not uncommon for businesses to go through numerous name changes over its life. As such there is no need to stress too much about choosing the perfect name. However here are a few tips: You can check the availability of a business name by clicking the link to our website Company123 here. There are three criteria for determining whether a business name is available under the Business Names Registration Act 2011 and the Business Names Registration (Availability of Names) Determination 2015.These criteria are: A business name is identical or nearly identical to another name if, despite the characters used in the name, it may be pronounced the same as the other name.For example: A business name is identical or nearly identical to another name if: For example:i.     Build, builders, buildings, building services, construct, constructions, construction services, fabrications, developmentsii.    Roofing, roofing services, roof repairs, roof restorations, roofing solutioniii.    Auto body repairs, body repairs, body shop, body works, crash repairs, dent removal, motor body repairs, panel beating, panels, panel works, smash repairs, detailingiv.    Massage centre, massage therapy, remedial massage, sports massage, therapeutic massage, massage. i.    Australian, Australia, Aussie, Aus, Austii.    Victorian, Victoria, VICiii.    Tasmanian, Tasmania, TASiv.    New South Wales, NSW etc. i.    1, one ii.    2, two etciii.    %, percentiv.    @, atv.    &, and. i.    Fuel, petrol, petroleum, dieselii.    Pics, pix, shots, snapsiii.    Bedding, mattress, bediv.    Fone, phonev.    Footwear, shoesvi.    Bicycles, bikes, cycles. A word or expression mentioned in Schedule 2 is a restricted word or expression in relation to entities and businesses unless the Minister has given written consent to the use of the word or expression. For example:i.    Ambulance, Ambulance serviceii.    Bankiii.    Chamber of Commerceiv.    Chamber of Industryv.    Charityvi.    Chartervii.    Credit Unionviii.    Fire Brigadeix.    GST x.    Incorporatedxi.    RSLxii.    Made in Australiaxiii.    Policexiv.    Stock exchange. You can only use these terms if indeed you have the rights to do so. This also includes using terms such as NDIS without the permission of that government agency. A Business Name can be considered undesirable if it is considered by ASIC to be offensive to the general public or members of a section of the general public. A Business Name can also be considered undesirable if it suggests a connection with any of the following that does not exist. For example: i.    The Crownii.    Commonwealth Governmentiii.    A department, authority, or instrumentality of the Commonwealth Government.iv.    The Government of a foreign countryv.    A charitable organisationvi.    Member of the Royal Family. Interestingly the legislation also specifically includes that any non-consensual association with Sir Donald Bradman or Mary MacKillop is not permitted as a Business Name. Further note that when creating a Business Name, the following do not assist in the differentiation between to Business Names. They will be considered the same if the only difference is: 1. Use of “a”, “an” or “the”.2. Use of entity types such as association, co-operative, incorporated, limited, PTY, etc.3. Whether a word is singular or plural.4. Font, upper/lower case, spaces, hyphens, punctuation marks, accents.5. An abbreviation or acronym.6. Use of domain name indicators such as “www”, “net”, “org” or “com”. ‘Trading name’ is an old term, and now ‘trading name’ and ‘business name’ can be used interchangeably. Specifically, a ‘trading name’ refers to an unregistered name that businesses could use before the introduction of the National Business Names Register on 28 May 2012. A trading name is not a registered business name. Now, any name you wish to ‘trade’ under needs to be registered with ASIC for it to be valid. The Australian Business Register and ABN Lookup still display unregistered trading names however they will be removed from November 2023 and only registered business names will be displayed. A transition period from 28 May 2012 to 31 October 2023 is in place to allow businesses affected by the removal of trading names sufficient time to inform their customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders of any changes to the name that they use to conduct their business. However, these businesses can register their old trading names through ASIC to have a valid Business Name. ‘Business name’ is the newest and most correct term and refers to names registered with ASIC after May 2012. Business name refers to the title your business operates under. You can register a business name here. If your business name is registered in more than one state or territory, all your business names will have transferred to ASIC's national business names register. You may now have multiple identical business names registered to you. You can choose to keep one business name record (e.g., the business name with the latest registration expiry date) and cancel the registration of your other remaining business names. There is no fee to cancel a business name. Keeping only one business name may reduce the administrative burden of maintaining several business name registrations (including receiving multiple notices for each registration) and minimise the potential for confusion from consumers in determining the business name holder’s correct details. Even though a Business Name must be unique, it doesn’t grant you any exclusive trading, branding, or ownership rights over that name. Most of the information on the Business Names Register is available free of charge. Some information is only available by purchasing an extract. The fee charged will depend on the type of extract you purchase. It is a good idea to check the free information available before paying for an extract. More information is available about the ASIC fees on their search fees page. You can buy a current and historical business name extract using ASIC Connect. Extracts for business name holders cannot be purchased online. You will need to complete an Application for person and organisation information from the business names register. From there you can find who the current owner of the Business name is and all prior owners of that Business Name whether it be an individual or another entity. Personal information about the Business Name owner is not available to public for reasons of privacy. Examples of private information include the owner’s date and place of birth as well as their residential address. The Business address can be shown in some circumstances however if the principal place of business is the same as the owner’s residential address, only the city, suburb, state, and postcode will be shown. The service of documents address will always be displayed in full, even if it's the same as the holder's residential address. You can request that ASIC supress these details on the register. If ASIC approves a request to suppress details, they'll remove information from their registers. The word 'suppressed' will appear where information has been suppressed. The owner of a Business name no longer needs to display a record of the registration of that Business name in the shopfront. This used to be a rule however was removed in 2012. If you still would like a printed version of your certificate or if you would like it framed for your personal needs, you can ask for one on our Business Name Registration form. However, Businesses must display their business name itself in places where they are open to the public. For example, on their shopfront. Once the business name has been registered, we'll email you a copy of your record of registration. You can then trade using the name. If your details change, such as changes in your registered address, you must update your details with us. You must prominently display your business name wherever you're open to the public, like at your storefront. You must also include your ABN on any business correspondence that you send out, like invoices or purchase orders. To check your business name details through the Business Names Index: Step 1 - Go to ASIC Connect searchStep 2 - Select 'Business Names Index' from the drop-down box in the top right cornerStep 3 - Enter the ABN or name of the business you're looking for (You'll see a list of matching results on the business names register).Step 4 - Select your business name from the list (You'll see a summary of the business name details. You can also save them as a PDF). You can check the renewal date for your registered business name on ASIC Connect. Select the Business Names Register tab and search within the Business Names Index which you select from the drop-down box. If you don't renew your business name on time, ASIC may cancel it. Find out more about ASIC initiated cancellation of a business name. The law does not allow you to transfer or assign a business name to another holder. However, you can choose to cancel the business name and notify us of your consent to transfer the business name to another holder. This can be done in the same transaction. When you submit a request to cancel the business name, select the Cancel and transfer option. We will then email you the transfer number.You can then provide this number to the new proposed business name holder, where they can use it to apply to register for the business name. If the new registration does not occur within three months from cancellation, the transfer number will expire, and the name will become available for the public to register. Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia. You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. Step 1 - Fill in a company registration form at Company123Step 2 - Receive all company documents within minutes, sign, and fileStep 3 - Receive ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. For online registration, you will need to provide the following information:For Directors & Secretaries: For Shareholders: General Information: The address of the registered office and principal place of business. You must get written consent from the people that will fill these roles: Anyone can, however you must have at least one director that resides in Australia and a physical Australian address for the registered office of the company. If none of the directors are eligible to work in Australia, you will be able to register a company, but you may not be able to trade. If in doubt we recommend that you discuss your needs with an accountant or solicitor for professional advice. Company123 provides free consultations if needed and over the phone advice within business hours of 9-6pm at 03 9832 0660. In terms of providing Australian directorships, Company123 cannot provide a registered office service or resident director service to international applicants. To find some providers do a search for 'resident director service Australia'. These are the differences between Business name registrations and Company Name Registrations. Both are very different from each as they have different purposes.

Trusts are widely used for investment and business purposes. A trust is an obligation imposed on a person or other entity to hold property for the benefit of beneficiaries. While in legal terms a trust is a relationship not a legal entity, trusts are treated as taxpayer entities for the purposes of tax administration. The trustee is responsible for managing the trust's tax affairs, including registering the trust in the tax system, lodging trust tax returns and paying some tax liabilities. Beneficiaries (except some minors and non-residents) include their share of the trust's net income as income in their own tax returns. There are special rules for some types of trust including family trusts, deceased estates, and super funds. Today we will be focusing on Discretionary Trusts and Fixed Unit Trusts. A family trust is a common type of trust used to hold assets or run a family business. It is a relationship where one or more trustees hold property or assets for the benefit of one or more beneficiary. Trusts can benefit anyone who wants to manage their money in a way that is more tax effective and beneficial to their family. Setting up a family trust is often driven by a new business opportunity, a growing business, or a need to better structure your investments. When set up correctly, there are clear tax benefits when it comes to operating as a family trust. Company123 can help set up your trust quickly, easily, and professionally. In our role as tax agents and with our team of legal experts, we can provide a clear, comprehensive deed and all related documents for the fee of $129 (Plus GST). We provide both Family (Discretionary) Trusts and Unit (Fixed) Trusts at high standards. Family trusts work in an equivalent way to a parent opening a bank account for a child. While that account and the money within belong to the child, the parent is the person responsible for and in control of the account. The trustee owns and controls the business’ assets, distributes income, and must comply with the obligations of the trust deed and act with the best interests of the beneficiaries in mind.The trustee is also responsible for registering the trust for tax purposes, lodging tax returns and meeting any other tax obligations on behalf of the trust. Because of this, often, this business structure is more tax effective. Advantages of switching/implementing a corporate trustee structure include: Therefore, corporate trustee can be very beneficial and allow the trust further longevity. The beneficiaries are the people entitled to the income and assets of the trust. The beneficiaries of the trust are usually members of a family, as well as companies and trusts that are controlled by that family. For example, the primary or default beneficiaries may be a parent or parents and the secondary beneficiaries can be children, grandparents and/or companies. The role of the default beneficiary is to receive and/or decide the direction of any funds that are not allocated by the trustee. It is also important to note that you cannot change the default beneficiary without triggering capital gains tax and stamp duty. Beneficiaries will include their share of the trust’s net income as income in their own tax returns and if they receive income from other sources they will be taxed for these as well. The settlor must hand over the settled sum to the trustee to be held on the terms of the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The settlor does not have to reside in Australia; however, they must be present when the trust deed is settled because he/she is responsible for the trust property becoming vested in the trustee. The settlor then steps out of the picture. Why is a settlor's role limited? There are tax implications under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936[1] where a settlor creates a trust and: In such a case, the trustee of the trust will be assessed as having to pay income tax on the income of the trust by the ATO, rather than income tax being assessed in the hands of the beneficiaries of the trust to whom distributions are made. For this reason, it is advisable to limit the settlor's role in a trust to the initial establishment of the trust and payment of the settled sum. To avoid the perception that the settlor's declaration of trust is revocable, the settlor should be unrelated to the trustee and the beneficiaries of the trust. Often, the appointor of a family trust is the person who wants to set up the trust. The appointer is also responsible for appointing and replacing the trustee or trustees of the trust. As such, they have the ultimate control of the trust’s assets. However, the appointer is not involved in the day-to-day control and running of the trust. Rather, the trustee fills this role. With a discretionary trust, a trustee or trustees hold the property for the beneficiaries, and an appointor has the ability to hire and fire the trustee. Therefore, the appointor has ultimate control over the wealth in the trust. Many Australian businesses are carried on in discretionary trusts. This is especially true of family businesses: Many business owners face a degree of risk in owning a business, for example if the business fails, they may be sued personally or put at risk of bankruptcy. Similarly, those in partnerships, particularly those with bank debts, can face similar risks. Assets that are within a family trust are protected from creditors, so even if a claim is made against you, the assets are not in your name and therefore cannot be accessed in these circumstances. Operating your business from a family trust and having the company act as trustee means you can retain the limited liability benefits of a company structure while taking advantage of the tax flexibility benefits of a family trust. Whether you are looking to keep your family home in the family or want to stagger inheritance distribution to ensure it’s not all spent at once, a family trust prevents Will contests and secures assets. Assets held within the trust do not form part of a deceased estate preventing contests to a Will or your child’s spouse claiming their share of an inheritance. A family trust can provide long term financial support for your children or grandchildren, allowing you to invest in their long-term education and distribute family assets to future generations. It can protect vulnerable beneficiaries who may make poor spending decisions if they were to control their own assets. Any income earned by the trust, not distributed to beneficiaries can incur the highest marginal tax rate. If you do find you are making major profits as a family trust, those profits must be allocated to beneficiaries. You could run out of beneficiaries and those beneficiaries will be paying highest tax rate. With a family trust, you can add additional beneficiaries if the trust deed allows for it, but you must be careful as capital gains tax and stamp duty may triggered if done incorrectly. The trust cannot allocate tax losses to beneficiaries either. There can be challenges in running the trust when other family members as issues occur. There can also be complexities regarding succession planning and asset allocation upon the death of the trustee. With a Will, you can dictate what goes to who, however, a family trust is separate to an individual’s will and you may be able to choose who controls the trust, you do not dictate how they control it. A family trust requires on-going accounting and tax advice throughout its life. These costs can differ depending on the trust. However, this can increase maintenance costs as a trust becomes more complex. A fixed unit trust is a trust where the rights of the beneficiaries (unit holders) to income and capital are fixed. This is in the sense that they are not subject to any discretions on the part of a trustee, and those rights are divided amongst the beneficiaries based on how many units have been issued to them. A fixed unit trust is where the unit holders, who are all un-related members of two or more separate families getting together to hold an asset together (usually a large property or shareholding) or run a business together. The trustee has no discretion on which unit holder gets which distribution portion of income or capital of the trust. All income and capital are distributed according to unit holding. The trustee owns the property of the trust and distributes each year, income of the trust, to various unit holders with a common purpose. This common purpose includes minimizing the total income tax, capital gain tax and asset protection. No income of the trust can accumulate in the trust. All income of the trust must distribute each year. The trust runs for up to 80 years. This termination date or “vesting day”, which is when one or more-unit holders are entitled to the whole of the trust fund according to their unit holding. Until that day, the assets under the trust are held by the trustee. In a fixed unit trust all units have the same rights to income and capital distribution and voting rights in a meeting. A unit is a piece of property that entitles the unit holder to a specified proportion of the income and capital of the trust. A unit held under a trust is different from a share in a company. A share confers on the holder no legal or equitable interest in the assets of the company; Units under the fixed trust deed confer a proprietary interest in all the property which is subject to trust of a deed. In other words, a unit in a fixed unit trust confers on the unit holder an equitable interest in both the underlying capital and the income of the trust. The unit holders as a group control the trust. This is because the trust deed gives them the power to direct the trustee and if necessary, dismiss the trustee and appoint another person to act as the trustee instead. The deed specifies the percentage vote required for a resolution of a meeting of unit holders to be effective. Usually, it is 75% unless the unit holders decide otherwise. Instead of beneficiaries, unit trusts have unit-holders. Unit holders,  are all predominantly un-related members of two or more separate families getting together to hold an asset together (usually a large property or shareholding) or run a business together. All income and capital is distributed according to unit holding, rather than by the discretion of the trustee, which is why Unit Trusts are also referred to as "fixed' trusts. The unit holders as a group control the trust. This is because the trust deed gives them the power to direct the trustee and if necessary, dismiss the trustee and appoint another person to act as the trustee instead. The deed specifies the percentage vote required for a resolution of a meeting of unit holders to be effective. Usually it is 50% unless the unit holders decide otherwise. Fixed Unit trust structures have several advantages over other tax structures like, partnership, company etc, however it has its own limitations. Below is a list of advantages, please note that this list is not exhaustive, you must seek your own independent legal and accounting advice. Unlike a company, a Unit Trust does not have to pay any tax. The beneficiary must pay income tax on the proportional profits they derive from the trust. Similarly, trusts enjoy a 50% Capital Gains Tax discount regarding disposal of assets, which can be passed on to the beneficiaries if the trust is structured accordingly. Unit trust holders also enjoy asset protection from internal, as well as external parties. As none of the beneficiaries hold legal rights in the trust property, they cannot claim the trust’s assets. Consequently, if any of the beneficiaries cannot pay off their debts, the creditors cannot seize the trust property as compensation. Similarly, if one of the beneficiaries’ is involved in court proceedings such as divorce, the court cannot direct the trust’s assets towards satisfying the spouse’s claims. A trust, unlike a company, is not as heavily regulated. While a Company needs to comply with regulations monitored by legislation, ASX and ASIC, trusts do not have such limitations. They are also easier to wind up than companies. As none of the Unit Trust holders have legal rights over the trust, they are at the mercy of the trustee. A trustee being the only decision-maker and legal rights holder, might make decisions that the beneficiaries do not always agree with. Or the trustee’s decisions might lead to a loss, that cannot always distribute amongst the beneficiaries. Consequently, they might feel a loss of control over their own assets. There are remedies available for a breach of trustee’s duties, but the process is frustrating and time consuming, as well as expensive. Setting up a Unit Trust could have massive monetary ramifications. They are traditionally more expensive to set up than a sole trader, or even a company. Additionally, the beneficiaries might be subject to PAYG calculations. If their income is higher than a certain amount, they would end up paying a higher tax amount than the company tax. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one - for example, ABNs help you: Also, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST. The entity is any one of: The entity can answer 'Yes' to each of the following statements: 1. Its activity is carried out in any of: 2. Its activity is carried out in Australia or it makes supplies that are connected with Australia. 3. Its activity is not a private recreational pursuit or hobby. After acquiring an ABN and a TFN, the trust can then open a bank account. A bank account should be opened for the trust in the name of the trustee as trustee for the trust. This should occur after the discretionary trust has been established and the trust deed stamped (if stamping is necessary). The bank may require the trust ABN before it will open the account. Once a bank account has been opened, the first deposit in the account should be the settlement sum. The settlement sum should be deposited before any other deposits are made or any other transactions are entered into by the trust. Stamp duty is tax that state and territory governments charge for certain documents and transactions. Different stamp duty charges apply depending on where you live in Australia. By using an online Stamp Duty Calculator, you can see exactly how much stamp duty applies to the property you plan to purchase. The amount you need to pay may also depend on: When you register your Trust Deed, paying stamp duty, Depends on the rules of a State or Territory. The state or territory you live in can incur stamp duty, below is a table outlining the cost of stamp duty within each state and when you need that stamp by: To get your stamp duty, simply go into your State or Territory State Revenue Office. So… why not get started with your Trust Deed registration? Fill in our online Trust Deed registration form.

A great business plan can help you clarify your strategy, identify potential roadblocks, decide what you will need in the way of resources, and evaluate the viability of your idea or your growth plans before you start a business. Not every successful business launch with a formal business plan, but many founders find value in taking time to step back, research their idea and the market they are looking to enter and understand the scope and the strategy behind their tactics. That is where writing a business plan comes in. A business plan is a document describing a business, its goods, or services, how it earns (or will earn) money, its leadership and staffing, its financing, its operations model, and many other details essential to its success. Investors rely on business plans to evaluate the feasibility of a business before funding it, which is why business plans are commonly associated with getting a loan. But there are several compelling reasons to consider writing a business plan, even if you do not need funding: Writing out your plan is an invaluable exercise for clarifying your ideas and can help you understand the scope of your business, as well as the amount of time, money, and resources you’ll need to get started. If you have multiple ideas in mind, a rough business plan for each can help you focus your time and energy on the ones with the highest chance of success. To write a business plan, you will need to research your ideal customer and your competitors—information that will help you make more strategic decisions. Your business plan is one of the easiest ways to communicate your vision to potential new hires and can help build their confidence in the venture, especially if you are in the early stages of growth. If you plan to approach other companies to collaborate, having a clear overview of your vision, your audience, and your business strategy will make it much easier for them to identify whether your business is a good fit for theirs — especially if they are further along than you in their growth trajectory. There are many business plan competitions offering prizes such as mentorships, grants, or investment capital. If you are looking for a structured way to lay out your thoughts and ideas, and to share those ideas with people who can have a big impact on your success, a business plan is an excellent starting point. Business plans can span from one page to multiple pages with detailed graphs and reports. There is no one way to create a business plan. The goal is to convey the most vital information about your company for readers. These are the most common business plans. Traditional business plans take longer to write and can be dozens of pages long. Venture capitalist firms and lenders ask for this plan. A lean business plan is a shorter version of a traditional business plan. It follows the same format, but only includes the most vital information. Businesses use this plan to onboard new hires or modify existing plans for a specific target market. A non-profit business plan is for any entity that operates for public or social benefit. It covers everything you will find in a traditional business plan, plus a section describing the impact the company plans to make. Donors often request this plan. A good executive summary is one of the most crucial sections of your plan—it is also the last section you should write. The executive summary’s purpose is to extract everything that follows and give time-crunched reviewers (e.g., potential investors and lenders) a high-level overview of your business that persuades them to read further. Highlight the key points you’ve uncovered while writing your plan. If you’re writing for your own planning purposes, you can skip the summary altogether, although you might want to give it a try anyway, just for practice. An executive summary shouldn’t exceed one page. Admittedly, that space constraint can make squeezing in all of the information a bit stressful, but it’s not impossible. Here’s what your business plan’s executive summary should include: This section of your business plan should answer two fundamental questions: who are you, and what do you plan to do? Answering these questions introduces why you’re in business, why you’re different, what you have going for you, and why you’re a good investment bet. Clarifying these details is still a useful exercise, even if you’re the only person who’s going to see them. It’s an opportunity to put to paper some of the more intangible facets of your business, like your principles, ideals, and cultural philosophies. Here are some of the components you should include in your company overview: Some of these points are statements of fact, but others will require a bit more thought to define, especially when it comes to your business’ vision, mission, and values. This is where you start getting to the core of why your business exists, what you hope to accomplish, and what you stand for. To define your values, think about all the people your company is accountable to, including owners, employees, suppliers, customers, and investors. Now consider how you’d like to conduct business with each of them. As you make a list, your core values should start to emerge. Once you know your values, you can write a mission statement. Your statement should explain, in a convincing manner, why your business exists, and should be no longer than a single sentence. Next, craft your vision statement: what impact do you envision your business having on the world once you’ve achieved your vision? Phrase this impact as an assertion—begin the statement with “We will” and you’ll be off to a great start. Your vision statement, unlike your mission statement, can be longer than a single sentence, but try to keep it to three at most. The best vision statements are concise. Finally, your company overview should include both short- and long-term goals. Short-term goals, generally, should be achievable within the next year, while one to five years is a good window for long-term goals. Make sure all your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Bound. No matter what type of business you start, it’s no exaggeration to say your market can make or break it. Choose the right market for your products—one with plenty of customers who understand and need your product—and you’ll have a head start on success. If you choose the wrong market, or the right market at the wrong time, you may find yourself struggling for each sale. Market research and analysis is a key section of your business plan, whether or not you ever intend for anyone else to read it. It should include an overview of how big you estimate the market is for your products, an analysis of your business’ position in the market, and an overview of the competitive landscape. Thorough research supporting your conclusions is important both to persuade investors and to validate your own assumptions as you work through your plan. How big is your potential market? The potential market is an estimate of how many people need your product. While it’s exciting to imagine sky-high sales figures, you’ll want to use as much relevant independent data as possible to validate your estimated potential market. Here are some general tips to help you begin your research: If you’re targeting specific consumers in the Australia, you first can look for government data about the size of that group. You also could look at projected changes to the number of people in your target age range over the next few years. If your product serves retirees, try to find data about how many people will be retiring in the next five years, as well as any information you can find about consumption patterns among that group. If you’re selling fitness equipment, you could look at trends in gym memberships and overall health and fitness among your target audience or the population at large. Finally, look for information on whether your general industry is projected to grow or decline over the next few years. You’ll never have perfect, complete information about the size of your total addressable market. Your goal is to base your estimates on as many verifiable data points as necessary for a confident guess. A SWOT analysis looks at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. What are the best things about your company? What are you not so good at? What market or industry shifts can you take advantage of and turn into opportunities? Are there external factors threatening your ability to succeed? These breakdowns often are presented as a grid, with bullet points in each section breaking down the most relevant information—so you can probably skip writing full paragraphs here. Strengths and weaknesses—both internal company factors—are listed first, with opportunities and threats following in the next row. With this visual presentation, your reader can quickly see the factors that may impact your business and determine your competitive advantage in the market. There are three overarching factors you can use to differentiate your business in the face of competition: You have the capacity to maximize profits by offering lower prices than most of your competitors. Your product or service offers something distinct from the current cost leaders in your industry and banks on standing out based on your uniqueness. You focus on a very specific, or niche, target market, and aim to build traction with a smaller audience before moving on to a broader market. To understand which is the best fit, you’ll need to understand your business as well as the competitive landscape. You’ll always have competition in the market, even with an innovative product, so it’s important to include a competitive overview in your business plan. If you’re entering an established market, include a list of a few companies you consider direct competitors and explain how you plan to differentiate your products and business from theirs. If you’re entering a market where you can’t easily identify direct competitors, consider your indirect competitors—companies offering products that are substitutes for yours. The management and organization section of your business plan should tell readers about who’s running your company. Detail the legal structure of your business. Communicate your business structure. If you have a management team, use an organizational chart to show your company’s internal structure, including the roles, responsibilities, and relationships between people in your chart. Communicate how each person will contribute to the success of your start-up. Your products or services will feature prominently in most areas of your business plan, but it’s important to provide a section that outlines key details about them for interested readers. If you sell many items, you can include more general information on each of your product lines; if you only sell a few, provide additional information on each. Describe new products you’ll soon launch and any intellectual property you own. Express how they’ll improve profitability. It’s also important to note where products are coming from. Your target market is the foundation of your marketing plan, if not your business plan as a whole. You’ll want to keep this person in mind as you make strategic decisions, which is why an overview of who they are is important to understand and include in your plan. To give a holistic overview of your ideal customer, describe several general and specific demographic characteristics. Customer segmentation often includes: This information will vary based on what you’re selling, but you should be specific enough that it’s unquestionably clear who you’re trying to reach—and more importantly, why you’ve made the choices you have based on who your customers are and what they value. Your marketing efforts are directly informed by your ideal customer. Your marketing plan should outline your current decisions and your future strategy, with a focus on how your ideas are a fit for that ideal customer. If you’re planning to invest heavily in Instagram marketing, for example, it might make sense to include whether Instagram is a leading platform for your audience—if it’s not, that might be a sign to rethink your marketing plan. Most marketing plans include information on four key subjects: Price. How much do your products cost, and why have you made that decision? Product. What are you selling and how do you differentiate it in the market? Promotion. How will you get your products in front of your ideal customer? Place. Where will you sell your products? Logistics and operations are the workflows you’ll implement to make your ideas a reality. If you’re writing a business plan for your own planning purposes, this is still an important section to consider, even though you might not need to include the same level of detail as if you were seeking investment. Cover all parts of your planned operations, including: Suppliers. Where do you get the raw materials you need for production, or where are your products produced? Production. Will you make, manufacture, wholesale, or dropship your products? How long does it take to produce your products and get them shipped to you? How will you handle a busy season or an unexpected spike in demand? Facilities. Where will you and any team members work? Do you plan to have a physical retail space? If yes, where? Equipment. What tools and technology do you require to be up and running? This includes everything from computers to lightbulbs and everything in between. Shipping and fulfillment. Will you be handling all the fulfillment tasks in-house, or will you use a third-party fulfillment partner? Inventory. How much will you keep on hand, and where will it be stored? How will you ship it to partners if required, and how will you approach inventory management? This section should signal to your reader that you’ve got a solid understanding of your supply chain and strong contingency plans in place to cover potential uncertainty. If your reader, is you, it should give you a basis to make other important decisions, like how to price your products to cover your estimated costs, and at what point you plan to break even on your initial spending. No matter how great your idea is, and regardless of the effort, time, and money you invest, a business lives or dies based on its financial health. At the end of the day, people want to work with a business they expect to be viable for the foreseeable future. The level of detail required in your financial plan will depend on your audience and goals, but typically you’ll want to include three major views of your financials: Income statement. Your income statement is designed to give readers a look at your revenue sources and expenses over a given time period. With those two pieces of information, they can see the all-important bottom line or the profit or loss your business experienced during that time. If you haven’t launched your business yet, you can project future milestones of the same information. Balance sheetYour balance sheet offers a look at how much equity you have in your business. On one side, you list all your business assets (what you own), and on the other side, all your liabilities (what you owe). This provides a snapshot of your business’ shareholder equity, which is calculated as: Assets - Liabilities = Equity. Cash flow statement. Your cash flow statement is like your income statement, with one important difference: it takes into account when revenues are collected and when expenses are paid. When the cash you have coming in is greater than the cash you have going out, your cash flow is positive. When the opposite scenario is true, your cash flow is negative. Ideally, your cash flow statement will help you see when cash is low, when you might have a surplus, and where you might need to have a contingency plan to access funding to keep your business solvent. It can be especially helpful to forecast your cash-flow statement to identify gaps or negative cash flow and adjust operations as required. Here’s a full guide to working through cash-flow projections for your business. Interested in developing a business plan? Check out and begin with company 123!

Is Australia headed for a recession, and what does that mean for my company? Before you make decisions regarding the fate of your company we recommend obtaining legal advice and understanding the tax implications of your decisions. Company123 offers tax and legal consultations to help guide you and provide you advice for your company. Company123 provides company creation services. It’s easy as 123! In times like these, it may be necessary to make changes to your company structure. We offer company change services where we will be in contact with ASIC on your behalf to make changes, for example: To check the solvency and health of your company, we offer a solvency report service and other services such as liquidation and reinstatement in times of need. If you need to create a new company, please visit our website and follow the quick and easy steps. After the Covid-19 pandemic, countries all over the world are trying to revive their economy and fill the financial void it has left. Many countries are already on track and doing well. Australia performed strongly in the fourth quarter of 2021, beating most predictions that it would not perform well. Australia also faced the consequences of the pandemic, but they were mild compared to other countries. After the drop of 2.5% in 2020, Australia’s GDP projected 4% growth in 2021 and is expected to grow at 3.3% in 2022. Even though Australia lost its most important trade partner China, Australia successfully managed to fill its place with other nations. The pandemic has shaken Australia’s economy more than any other calamity in its history. A country with more than 40 percent of its GDP dependent on trade was put to the test. Yet, Australia did exceptionally well by showing positive economic growth in the last quarter of 2021. With the lockdown announcement in March 2020, Australia’s economy fell 0.3% in the March quarter. This resulted in 66% of businesses reporting a reduction in turnover, 64% of companies reporting a decrease in demand, and 48% of companies reporting impacts on their operations due to the restriction put in place to fight the Coronavirus. In May-June 2020, Australia imposed even stricter social distancing measurements, resulting in less income reporting by over 72% of businesses, while only 7% reported increased revenue. As a result, in early June 2020, Australia’s GDP fell by a record 7%, dropping for the second quarter in a row. During this period, 2 out of 3 businesses reported decreased revenue. Among these, the most impacted industries were education, accommodation and food, and information media and telecommunication, each reporting 87%, 84%, and 80% decreased revenue, respectively. In July and August, unemployment in Australia peaked at over 7.5%, which was the highest in over 20 years. During this time, the industries most likely to experience difficulty were accommodation and food, transport and warehousing, and arts & recreation services. After the decrease in March 2020, Australia’s economy started to recover around September 2020 with the announcement that vaccines would be available in November. In October 2020, businesses began to show signs of recovery. And in December 2020, Australia’s economy was on the upswing, with GDP rising by 3.1%. With the start of 2021, things started to continue improving, with employment recovering to almost 93%. The real change in Australia’s economy was visible from January 2021, when almost 93% of the job losses due to the pandemic were restored to the Pre-COVID level. Aside from the pandemic’s strictly financial characteristics, many experts compared this crisis to other recessions like 2008 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. In the December 2021 quarter, Australia’s Growth Domestic Product was reported to have increased by 3.4% compared to the September quarter. As the pandemic restrictions started easing up, states like New South Wales (6.7%), Victoria (3.7%), and the Australian Capital Territory (1.9%) showed the most substantial growth even though they were the most affected by the Delta wave restrictions. Throughout the pandemic, Australia proved to be a resilient economy performing better than other countries. In addition, the Australian government’s cautious approach to the COVID outbreak turned out to be beneficial to the country’s economy. Below are some of the things Australia did to contribute to its resilience: Decisions made during the pandemic—whether it was to close the country from the outside world at the beginning of the pandemic or cut interest rates to low levels, or inject stimulus into the economy—led to high property prices. Between April and September 2020, the housing values continuously declined by 2%. As the Reserve Bank cut interest rates to historic lows, billions of dollars in the stimulus were pumped into the economy, which increased household savings. Such cheaper financing made it easier for borrowers to access more credit. According to CoreLogic’s Home Value Index, housing prices jumped to over 24.6% from April to February 2022. As a result, residential real estate values increased from $7.2 trillion to $9.8 trillion. By the third quarter of 2021, the household debt-to-income ratio reached a record high of 140% and increased real estate values. All of these factors combined affected the rental housing market as well. As a result, rental rates have increased from $30 per week to $470 per week since March 2020. Apart from the global pandemic, another recent struggle that the country is facing is the Australian bushfires of 2019/2020. It began in September 2019 and destroyed millions of properties and businesses. It also claimed both humans and wildlife in large numbers. The short-term impact of the fire on the country’s GDP includes the fact that businesses, tourism, transportation, manufacturing processes as well as farming-related activities would be affected negatively. Another effect is a further reduction of Australia’s confidence in recovering (especially since the country is still yet to recover from the pandemic’s effect). The unemployment rate is highly likely to drop even further with a resultant negative drop in the number of small businesses in the country. An article by the Guardian speculated that the country would have to spend even more than the amount spent to recover from one of its past fire-related setbacks in 2009. During the Black Saturday of 2009 in Australia, about 450,000 hectares were affected. This is nothing close to the 8.4 million hectares that were affected by this recent 2019/2020 bushfires. The costs of these struggles will arise from health demands, daily disruption, insurance claims, and other sectors. "When America sneezes, the world catches a cold" – as the old saying goes. It's only been two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but economists are already speculating about when the next recession could happen. The United States will fall into recession in late 2023 because its central bank, the Federal Reserve, will hike interest rates too quickly. Deutsche Bank is predicting, "We no longer see the Fed achieving a soft landing." Deutsche Bank economists led by Matthew Luzzetti wrote in a report to clients "Instead, we anticipate that a more aggressive tightening of monetary policy will push the economy into a recession." Another major bank, Goldman Sachs, is forecasting a 35 per cent chance of a US recession in the next two years. With increases to the cost of living surging to a 40-year high in America, there's a strong argument that the Fed now has to rapidly hike rates to cool the economy down. Money markets are betting the Fed will announce outsized rate hikes (0.5 of a percentage point) at its next few meetings – and that its benchmark interest rate will soar to 3.2 per cent in a year's time. That's an extraordinarily rapid pace when you consider that US rates are currently near record lows (between 0.25 and 0.5 per cent). "The Fed doesn't have a great history in terms of interest rate hikes," AMP Capital senior economist Diana Mousina told ABC News. "There is definitely the risk that this time round inflation is so elevated in the US, and the economy is running so hot, that the Fed may think it's way behind the curve and take interest rates too high. When you see a big downturn in the largest economy in the world, there's obviously negative impacts for major trading partners like Australia in terms of lower demand for exports – so it does create a downturn in global trade. But in the short term, I think that there is still further upside for the US economy and for share markets as well." Money markets are betting that Australia's cash rate will surge above 3 per cent by the end of next year. Considering the cash rate target is currently 0.1 per cent, that would mean a dozen rate hikes over the next year-and-a-half. Markets are expecting the RBA to hike Australia's cash rate aggressively. (Refinitiv) Whether the US economy falls into recession or not, Australia has its own problems to deal with. The Reserve Bank recently forecast that if it were to lift rates by 2 per cent, property prices could drop by a massive 15 per cent. A fall of that magnitude would certainly make consumers feel a lot poorer – causing them to cut back on spending, and therefore slowing down the economy. "I think there's a pretty decent chance of Australia going into recession," said Angus Coote, co-founder of Jamieson Coote Bonds. "One of the things that certainly worries me about the Australian economy is that we've got a tremendous amount of people that wisely took out fixed rate loans at very low interest rates, sub-2 per cent. Now those two-year fixed rate mortgages are going to be rolling off into much higher interest rates by the fourth quarter of next year, and you're going see a margin squeeze on the household sector." That's why some economists believe the RBA will only hike rates gradually (compared to the US, New Zealand, Canada and many other central banks). However, the danger is if the RBA does not hike rates quickly enough, inflation could surge even higher, especially as the Australian dollar sinks. If that situation were to arise, Australia's central bank might have to follow the US's lead, by hiking rates aggressively – risking a "hard landing" and another economic downturn. In early 2000, a five-year-old online bookseller called Amazon.com sold $672 million in convertible bonds to shore up its financial position. One month later, the dot-com bubble burst. More than half of all digital start-ups went out of business over the next few years—including lots of Amazon’s then-rivals in e-commerce. Had the bubble burst just a few weeks earlier, one of the most successful companies ever might have fallen victim to that recession. Recessions—defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth—can be caused by economic shocks (such as a spike in oil prices), financial panics (like the one that preceded the Great Recession), rapid changes in economic expectations (the so-called “animal spirits” described by John Maynard Keynes; this is what caused the dot-com bubble to burst), or some combination of the three. Most firms suffer during a recession, primarily because demand (and revenue) falls and uncertainty about the future increases. But research shows that there are ways to mitigate the damage. In their 2010 HBR article “Roaring Out of Recession,” Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, and Franz Wohlgezogen found that during the recessions of 1980, 1990, and 2000, 17% of the 4,700 public companies they studied fared particularly badly: They went bankrupt, went private, or were acquired. But just as striking, 9% of the companies didn’t simply recover in the three years after a recession—they flourished, outperforming competitors by at least 10% in sales and profits growth. A more recent analysis by Bain using data from the Great Recession reinforced that finding. The top 10% of companies in Bain’s analysis saw their earnings climb steadily throughout the period and continue to rise afterward. A third study, by McKinsey, found similar results. The difference maker was preparation. Among the companies that stagnated in the aftermath of the Great Recession, “few made contingency plans or thought through alternative scenarios,” according to the Bain report. “When the downturn hit, they switched to survival mode, making deep cuts and reacting defensively.” Many of the companies that merely limp through a recession are slower to recover and never really catch up. How should a company prepare in advance of a recession and what moves should it make when one hits? Research and case studies examining the Great Recession shed light on those questions. In some cases, they cement conventional wisdom; in others, they challenge it. Some of the most interesting findings deal with four areas: debt, decision making, workforce management, and digital transformation. The underlying message across all areas is that recessions are a high-pressure exercise in change management, and to navigate one successfully, a company needs to be flexible and ready to adjust. Rebecca Henderson (of Harvard Business School) likes to remind her students, “Rule one is: Don’t crash the company.” That means, first and foremost, don’t run out of money. Because a recession usually brings lower sales and therefore less cash to fund operations, surviving a downturn requires deft financial management. If Amazon hadn’t raised all that money prior to the dot-com bust, its options would have been much more limited. Instead, it was able to absorb losses in its investments in other start-ups and also launch Amazon Marketplace, its platform for third-party sellers, later that year. It further expanded during and after the recession into new segments (kitchens, travel, and apparel) and markets (Canada). Companies with high levels of debt are especially vulnerable during a recession, studies show. In a 2017 study, Xavier Giroud (of MIT’s Sloan School of Management) and Holger Mueller (of NYU’s Stern School of Business) looked at the relationship between business closures and associated unemployment and falling housing prices in various U.S. counties. Overall, the more housing prices declined, the more consumer demand fell, driving increased business closures and higher unemployment. But the researchers found that this effect was most pronounced among companies with the highest levels of debt. They divided up companies on the basis of whether they became more or less leveraged in the run-up to the recession, as measured by the change in their debt-to-assets ratio. The vast majority of businesses that shuttered because of falling demand were highly leveraged. “The more debt you have, the more cash you need to make your interest and principal payment,” Mueller explains. When a recession hits and less cash is coming in the door, “it puts you at risk of defaulting.” To keep up with payments, companies with more debt are forced to cut costs more aggressively, often through layoffs. These deep cuts can impair their productivity and ability to fund new investments. Leverage effectively limits companies’ options, forcing their hand and leaving them little room to act opportunistically. The extent to which high levels of debt pose a risk during a recession depends on various factors. Shai Bernstein (of the Stanford Graduate School of Business), Josh Lerner (of Harvard Business School), and Filippo Mezzanotti (of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management) have found that companies owned by private equity firms—which often require the companies they finance to take on debt—fared better during the Great Recession than similarly leveraged non-PE-owned firms. Companies with lots of debt struggle in part because access to capital slows to a trickle during a downturn. PE-backed firms emerged in better shape, the study suggests, because their owners were able to help them raise capital when they needed it. Issuing equity is another way companies can avoid the burden of debt obligations. “If you issue equity in the run-up to a recession,” Mueller says, “the problem of defaulting will be less pronounced.” The reality, of course, is that many companies have some level of debt going into a recession. Mueller’s study found that the average debt-to-assets ratio among firms that had increased debt levels in the run-up to the Great Recession was 38.3%. Among the group that had deleveraged, it was 19.5%. Although there’s no magic number, modest levels of debt aren’t necessarily a problem, research shows. Nonetheless, Mueller suggests that if a company thinks a recession is coming, it should consider deleveraging. McKinsey’s recent recession research supports this: Firms that emerged in better shape from the Great Recession had reduced their leverage more dramatically from 2007 to 2011 than had less successful ones. When it comes to deleveraging, it helps to start early, says McKinsey’s Mihir Mysore. That means reducing debt levels before it’s clear the economy is in recession. “You need to take a hard look at your portfolio,” Mysore advises, because shedding assets can be a way to reduce leverage without necessarily cutting core aspects of operations. We shall wait and see...

In today's global marketplace, it's more important than ever to protect your business. Trademarks help you do this by giving you the exclusive right to use a name or logo for goods and services. This means that if someone else tries to use your trademark without permission, they can be stopped and forced to pay damages. So, what are trademarks, who needs them and why should you apply for one? Company123 are IP agents that can guide you through the application and registration of both Australian and International trademarks. If you're just starting out in business, it's natural to be a little nervous about protecting your brand. After all, there are so many things to think about: What will my business look like? How do I make sure that my customers know about me? What services can I provide and what's my target market? But one thing that shouldn't be too far down your list of priorities is trademark protection. Trademarks protect your business by distinguishing it from others and helping you stand out from the crowd. They help build customer loyalty by allowing them to identify with your brand and feel comfortable doing business with you. Most importantly though they help create "brand equity", which means they allow consumers to associate certain qualities with products or services (for example fair prices, high quality etc). A trademark helps protect your brand, allowing you to focus on the growth of your business. There are many benefits of registering a trademark, including: Building your business reputation and value. Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that allows you to distinguish the goods or services of your business from those of other businesses. It gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license or sell the trade mark. This means that no one else in Australia can commercially use your trade mark within the class of goods and services its registered under. IP Australia is the government body that regulates all Intellectual Property in Australia. A registered trademark can act to protect your brand, business and investment. It also helps to protect your ideas, creativity and intellectual property. A registered trademark gives you the exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with goods or services for which it is registered. A registered trademark can also be used as a badge of origin for those goods and services. Trademarks are distinctive signs that distinguish one trader from another, such as a name logo or colour scheme that identifies a product or service with its provider (e.g., McDonald's golden arches). Filing a trademark application in Australia is a straightforward process. The first step is to search for existing trademarks, which can be done on the IP Australia website, to ensure that no one else has registered the same or similar mark as you. Once you have done this, you can begin your application by providing: As IP agents, Company123 can guide clients through the application process, which involves the following steps: This is an optional step but is strongly advised to allow for clients to be well-informed before proceeding to application which can be costly.This process can involves: Trade Mark Search Report, prepared by our trade mark specialists. With the option to add an: Expedited Analysis Report: Coordinated by Company123 with IP Australia which allows for both speedy analysis results and a quicker application process afterwards as well. You can read about this system on the IP Australia website. For further clarification on how Expedition works feel free to call our specialists at 03 9832 0660. Before submitting an application, there are some simple questions to answer first (when conducting an analysis prior to application, these questions are answered as part of the analysis).First, what type of trademark are you applying for? For example, a text or a logo? Each has to be a separate application.  These are the most common types, but there are various specialised and niche types of trademarks, which can be found on the IP Australia website. Next, what class/classes your trademark should be registered for? There are 45 different classes, encompassing a wide range of goods and services. To help you decide what goods or services to list think about the exact nature of your business and ask yourself the following: IP Australia provides a Trade Mark Assist service that can help further determine what classes are best for your trademark. To lodge an application through Company123, this form has to be filled out. Once payment is made, Company 123 as IP agents proceed to lodge the same day, and the Notice of Filing is given by IP Australia within 1 business day. Once you file your trademark application, it will be reviewed by a trademark examiner to determine if the mark is acceptable. If it is acceptable, the examiner will publish your trademark application on a public record and send you a notification of publication in the mail. This gives other people an opportunity to object to your registration or request more information from you about your application. If no one objects, then you can conclude that there were no issues with filing this particular trademark; however, if someone does object and there are grounds for objection (such as if the subject matter of your mark conflicts with another registered mark), then this may result in a refusal letter stating why the examiner cannot accept your application for registration without changes being made first (or at all), which ordinarily takes 4-6 months. With Expedition, this can be cut down to 1-2 months. (Important to note that although you will receive early acceptance, for official registration every trademark has to wait at least 7 months). If successful, the trademark will be issued a Letter of Acceptance, and will proceed to Step 5. If unsuccessful, IP Australia will issue an Adverse Report detailing the issue. From there, there are often options to overcome the objection. Sometimes this involves amending the application by limiting the scope, sometimes providing evidence of Prior Use. During this 2 month period, it is advertised for opposition purposes. If there is no opposition (which is common), the application will proceed to Step 6. When a trademark is registered, you will receive a Certificate of Registration and the trademark is valid for 10 years, after which it must be renewed. An Australian trade mark provides protection only within Australia. There are two ways Australian trade mark owners can seek trade mark protection overseas: If you apply directly to another country you need to do that through their systems, and not through IP Australia. You will need to apply to each country separately. We recommend that you seek advice from an intellectual property (IP) professional before you file overseas. Whichever option you choose, you will still end up with separate trade mark applications in each country. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies the source of goods or services. It can be a word, phrase, symbol or design used in connection with the sale of goods or services to distinguish those sold by one company from those sold by others. Some examples of trademarks are Nike's swoosh logo and Apple's apple with a bite taken out of it. Trademarks can be registered (which gives rights to use them nationally) or unregistered (which gives no rights beyond your own state). Trademarks can be very important to businesses because they allow them to distinguish their products from others'. While most people recognize Coca-Cola as being associated with soft drinks made popular by inventor John Pemberton in 1886, if there were another company called Soft Drinks Ltd with exactly the same product then customers would not know who makes what until after they buy it. Trademarks also provide consumers peace of mind knowing that if something is made by one company then it will taste similar everywhere else even if they've never tried it before! The Madrid System facilitates the filing of trade mark applications in a number of countries through one application. It is administered by WIPO in Geneva. All requests for protection in Madrid member countries are examined according to the trade mark legislation and laws existing in the designated countries. You may want to get the advice of an IP attorney professionals who are familiar with the details of each country. WIPO provides a full list of member countries that an international application can cover. Conversely, the Madrid System also allows foreign trade mark owners to designate Australia in their international applications. This means that overseas traders could have trade marks similar to yours that are operational in Australia. You should be checking databases to make sure there are no crossovers. Requirements to apply for an international trademark are: An international trade mark application filed through the Madrid System must be filed through the Office of Origin (where the basic trade mark was filed). IP Australia will only accept an international trade mark application filed though the Madrid e-Filing platform found in our online services platform. IP Australia will no longer accept the physical MM2 application form as of the 01 July 2016. The exception is when there is maintenance being performed on our online services or the Madrid e-Filing platform. Your international registration is protected for a period of 10 years from the date of registration. Registration can be renewed every 10 years upon payment of the relevant fees. Benefits of the Madrid System include: You can work out the cost of applying for an international trade mark by using the WIPO fee calculator to determine the amount due in Swiss francs. Please note the exact figure in Australian dollars will depend on the conversion rate used on the day your application is submitted. For more information on fees and the Madrid system please refer to: If you’re thinking about expanding your business and entering the US market, it’s important to understand how to protect your brand while you’re there. The US is a huge opportunity for businesses and having the legal right to protect your brand can be your most valuable marketing tool. One aspect of protecting a brand is through trade mark registration. Your trade mark is the way you show your customers who you are. The more successful your business, the more valuable your trade mark becomes.Company 123 can also handle all your international trademark needs. International Trademarks can be done concurrently as Domestic Trademarks using the Madrid Protocol system. If applying for an international trademark within 6 months of lodging of a Domestic Trademark, the international trademark can claim priority and be backdated to the date of the original domestic lodgement. If you're interested in obtaining trademark protection in Australia, there are several benefits to consider. For one, Australia is a member of the Madrid Protocol, which simplifies the process of obtaining trademark protection in multiple countries. The Madrid Protocol allows you to file a single application in one country and have the same application accepted in other signatory countries. In other words, if someone else has already registered a similar mark in another jurisdiction (such as another European Union member state), an Australian application will not be accepted unless it qualifies as a different mark or there is no likelihood of confusion between them. In addition to its membership with so-called "Madrid" agreements that allow for international trademark filing under one centralized registration system, Australia also has bilateral agreements with many nations around the world for simplified registration under their respective systems. These include United Kingdom; France; Germany; Italy; Japan; New Zealand; South Africa and Switzerland among others. The trademark registration process can seem complicated, but it’s really not. In fact, it’s an important part of protecting your business and making sure people know about it. The more you know about trademarks and how they work, the better off you’ll be when it comes time to filing one for yourself or someone else. For more information on the international trademark process see here or call our trade mark specialists at 03 9832 0660.

A Business Number (ABN) is a unique 11-digit number that identifies your business or organisation to the government and community. In Australia, one of the first things small businesses need when they start up is an Australian Business Number (ABN). Your ABN is linked to your business name, trading as (T/A) name and Australian Tax File Number (TFN). Your ABN is used for all dealings with the ATO, including lodgement of annual tax returns. It also allows you to apply for an Australian Business Number (ABN) online. Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia. You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. Company123 offers quick and simple ABN registration as tax agents at our ABN registration form. The following points can guide you on whether you currently need an ABN and answer various other related queries. The tax file number (TFN) is a unique identifier the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) gives to individuals, allowing them to pay income tax. If you're employed, your employer will ask for it as part of their payroll process. If you are self-employed or have investments that earn interest, then you must register for a TFN yourself and provide it when filing an income tax return. You can apply for a TFN online at the ATO's website. Alternatively, if you prefer not to use online services or are unable to do so due to a disability or lack of access to technology, then there are other options available: Goods and services tax (GST) is a tax of 10% on the sale (supply) of most goods and services consumed in Australia. In general, an organisation that is required by law to 'register' for GST purposes: Your organisation may be required by tax laws to pay GST on any goods and services it supplies. For further information see the ATO website. In Australia, one of the first things small businesses need when they start up is an Australian Business Number (ABN). They are also known as tax file numbers or Australian Taxation Office numbers. Businesses who do not have an ABN will be unable to issue invoices or take credit card payments for goods and services rendered, which could make it difficult for them to run their businesses. The Australian Business Register (ABR) is a database that contains information about every company and business entity in Australia. The ABR lists all registered businesses and allows them to apply for various government benefits so that they can trade legally within Australia. The primary role of this register is to ensure that all registered businesses pay their fair share of taxes while supporting compliance with industry standards and regulations such as GST reporting requirements. If you need to register for an Australian Business Number (ABN), you will need to do so at the Australian Business Register (ABR) website. This is the official place to apply for an ABN. To apply, you will need: Yes, if the individual is a sole trader. ’Individuals carrying on an enterprise are entitled to an Australian business number (ABN) and are known as ‘sole traders’, which is the simplest and cheapest business structure. If you're a sole trader, you are: As a sole trader, you are responsible for your own super and the super of any other workers you employ. If you have been engaged to carry out activities as an employee, you are not entitled to an ABN for that activity. Therefore, employees are not entitled to their own ABN. If you do not meet the criteria of a sole trader, then you can pursue other business structures. Your ABN is linked to your business name, and the same goes for your TFN. If you’re a sole trader or partnership, you only need an ABN and it acts as both your tax file number and business number. If you’re a company, then you need to apply for an ABN (which will have its own TFN). To obtain an ABN, your company must: More information on ABNs, including who is entitled to apply, is set out on the ATO's website. If you want to look up information about a registered ABN, such as to check that your details are up to date or check the details of a supplier, you can do this on the ABN Lookup website. ABN Lookup allows you to search publicly available information supplied by businesses when they register for an ABN. You can find the Australian Business Registry here. If you cannot find your ABN, you may not have one already. You can register one here. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one - for example, ABNs help: Also, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST. More information can be found at www.abr.gov.au. A trust must meet either one of the following 2 criteria to be eligible for an ABN: The entity is any one of: The entity can answer 'Yes' to each of the following statements: 1. Its activity is carried out in any of:    1.1 the form of a business    1.2 the nature of trade, or    1.3 the form of a regular or continuous grant of a lease, licence or interest in property.2. Its activity is carried out in Australia or it makes supplies that are connected with Australia.3. Its activity is not a private recreational pursuit or hobby. After acquiring an ABN and a TFN, the trust can then open a bank account. A bank account should be opened for the trust in the name of the trustee as trustee for the trust. This should occur after the discretionary trust has been established and the trust deed stamped (if stamping is necessary). The bank may require the trust ABN before it will open the account. You can apply for an ABN along with a tax file number (TFN) as part of registering your fund with the ATO. Your fund will be eligible for tax concessions, and can receive contributions and rollovers after it is registered with the ATO. A superannuation entity must be set up correctly – in line with the superannuation legislation – to be entitled to an ABN. This requires the following steps: You can set up your self-managed superfund with our qualified professionals here. If you would like further inquire about SMSF ABNs feel free to email our consultants at support@company123.com.au or call 03 9832 0660. Other types of ABNs include: A deceased estate's entitlement to an ABN is dependant on the legal personal representative (LPR) carrying on an enterprise so as to finalise the affairs of the estate. Applicants must be one of the following: You cannot use an ABN held by the deceased person as an individual sole trader for business purposes after the person's death. The LPR may only need to apply for an TFN if they are not carrying on an enterprise but required to manage post date of death income. Cooperatives carrying on an enterprise and registered with the relevant state or territory authorities are entitled to an ABN. Incorporated entities entitled to an ABN if carrying on an enterprise are: If carrying on an enterprise, the following can also be entitled to an ABN: It's your responsibility to maintain your Australian business number (ABN) details. You must update your details within 28 days of becoming aware of any changes, including changes in addresses etc. Updating your ABN details will ensure: The fastest way is using your myGovID online. You can see how to create an account at the video below. For further information, please see the ATO website. You can't update: You will need to contact the ATO directly. Name changes made by the ATO and ASIC will update the ABR. If you're closing your business, or changing your business structure, it's likely you'll need to cancel your ABN. You'll need to cancel your ABN when changing from a: If your business is no longer operating you need to cancel your ABN on the ABR website.In Australia, the most crucial first steps for new business are to register for an ABN. A Business Number (ABN) is a unique 11-digit number that identifies your business or organisation to the government and community and is linked to your business name, trading as (T/A) name and Australian Tax File Number (TFN). Here at Company123 we offer simple and quick ABN registration as tax agents at our ABN registration form.

Interest rates are on the rise and have been for a few years now. What does this mean for your company? If you're like most businesses, it means that you need to prepare for potentially higher borrowing costs in the coming months. Here's what you need to know about interest rate risk and how it could affect your business' cash flow and balance sheet: You can also look at your existing loans and see if you have any cash-flow friendly options. For example, if you have an interest-only loan or a repayment holiday period, you may be able to reduce your monthly repayments in the short term. You could also consider refinancing with another lender to get a better deal.As interest rates rise, your existing capital might be worth less than it was before – but there are ways to offset this impact on your business. By looking at all of the factors involved and planning ahead, you can continue running a successful company as we head into 2020s! The interest rate risk is the risk that the rate on your existing debt will change. If you have a fixed-rate loan, this means that your cash flow and finances are affected by changes in interest rates. For example, if your company has a $100 million bank loan with a 10% interest rate and then the interest rates increase to 15%, that means you'll have to pay 15% more every year on all of your outstanding debt, which could be very detrimental to your business.It's important to manage this type of risk because higher interest rates can cause some borrowers (like businesses) who already struggle with cash flows problems even worse ones!To manage this type of risk:•    Make sure you understand what kind of loans/debts you have so that you know how much extra money will be going towards paying back those debts each month or year once rates increase;•    Plan ahead for when rates are likely going up so that there aren't any surprises down the road; The average duration of debt for a company is different than the average duration of debt for a household.How do you calculate the average duration of debt?You can use this formula to help you calculate the average duration of debt: (average maturity) / ((sum of cash flows)/(duration)).The formula takes into account both interest rate risk and credit risk, so it’s important to consider both when managing your firm’s financial position. Given the impact of higher interest rates on borrowing costs, it's important to consider whether there is a correlation between your company's credit rating and its cost of debt servicing.If you are an established business with a strong financial track record, you may have access to lower interest rates than newer competitors that lack such credentials. That said, if your business has recently taken on large amounts of debt and secured it with assets that have declined in value since the loan was made, then your company may find itself paying more than expected in order to service its debt obligations. If you're a business owner, your company's interest rates will be affected by higher interest rates. That's because when rates rise, the amount of money you'll have to pay in interest increases as well. This is important to keep in mind when working through your budget or making decisions about remodelling projects or other capital expenditures that require financing. You can make sure to account for higher-than-expected future costs by planning ahead and saving more now than you did before interest rates climbed.You can manage potential interest rate increasesYou have a number of options for managing the impact of higher interest rates on your business:•    You can manage interest rate risk through hedging. This means you can reduce the probability that a change in market rates will negatively affect your business.•    You can also manage the impact of higher rates by increasing your cash reserves, which are then used to pay off or refinance debt before it comes due. However, while this strategy may help prevent default on existing debt obligations and maintain an acceptable credit rating, it doesn't resolve all concerns related to higher borrowing costs over time (or at least as long as they remain high).•    You should review your current portfolio and determine if there are ways for reducing its term length or overall duration—either by refinancing existing loans or by issuing new ones with shorter maturity periods than previously planned—then monitor how those changes impact both your finances now versus later down the road when rates finally go back down again (if ever). How do higher interest rates bring down inflation? Inflation occurs when too much money only allows the purchase of too few goods. When people have lots of money, they often unknowingly bid up prices as means to park their cash. This can be seen with the current increase in housing and other asset prices.By increasing interest rates, this increases the cost of borrowing and will disincentivize people taking out huge loans to buy property. This will not lower housing prices immediately due to the low supply of materials and labour shortages currently in this economy. After a recovery of these deficits, a lowering of house prices should be seen to properly reflect the increase in borrowing costs. The Reserve Bank of Australia controls the federal funds rate, often referred to as its target rate. This is the interest rate that banks use to make overnight loans to each other. Banks borrow money – sometimes from each other – to make loans to consumers and businesses. So when the Fed raises its target rate, it raises the cost of borrowing for banks that need funds to lend out or meet their regulatory requirements.Banks naturally pass on these higher costs to consumers and businesses. This means that if the central bank raises its federal funds rate by 25 basis points, or 0.25 percentage point, consumers and businesses will also have to pay more to borrow money – just how much more depends on many factors, including the maturity of the loan and how much profit the bank wants to make. This higher cost of borrowing in turn dampens demand and economic activity. For example, if a car loan becomes more expensive, maybe you’ll decide now is not the right time to buy that new convertible or pickup truck you had your eye on. Or perhaps a business will become less likely to invest in a new factory – and hire additional workers – if the interest it would pay on a loan to finance it goes up.This is the cost to the economy when the RBA raises interest rates. At the same time, this is exactly what slows the pace of inflation. Prices for goods and services typically go up when demand for them rises. But when it becomes more expensive to borrow, there’s less demand for goods and services throughout the economy. Prices may not necessarily go down, but their rate of inflation will usually decline. To see an example of how this works, consider a used car dealership, where the pace of inflation has been exceptionally high throughout the pandemic. Let’s assume for the moment that the dealer has a fixed inventory of 100 cars on its lot. If the overall cost of buying one of those cars goes up – because the interest rate on the loan needed to finance one rises – then demand will drop as fewer consumers show up on the lot. In order to sell more cars, the dealer will likely have to cut prices to entice buyers. In addition, the dealer faces higher borrowing costs, not to mention tighter profit margins after reducing prices, which means perhaps it couldn’t afford to hire all the workers it had planned to, or even has to lay off some employees. As a result, fewer people may be able to even afford the deposit, further reducing demand for cars.Now imagine it’s not just one dealer seeing a drop in demand but an entire US$24 trillion economy. Even small increases in interest rates can have ripple effects that significantly slow down economic activity, limiting the ability of companies to raise prices. But our example assumes a fixed supply. As we’ve seen, the global economy has been dealing with massive supply chain disruptions and shortages. And these problems have driven up production costs in other parts of the world. If high inflation stems mainly from these higher production costs and low inventories, then the RBA might have to raise interest rates by a great deal to contain inflation. And the higher and faster the Fed has to raise rates, the more harmful it will be to the economy. In keeping with our car example, if the price of computer chips – a critical input in cars these days – is increasing sharply primarily because of new pandemic-related lockdowns in Asia, then carmakers will have to pass on these higher prices to consumers in the form of higher car prices, regardless of interest rates. In this case, the RBA might then have to dramatically raise interest rates and reduce demand substantially to slow the pace of inflation. At this point, no one really knows how high interest rates might need to climb in order to get inflation back down to around 2-3% in line with the economic goal. Governor, Philip Lowe had a lot to say regarding inflation in his recent speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AMCHAM). He mentioned that a major component of the increase in prices seen by Australians has been as a result of the ‘tragic events in Ukraine’. This has seen increases in both food and energy prices. He mentioned that it’s a global phenomenon which has affected virtually every country. “Australia is no exception to the general trend, although inflation here remains below that of most other advanced economies. In headline terms, inflation in Australia was 5.1 per cent over the year to the March quarter, which is the highest rate in many years (Graph 2). In underlying terms, the inflation rate was 3.7 per cent, which is higher than it has been in recent years, but still lower than it was during the resources boom. In both headline and underlying terms, inflation is much higher than we had earlier expected. The fact that inflation is higher everywhere tells us that there are powerful global factors at work. During the pandemic, supply chains were interrupted around the world, delivery times were pushed out and firms' costs of production rose. The inevitable result has been higher prices. And on top of this, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused major disruptions to the global markets for energy and food. As a result, oil prices have increased by 28 per cent since February and global food prices, including the prices of wheat and vegetable oils, have increased sharply (Graph 3). There has also been strong growth in demand globally, supported by stimulatory fiscal and monetary policy around the world. When the RBA published its latest set of forecasts in early May, we expected that inflation would peak at around 6 per cent at the end of this year. The information available since then has led us to push this forecast peak higher. Since early May, petrol prices have risen further due to global developments and the outlooks for retail electricity and gas prices have been revised higher due to pressures on capacity in that sector. As a result, we are now expecting inflation to peak at around 7 per cent in the December quarter. Following this, by early next year, we expect that inflation will begin to decline. I would like to highlight three factors that lie behind this assessment that inflation will moderate next year.The first is that some of the pandemic-related supply-side problems in the global economy are gradually being resolved. Firms have been adjusting to their new operating environment and solving the problems in global production and logistic networks – as a result, delivery times have shortened a little from last year, the prices of semiconductors have declined from their recent peak and the global production of cars is showing signs of a recovery. While it is still possible there will be further setbacks, the global production system is adjusting and this should help lessen some of the inflationary pressures. The second factor is a more technical one, but one that we should not lose sight of. It is important to remember that inflation is the rate of change of prices. It is not a measure of the level of prices. This means that for inflation to stay high, prices have to keep increasing at an elevated rate; if prices simply remain steady at a high level, the rate of inflation falls to zero. As an example of this, if global oil prices were to stay at the current elevated level, the annual rate of increase in oil prices would fall from 66 per cent to zero per cent. This might not be of much comfort to people struggling with the current high level of prices, but it would mean that the rate of measured inflation would decline. The third factor that provides confidence that inflation will decline is the tightening of monetary policy that is underway around the world, including here in Australia. The higher interest rates globally will help to create a more sustainable balance between the demand for goods and services and the ability of our economies to meet that demand. Achieving that balance is not straightforward and there are risks involved, but higher interest rates will lessen the current inflationary pressures. The Board judged that, given the inflation data and outlook that I have just discussed, it was no longer appropriate for interest rates in Australia to remain at the COVID-emergency levels. The increase in the cash rate in May followed the higher-than-expected CPI outcome in the March quarter and evidence from business surveys and our own liaison that growth in labour costs had picked up and would continue to do so in the months ahead. In June, we decided to make a bigger, 50 basis points, adjustment on the basis of the additional information suggesting a further upward revision to an already high inflation forecast. The Board also gave consideration to the fact that the level of interest rates was still very low. The Board is committed to doing what is necessary to ensure that inflation returns to the 2 to 3 per cent target range over time. High inflation damages the economy, reduces the purchasing power of people's incomes and devalues people's savings. It is also regressive, hurting most those who are least well equipped to protect themselves.So it is important that we chart our way back to an inflation rate in the 2 to 3 per cent target range. We do not need to, nor can we, get there immediately. Australia has long had a flexible medium-term inflation target, which, by design, can accommodate deviations of inflation from target. For a number of years inflation was below target and now it is above. What is important here is that we chart a credible path back to an inflation rate of 2 to 3 per cent. That path will be easier to navigate if the inflation psychology in Australia does not shift too much. A lesson from the 1970s is that if an inflation shock shifts people's expectations about the ongoing rate of inflation, it becomes harder to reverse. Applying this lesson to today, it is important that the higher rate of inflation this year does not feed through into ongoing inflation expectations. If it did, the period of higher inflation would persist and it would be more costly to reverse. To date, medium-term inflation expectations have been well anchored at around 2 to 3 per cent, suggesting that people believe we will get back to target. We want to do what we can to make sure this remains the case. Higher interest rates have a role to play here, by helping ensure that spending grows broadly in line with the economy's capacity to produce goods and services. Higher interest rates can also directly affect expectations by demonstrating the commitment of the RBA to return inflation to target. As we chart our way back to 2 to 3 per cent inflation, Australians should be prepared for more interest rate increases. The level of interest rates is still very low for an economy with low unemployment and that is experiencing high inflation. I want to emphasise though that we are not on a pre-set path. How fast we increase interest rates, and how far we need to go, will be guided by the incoming data and the Board's assessment of the outlook for inflation and the labour market.As we make that assessment each month, the Board will be paying close attention to developments in the global economy, the evolution of labour costs and how household spending is responding to higher interest rates. The recent news on household spending has been broadly positive, with spending bouncing back following the Omicron setback. Household balance sheets are generally in good shape, with households overall having accumulated more than $200 billion in additional savings during the pandemic. Furthermore, the current rate of saving out of income remains materially higher than it was before the pandemic, so there is a degree of flexibility in many household budgets. It is also relevant that strong employment growth is continuing and that there are many job opportunities at the moment. However, on the other side of the ledger, many households have not previously experienced a period of rising interest rates. Households are also experiencing a decline in real incomes because of the higher inflation and some of the large gains in housing prices over recent years are being unwound. Given these various considerations, we will be watching household spending carefully as we chart our way back to 2 to 3 per cent inflation.”

Email marketing is a great way to market your business, but you need to follow best practices to be successful. Email marketing refers to any activity that involves using email to attract new customers or strengthen relationships with existing ones. It can be considered an extension of direct mail (the traditional mail system), because it utilizes similar principles and techniques, from buying lists and segmentation strategies to sending physical brochures through the mail. In fact, some people consider email marketing and direct mail as two sides of the same coin—and for good reason: Both methods focus on building personal relationships with customers by sharing valuable content via electronic channels instead of printed materials. There are many tools that can be used for email marketing like MailChimp, Aweber, ConvertKit etc. The best way to learn about these tools is by reading reviews on their website or by reading articles written by other bloggers who have used these tools themselves! Email marketing is a great way to market your business, but you need to follow best practices to be successful. A digital marketing campaign involves the execution of a marketing strategy across all the digital channels where consumers engage with a brand, usually for the purpose of improving a company's conversion rate. To start a campaign, marketers need to understand who their customer is and where to reach them and anticipate what action the customer will take next. Customers approach brands through an omnichannel lens. So, to effectively reach a customer, marketers should connect digital marketing campaigns across all channels. Digital marketing campaigns can be less expensive than other marketing campaigns and can engage with customer behaviour in real time. Companies can use a digital campaign for a variety of uses, from raising brand awareness to telling loyal customers about a new product. The welcome email has become a very common practice for most organizations—and for good reason! This type of email content boasts the highest open and engagement rate. Today’s customers and new subscribers expect to see this type of email appear in their inbox after their first purchase or subscription. Exceed their expectations by sending an outstanding welcome email or welcome email series. Here are some questions you may not have thought of to get some juices flowing:•    Are my welcome emails sent based on how they signed up?For example, sending different messages based on whether they signed up via your website, a social media page, or if they purchased something.•    When customers buy a specific product from me, what are they interested in seeing next? Can I send them relevant suggestions?•    Is my welcome series a good mix of content (opportunities for subscribers to learn) and promotions (opportunities for subscribers to purchase)?•    Is my welcome series focused too much on my company? Can I shift the focus to being more on how my company can help our customers achieve something? The world of promotional emails is changing as consumers become more wary of this type of email content. The world continues to grow in technology and available information, and consumers are being made more aware of when messages are overly promotional. The task then is to offer a good mix of engaging emails (how-to content, informational content, etc.) and promotions. One way to accomplish this is to mix in content with your promotions. Make your promotional emails focus on the sell or offer and highlight this focus using your stand-out CTA. Then, maybe beneath the main offer, you can provide additional free content that supplements the offer, using a less eye-grabbing CTA. This gives customers an on-ramp to dip their toes in without pulling the trigger on a purchase, which may give you more opportunity to convert them later. Blogger outreach, also referred to as Blogger relations is one of the single most important tools to use as part of your marketing campaign. If used correctly, it can also be one of the most successful. In the digital world, bloggers are becoming more and more influential. Bloggers allow brands to connect with their audience in a way they have never done before. They can help you expand into social media and get in touch with an audience you didn’t even know you had! As well as drive traffic, trust & SEO juice to your brand. While blogger outreach is one of the most useful tools for your brand and can be used as a single method to help drive traffic and influence, it’s important to remember that it can also be used as part of a wider marketing campaign. It all depends on your brand, your product, and what you want to achieve. Before you dive in and start outreaching, there are certain questions you need to ask, in order to be successful: 'Why am I doing this?' This may sound silly, but it’s crucial that you understand what you want to achieve. So many brands will think of a brilliant idea in terms of content, and start to outreach it, without thinking of the audience behind it, or what the benefit to the brand is. Don’t be too quick to ‘get stuck in’ – make sure you do your research! 'What do I want to achieve?' What is the main reason for this campaign? Do you want to spread awareness of a new product? Are you looking to create an amazing piece of content for bloggers to link back to you? Or is this just a small part of a much larger marketing campaign? Once you can single out the main reason for why you are doing this and what you want to achieve, you will be able to define your goals and objectives. I think it’s always important to remember that ‘going viral’ with a marketing campaign should never be a goal. All brands are striving for this, however it’s rare. If you set yourself goals that are too high, you will never have measurable success. I’m not saying don’t strive for the best, but don’t belittle your own accomplishments. 'Who is my audience & how will I reach them?' Discovering your audience can simultaneously be one of the easiest and most difficult tasks for a brand. If you have no information to start with, then the first port of call is to try and create your brand’s personas. This will allow you to dive into your audience and see who they are, and what they are really about. Your niche will determine which bloggers you should engage with, and on what platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Personal blogs, etc). Take a beauty brand for example.  Over the past few years beauty bloggers have exploded on YouTube, with Vloggers dominating the beauty industry and covering over 97% of all beauty content. This would make YouTube the perfect platform for a beauty brand wanting to work with bloggers. Loyalty and rewards can be expressed in dozens of different ways—especially when you implement automation.Sending rewards based on purchases is a great start. Hitting certain tiered levels of rewards (spending x amount gets you free shipping, or 10% off, etc.) is a great incentive that your subscribers look for in email. Another idea for tech-oriented companies is to send loyalty emails based on what parts of your app or service someone used. If you have certain workflows, you want your customers to complete, you can email them with a congratulatory message and reward for their good work (like a discount on an upgraded plan, for example). Social proof is one of the best ways to close deals and drive sales. And if you can wrap it up into an actual customer story (instead of just a one-off quote), then you can both nurture and engage existing customers as well as inspire new ones to convert. Asking your customers how you’re doing as a company can be very vulnerable. But it can also give you great insights into your performance, the culture you’re creating with your customer base, and how to continue, stop, or begin processes to engage with your customers. Surveys can also serve simply as insight into who your customers are, like market research. It’s so easy to assume certain things about who you’re trying to sell to. It’s another thing entirely to see what people have to say when they fill out a well-informed survey. And email is the place to send these invitations for feedback. Triggered emails, automated emails, transactional emails, behavioural emails—these are all ways to describe an email that is sent by your marketing platform whenever a specific action is taken on your website or app. A very popular behavioural email is a shopping cart abandonment email, which is sent when someone adds an item to their cart but doesn’t finish their purchase. You can send behavioural emails based on almost any action, so long as you have a way to track your user or customer (like asking them to log in before using your site, service, or store). In addition to behaviour on your site, you have another behaviour that you’re tracking all the time: email behaviour. You have a massive repository of information showing you email engagement statistics for your entire list (or at least you should, if you have the right email service provider). With all this information, you could set up a variety of emails to re-engage customers that have opened but haven’t clicked through, haven’t opened in a while, or are constantly clicking through but haven’t purchased. A standard newsletter is super important, especially if you focus on content marketing. But more than anything, these emails should be a consistent touchpoint with your audience. If there’s one function they serve, it’s to keep your company top-of-mind for your audience, and to remind them of your brand whenever you can. Any sales and engagement on top of that is a big plus, and you should optimize these campaigns to improve engagement. But make sure you’re sending something compelling to keep your readers interested. Small businesses are in a unique position to benefit from email marketing, as they have more flexibility in their image. For example, as a small business, you can build trust with local customers much more rapidly than larger corporations, who may not resonate with smaller communities as easily. One of the most important practices to remember with email marketing today is to be as transparent, honest, and open as possible with your customers. Unsolicited or generic emails are losing ground and falling out of favour, as the modern consumer has come to respond better to more organic approaches. In that spirit, you should be focusing on getting customers to subscribe to your newsletters, and you can build a powerful and robust emailing list by using the following tips.Always make it easy for customers to subscribe to your newsletter. Don’t try to make it too fancy or add too many steps. Also, be sure to let potential subscribers know what to expect in terms of content before they sign up. Customers who sign up for your newsletter will lost trust in your brand if they find that the content is different from what they were led to expect. Keep in mind how difficult it is to grow subscribers and how competitive the internet is, with so many firms vying for attention. Take care to produce high-quality, exclusive content in your newsletters that customers can’t expect to find anywhere else. As a small business with local clout, you can use your regional expertise to promote your brand as an expert in the area. That can be achieved, both efficiently and conservatively, through the strategic use of email marketing. Developing a reputation as a local expert via your email content helps cement stronger customer relationships, which are vital to small businesses. Measuring the success of email marketing in small business is the key to developing more effective campaigns. Success rates can be measured with several metrics. You should be keeping track of the number of emails that are marked as spam and emails that are forwarded. You should also compare the number of emails that were deleted before or after opening. These metrics can yield valuable insights that’ll help you plan future newsletters and email marketing campaigns. One of the most effective things you can do to improve the efficacy of your email marketing is ensure that your newsletters are designed to display well on mobile phones. The easiest way to do this is to use a reliable email service provider that features responsive templates that can automatically optimize emails for mobile devices. 66% of emails are viewed on mobile devices. Email marketing matters to small businesses and can launch you ahead of your competitors. It can open new markets, bring in new customer bases, and help build strong, long-term customer relationships. These advantages are essential, especially to small businesses. With email marketing, you can deliver engaging newsletter content directly to your customer base. Email marketing is a great way to market your business, but you need to follow best practices to be successful. There are many types of emails:•    Transactional - these are automated messages that are sent when a customer takes certain actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or downloading an eBook.•    Promotional - these are used for selling products and services (usually on an ongoing basis). These can also be triggered by events like the anniversary of a sale or last purchase from another customer who purchased from you in the past few months. Here are the basic elements of an email campaign:•    Subject Line: The first thing smartphone users see is your subject line, so it's important to make it count. A compelling subject line will draw readers in, while a lackluster one won't.•    From Address: It's also important to ensure that the address in your email appears legitimate and trustworthy. If a reader has any doubts about whether they should trust you, they probably won't open or read your emails at all!•    Body: The body of your message should be concise and clear without being overly wordy. Remember that most people don't have time to read long emails on their phones; they want quick information delivered directly to them in bite-sized bits! Email has been a part of the marketer’s toolkit for over two decades. Throughout the years, it’s evolved and grown in popularity. The way email is used, the type of technology surrounding it, and the results it brings have all developed steadily over time. Email has gone from a curious invention to a marketing mainstay. Still, some believe newer technology has killed email marketing. But those people couldn’t be more wrong. We know email marketing still works in terms of providing returns, but so do a lot of marketing tactics. Just because they work doesn’t mean a company must automatically use them. Does email marketing still matter? The benefit of email marketing is the return it provides roughly $44 for every $1 spent. With so many platforms and email builders out there to help things along, marketers working on their own or in dedicated departments can still drive great results. The results aren’t dependent on location either. Globally, roughly one-third of marketers say email marketing is their best tool for generating ROI. With so many individuals and organizations across all industries benefiting from email marketing, it is safe to say it still matters, now more than ever. Not only is email marketing one of the most cost-effective tools to increase revenue, but it’s practical in every industry. Increasing email revenue can significantly improve ROI:•    Consumers spend 138% more because of email marketing, when compared to consumers who don’t receive email offers.•    ROI for email is 28.5%, which is almost four times more than for direct mail marketing.With the ability to increase revenue and improve your ROI, learning how to increase email revenue makes practical sense for any marketing beginner. Email marketing is only effective when it drives sales. With a few email marketing best practices, even beginners can learn how to increase email revenue, not just improve open and click rates. Search Engine Optimisation is the almost-science of ensuring that your content, whether it's marketing, articles, or an e-commerce website, appear as high up as possible when your target audience performs web search operations on popular web search engines, typically Google. Trying to get your website or content to land as high up on that first search results page should be top of mind when you're crafting any marketing collateral, and that includes an email marketing campaign. The right keywords can potentially help distribute your content in search engines or sell your product. While it may not appear as though there is a direct connection between an email marketing message and optimizing your placement in search results, as long as you're placing your email content on your website or linking to it, you can build that bridge. Here are 8 Ways to Combine Email Marketing & SEO Efforts to Boost Your Results:1.    Lower bounce rates2.    Discover the intent behind the query3.    Repurpose newsletter content4.    Use automated sequences to generate traffic5.    Improve social media engagement6.    Use CTAs (Call-to-action)7.    Deliver personalized content8.    Ask for reviews. 1.    DriftStraight and straightforward email.2.    PayPalClever and relatable email.3.    BuzzFeedEmails containing punchy subject lines and preview texts.4.    LitmusEmails that contain interactable animation.5.    Kate SpadeEmails that allow customers to offer feedback.6.    Cook SmartsEmails that offer something that adds value.7.    BodenAdding a sense of urgency.8.    BonobosExtending a helping hand and offering advice.9.    UberClear and simple email templates.10.    AirbnbWelcome emails that are pro-active and encourages interactions. Email marketing is a great way to market your business, but you need to follow best practices to be successful. You'll want to make sure that your emails are sent regularly and in the right format, that they're personalized with the recipient's name, and that they contain compelling content.

Australian population exceeds 25 million, which makes this market really tempting for online entrepreneurs. Let’s look closer at drop shipping in Australia and find out the kind of opportunities this country opens up for online store owners. Australia is a perfect place for ecommerce. You can easily cope with five online stores that earn you enough money to lead a lifestyle you’d like to. There are various kinds of business models that you can create to make this business a success. That’s the beauty of this business model. You shouldn’t invest much money to start this business. There is no need in buying products in advance and having any inventory to store them. All the necessities are a laptop and special software. Thus, you’re not tied down to a certain place. You can run your ecommerce business and enjoy doing whatever you like to your heart’s content. Setting up a drop shipping business isn't as easy as it seems. There are various legal requirements and other considerations that you need to keep in mind before setting up your business. If you want to know more about the process of setting up a drop shipping business in Australia, then read on! A logo is an important visual representation of your business and should be designed in a way that will stand out from the competition. A great logo can help you build your brand, establish credibility, attract customers and increase revenue. It should be simple enough to remember, but also unique so you don't get confused for someone else's brand. It can be used on your website, social media pages, business cards and more. Even better, you can trademark your website domain and logo through our website! This will restrict any competition from using your name and logo for similar kind of products and services. Given the saturation of the dropshipping market, a trademark is something that should be seriously considered to get ahead amongst your competition. Before submitting an application, there are some simple questions to answer first (when conducting an analysis prior to application, these questions are answered as part of the analysis). First, what type of trademark are you applying for?For example, a text or a logo? Each has to be a separate application.  These are the most common types, but there are various specialised and niche types of trademarks, which can be found on the IP Australia website. Next, what class/classes your trademark should be registered for?There are 45 different classes, encompassing a wide range of goods and services. IP Australia provides a Trade Mark Assist service that can help further determine what classes are best for your trademark. To lodge an application through Company123, this form has to be filled out. Once payment is made, Company 123 as IP agents proceed to lodge the same day, and the Notice of Filing is given by IP Australia within 1 business day. You can register your domain name for up to 10 years. You can also pay monthly or yearly depending on your preference. It's important to note that some domain providers will charge you extra if you want to transfer the domain from another provider. Domain registration prices vary depending on the provider and type of domain, so make sure you do your research before choosing one! Company123 provides domain registration. The next step is to set up a business bank account. If you are starting out as a sole trader and don’t have any employees, it is best to open an ABN ‘sole trader’ account with an Australian bank or financial institution. You can also do this by registering with an online service provider like MYOB or Xero who will help manage your bookkeeping, but these services are more expensive than opening a full-fledged business account. Once you have decided which type of account you want to open, go through the usual process: provide your business name and ABN (Australian Business Number), along with other information needed for setting up an account such as contact details and proof of identity documents (if applicable). You can obtain an ABN as a sole trader through our website. It’s a quick and easy form that will get your ABN to you within 5 minutes. If you’re thinking of registering an ABN for your company, you can do that as well through our website. A business plan is a document that describes your business. It should include: You can purchase a business plan through our Company123 website. This service provides you with all the necessary components and strategy in creating your own business and our experts will help you with that initial set up process. If you would like to operate and trade under a name which is different to the name of the legal entity. For example, Jacob Mowing services PTY LTD for a company or Jacob Smith as a sole trader, you require a business name. If instead you would want to operate simply as Jacob Mowing services, you need to have that name registered. While a business name is mainly used to conduct a business. The legal name of an entity is the name that appears on all official documents and legal papers. If you have a private company, the legal name typically will have PTY LTD (or any variation of ‘proprietary limited’). If you have registered as a sole trader your full name that was registered with the ABN will be the name of the legal entity. You can have multiple business names under a single Australian Business Number (ABN). Having multiple business names can help customers and clients find, identify, and connect with your business. As a business owner, you need to understand the difference between an ABN, ACN and company rate. These are all legal structures that will affect your tax obligations. A GST (Goods and Services Tax) ABN is required if you’re selling online or in-store and can be obtained from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). An ACN (Australian Company Number) is needed by any business that wants to open an account with a financial institution so they can accept credit cards or electronic transfers of funds—this includes PayPal accounts as well as bank accounts. The company rate allows businesses with only one owner who isn't multiple companies under one name to file their taxes based on an estimated percentage of revenue instead of actual sales figures; this might be useful for drop shippers if they don't want their competitors knowing how much business they're doing! Finally there's sole traders and partnerships—these are types of businesses where two or more people work together but don't form their own separate entity like corporations do (so there's no "company" at all!). It is essential to discuss with an accountant before setting up a drop shipping business. As an accountant, your experience and expertise will be beneficial in ensuring that you have the best possible setup for your business. An accountant can help you with: Book a tax and legal consultation with us today to help you through these difficult questions. Our tax expert is a chartered accountant with over 20 years of local and international tax experience and our legal expert is a professional lawyer of over 30 years of experience in commercial law. Drop shipping is a supply chain management business model in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers the customer's order and money to another company that ships the goods directly to the consumer. The term drop shipping comes from an analogy to how a product "drops" from one warehouse to another. Great, isn’t it? What taxes you need to pay in AustraliaIf you’re an online store owner in Australia, you must follow the law and pay taxes to avoid legal problems. Every Australian business faces two major types of taxation. The first one is income tax – a certain percentage of your income you must pay to the government. There is a progressive tax system in Australia. That means, the more you earn – the more you pay. You’ve got five tax brackets like rungs on the ladder. Each bracket has its tax rate. And as your income exceeds a certain amount and moves to the next rung, the tax rate you pay for this extra income increases. So, if you earn $18,200 or less, your tax rate is 0% and you pay nothing in taxes. But, if your income is from $18,201 to $37,000, you must pay 19c for each dollar over $18,200 (your tax rate increases to 19%). However, you still pay 0% for the first $18,200. It works the same way for the next tax brackets. The tax rate on your income from $37,001 to $90,000 is 32,5%; 37% on $90,001 to $180,000; and 45% on the income over $180,000. While personal income can be taxed up to 45%, companies in Australia pay a flat tax rate of 25%. What are the requirements for company registration in Australia?Step 1: fill in a company registration form at Company123Step 2: receive all company documents within minutes, sign and fileStep 3: Recieve ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operationsBenefits of Registering a Company?In Australia, the most common types of company are:    'Proprietary Limited' companies (cannot raise money from the general public through share issues)    'Public' Companies (usually formed to raise or borrow public money by listing the company's shares for trading on a stock exchange) All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. Advantages of a company include that: Disadvantages of a company include that: Setting a private company is east. Visit www.company123.com.au website where you will find useful links and information to register a company in under 5 minutes. Company123 offers simple all inclusive solution whether you a business owner setting up a business or you run an accountancy or legal practice and set up companies for Clients. Our support line is open 24/7 if you have any questions and we are always here to help and assist you with any of your questions. For online registration, you will need to provide the following information: For Directors & Secretaries: Full name, full residential address as well as the date and place of birth of each person. For Shareholders: Full name, address and number of shares for each shareholder of the company. General Information: The address of the registered office and principal place of business. You must get written consent from the people that will fill these roles: The second type of taxes you face in Australia is sales taxes or GST (Goods and Service Tax). You include this tax in your products’ prices to collect and pass them to the government. Luckily, Australian tax system is not so complicated as it’s in the USA or Canada. So you don’t have to scratch your head calculating the amount of GST you need to charge. It doesn’t vary depending on the state and stands at 10% regardless of the city your Australian customers are from. Moreover, you can put off dealing with your sales taxes and focus on growing your dropshipping business. Australian entrepreneurs don’t have to register for GST and collect it until their revenue reaches $75,000 in 12 months. To find more comprehensive information on Australian tax regulations, you should visit the Australian Taxation Office’s website. Many online entrepreneurs want to learn about importing products to Australia before they start selling them to Australian customers. Well, let’s take a look at the issue. The first thing you need to know is that all goods purchased online with a value of $1,000 or less are considered as low value products. And according to Australian border laws, purchasing such products is duty-free. However, if Australian consumers bring your online store $75,000 or more, you must charge GST even for the low value products you sell. No matter whether you’re an Australian resident or a foreigner, you need to register for GST in Australia and collect it. You can visit the Australian Tax Office’s website and learn who is obliged to charge GST in detail. Yet… Those who choose to dropship with AliExpress are in for a treat! This online marketplace takes care of collecting GST for Australian government and dealing with all the necessary documents. For example, if you’re a US citizen dropshipping goods to Australia from AliExpress, you don’t need to worry about paying GST at all. AliExpress will take care of that and your Australian clients will get their purchases safe and sound. If you run your online store from Australia, it doesn’t mean that you’re limited to Australian market. Actually, going global can be more beneficial for your dropshipping business. There is plenty of promising markets to target around the globe such as the USA, Europe, Canada, India, etc. Aside from that, you don’t need to keep tabs on your GST turnover while selling your products to other countries. Since your sales take place outside of Australia, there is no need to worry about charging this type of taxes. For instance, you can focus on the US customers, who are allowed to purchase tax-free up to $800 (USD) while shopping online. This way, you can be sure that your US clients won’t face any additional taxes or custom duties when receiving their packages. Thus, they will stay pleased and your dropshipping business will thrive. However, some countries like Canada has a very low import limit for online purchases. So, if you target such countries, you should let your customers know that there could be some extra fees they need to pay when their packages arrive. If you’re thinking of starting your dropshipping business, Australia is perfectly fit for that. As you can see, this country has great prospects both for local and foreign entrepreneurs. So, you can launch your online store and seize your share of Australian market. We hope this article has given you the answers to the most burning questions about dropshipping in Australia. If you still have something to ask, please leave your comments in the section below. We’ll try to clear it up for you!

Working for a software company with a multichannel ecommerce operations platform, I see many ecommerce businesses increase their profit margins by leveraging Fulfillment by Amazon — both new sellers and existing retailers. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a great way for many people to find their niche in online sales and marketing on the Amazon Marketplace and other channels. Everyone knows that Amazon works with third-party sellers, but did you know that in 2020, nearly half of all Amazon sales came from third-party sellers and not Amazon directly? Not only that, but about 2/3 of those sellers are using the FBA platform. What some people don’t realize is that just about anyone can sell something on Amazon, provided they know where and how to do so. Currently, more than two million people around the world are doing it, and now it’s up to you to decide if it’s the right path for your business. And FBA works not just in the United States, but in many countries worldwide including Australia. This guide will cover the major points you need to know and how to set your company up with Company123! Fulfillment by Amazon is a service offered by — you guessed it — Amazon, as a means for third-party sellers to automate their order fulfillment and shipping services. It’s a pretty simple concept: Sellers sell, Amazon ships. Anyone enrolled in Amazon FBA can let Amazon handle all shipping, including returns and refunds, as well as product warehousing in Amazon’s warehouses, picking and packing, and more. Sellers send their products to Amazon, who warehouses everything and then processes all of the orders as they come in. As long as you handle the sales and make sure Amazon stays stocked with your products, the rest is done for you. And yes, you have to pay Amazon fees for it. Of course you do. So, what do you get for the money?•    24/7 Amazon customer service•    All fulfillment and shipping costs included (pick, pack and ship)•    Access to one of the world’s most dynamic fulfillment networks. Most people are familiar with the fact that Amazon is a giant in the online retail and fulfillment space. COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic has only served to increase the use of the Amazon platform, which has over 300 million active customer accounts around the world. Bear in mind that FBA might not be ideal for low-value items, large dimension products or other circumstances. While it offers a lot, it’s not a guaranteed solution for every seller. How can you decide? That’s why we’re here. Let’s take a quick look at the history and evolution of this platform, and then we’ll dig into the features, pros and cons, and more. Amazon started its FBA program in 2006, but the company has been paving the way for online retail for years. The brand had been dominating the world of online sales and fulfillment, despite its modest beginnings in the 1990s, and saw an opportunity to help others do the same. Of course, it’s not entirely a valiant effort on the part of Amazon, since they’re making money from their FBA service, too. Amazon decided that it would like to help small businesses benefit from its own fulfillment capabilities and leading customer service infrastructure. Essentially, the brand wanted to share its business model with others and help third-party sellers learn how to profit big by doing things the “Amazon Way”. The FBA program, like Amazon itself, is constantly evolving and changing to meet the needs of the evolving consumer landscape and online retail environment. This is both a blessing and a curse for those enrolled. It will be easy to stay updated with the current trends and market demands, but it can also be difficult to keep up with the constant changes and updates to the process, the guidelines, and other aspects of the program. Fortunately, in this guide, we’ll cover all the details about the Amazon FBA program, including the future potential it has, to help you decide on your next move. Fulfillment by Amazon is constantly changing and adapting to meet the needs of both its customers and the sellers that are using the platform. Keeping up to date with the latest changes and additions can help brands meet consumer demand and stay at the top of their own game with the FBA service. For example, one big change in 2020 is the added commingling of inventory, which is permitted if Amazon barcodes are used. What is commingling? It’s when Amazon stores every unit of a single product together, regardless of the seller, and ships any one of these to a buyer. It’s also called stickerless inventory. This has its own pros and cons, but it can possibly end up in counterfeits being shipped to your customer instead of the high-quality unit you placed in Amazon’s warehouses (since the products are picked from any available stock — including stock provided by someone other than you) or create other issues. So, you’ll want to keep an eye on things if you take advantage of this feature. Some instances have occurred where legitimate sellers using FBA have been banned from selling on Amazon due to negative reviews caused by damaged or fake products. Another new change as of August 2020 is the Inventory Performance Index, which measures a variety of elements to determine how your inventory is performing and help you improve that by getting rid of excess inventory, improving your sell-through rate, and more. You’ll want a score above 500, which is calculated based on factors like:•    In-stock inventory•    Excess inventory•    Stranded inventory•    Sell-through rates. Amazon has ASIN level quantity limits to help ensure that sellers have a variety of products, and the new inventory performance dashboard makes it easy to monitor everything. You can track your inventory activity, keep an eye on your IPI score, and even get advice and tips on how to make better use of your inventory from Amazon itself. Amazon is always changing and updating the FBA program. Fortunately, they’ve got a communicative system that notifies sellers of new changes and features as they are offered. The biggest issue here is staying up to date and making necessary changes as they come down the channels. Here’s the part everyone always wants to jump to — the cost. It’s going to cost money, but it doesn’t have to be a small fortune. For starters, think about things like how Amazon charges fees — in storage, items are charged based on size and weight, not cost. For you, that means selling low-dollar items through FBA could cost more than it’s worth. Be deliberate in choosing what you do and don’t list through the FBA platform. You pay storage fees and fulfillment fees with the Amazon FBA program. The more inventory you have stored, the more it’s going to cost you. Amazon also has this nifty thing where your costs go up for items that are stored for longer than 180 days, encouraging people to get and keep products moving. In addition, Amazon tracks items that are in storage at an Amazon warehouse but are not listed for sale, or stranded inventory. Stranded inventory costs you money, but Amazon helps by providing a stranded inventory report. You can find settlement fee reports in your reporting section of the FBA dashboard, which will allow you to see what kind of fees you’re actually paying to Amazon as a part of this program. Remember, too, that because of peak holiday demand, you’ll pay higher storage fees to warehouse your inventory during the holiday season than the rest of the year. This is the time to double-check your FBA listings and remove anything that won’t sell, so it’s not just sitting and costing you money. Yes, there are a few different costs involved with FBA, and there are some other factors related to pricing to consider. However, Amazon generally does well to provide useful information and assistance to ensure transparency as much as possible. While personal income can be taxed up to 45%, companies in Australia pay a flat tax rate of 25%. What are the requirements for company registration in Australia?Step 1: fill in a company registration form at Company123Step 2: receive all company documents within minutes, sign and fileStep 3: Recieve ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operationsBenefits of Registering a Company? In Australia, the most common types of company are:    'Proprietary Limited' companies (cannot raise money from the general public through share issues)    'Public' Companies (usually formed to raise or borrow public money by listing the company's shares for trading on a stock exchange) All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. Advantages of a company include that:•    Liability for shareholders is limited. As a general rule company carries legal and commercial risk as a separate legal entity which is seperate entity to the shareholders / directors that control the company.•    It's easy to transfer ownership by selling shares to another party. Simple transfer forms can be completed to transfer the company shares to a new shareholder.•    Shareholders (often family members) can be employed by the company with flexible income tax rules on distribution of income. Enjoy the use of tax credits company pays which may be passed on to shareholders (i.e no double taxation on company profits in the hands of shareholders in most cases)•    The company can trade anywhere in Australia. A Private company can also trade in Overseas jurisdictions. Please consult your tax professional for additional tax advise.•    Taxation rates can be more favourable then personal individual tax rates. Private companies currently enjoy a flat 27.5% tax rate where annual turn over of a company is less than $50m.•    Enjoy access to Research & Development and Export Development Grant concessions which are generally available only to PTY LTD companies (not sole traders). Disadvantages of a company include that:•    The company can cost more to establish, maintain and wind up then a sole trader business•    The reporting requirements can be more complex, however the general advantages of a company often outweigh the additional compliance fees associated in running a company•    Your financial affairs of the company are governed by ASIC and information about directors and shareholders can be viewed by public.•    if directors fail to meet their legal obligations, they may be held personally liable for the company's debts including profits distributed to shareholders are taxable. However tax credit that company pays may be available to the shareholders. Setting a private company is east. Visit www.company123.com.au website where you will find useful links and information to register a company in under 5 minutes. Company123 offers simple all inclusive solution whether you a business owner setting up a business or you run an accountancy or legal practice and set up companies for Clients. Our support line is open 24/7 if you have any questions and we are always here to help and assist you with any of your questions. For online registration, you will need to provide the following information: For Directors & Secretaries: Full name, full residential address as well as the date and place of birth of each person. For Shareholders: Full name, address and number of shares for each shareholder of the company. General Information: The address of the registered office and principal place of business. You must get written consent from the people that will fill these roles:•    Director (must be over 18)•    Secretary (must be over 18)•    Member (every company must have at least one member). The second type of taxes you face in Australia is sales taxes or GST (Goods and Service Tax). You include this tax in your products’ prices to collect and pass them to the government. Luckily, Australian tax system is not so complicated as it’s in the USA or Canada. So you don’t have to scratch your head calculating the amount of GST you need to charge. It doesn’t vary depending on the state and stands at 10% regardless of the city your Australian customers are from. Moreover, you can put off dealing with your sales taxes and focus on growing your Amazon FBA business. Australian entrepreneurs don’t have to register for GST and collect it until their revenue reaches $75,000 in 12 months. To find more comprehensive information on Australian tax regulations, you should visit the Australian Taxation Office’s website. The next step is to set up a business bank account. If you are starting out as a sole trader and don’t have any employees, it is best to open an ABN ‘sole trader’ account with an Australian bank or financial institution. You can also do this by registering with an online service provider like MYOB or Xero who will help manage your bookkeeping, but these services are more expensive than opening a full-fledged business account. Once you have decided which type of account you want to open, go through the usual process: provide your business name and ABN (Australian Business Number), along with other information needed for setting up an account such as contact details and proof of identity documents (if applicable). You can obtain an ABN as a sole trader through our website. It’s a quick and easy form that will get your ABN to you within 5 minutes. If you’re thinking of registering an ABN for your company, you can do that as well through our website. A business plan is a document that describes your business. It should include: •    Your business plan. This will describe how you’re going to build and run your company, including what products or services you'll offer, how much money you need to start up and grow, who will be part of the team and how any profits will be distributed.•    Financial forecasts. You must make sure that the financial projections are realistic and achievable, otherwise this can lead to failure later down the track. Remember that there's no such thing as ‘pie in the sky’ when it comes to running a successful online store; if people don't buy something in enough numbers then there won't be any profit at all! So make sure that whatever figures are included in this section reflect reality rather than fantasy - otherwise they'll come back around to bite later on down the line when things start falling apart just because they weren't realistic enough! You can purchase a business plan through our Company123 website. This service provides you with all the necessary components and strategy in creating your own business and our experts will help you with that initial set up process. If you would like to operate and trade under a name which is different to the name of the legal entity. For example, Jacob Mowing services PTY LTD for a company or Jacob Smith as a sole trader, you require a business name. If instead you would want to operate simply as Jacob Mowing services, you need to have that name registered. While a business name is mainly used to conduct a business. The legal name of an entity is the name that appears on all official documents and legal papers. If you have a private company, the legal name typically will have PTY LTD (or any variation of ‘proprietary limited’). If you have registered as a sole trader your full name that was registered with the ABN will be the name of the legal entity. You can have multiple business names under a single Australian Business Number (ABN). Having multiple business names can help customers and clients find, identify, and connect with your business. As a business owner, you need to understand the difference between an ABN, ACN and company rate. These are all legal structures that will affect your tax obligations. A GST (Goods and Services Tax) ABN is required if you’re selling online or in-store and can be obtained from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). An ACN (Australian Company Number) is needed by any business that wants to open an account with a financial institution so they can accept credit cards or electronic transfers of funds—this includes PayPal accounts as well as bank accounts. The company rate allows businesses with only one owner who isn't multiple companies under one name to file their taxes based on an estimated percentage of revenue instead of actual sales figures; this might be useful for drop shippers if they don't want their competitors knowing how much business they're doing! Finally there's sole traders and partnerships—these are types of businesses where two or more people work together but don't form their own separate entity like corporations do (so there's no "company" at all!). It is essential to discuss with an accountant before setting up a drop shipping business. As an accountant, your experience and expertise will be beneficial in ensuring that you have the best possible setup for your business. An accountant can help you with:•    Your GST return•    Your tax return•    Financial statements•    Business plan and cash flow. Book a tax and legal consultation with us today to help you through these difficult questions. Our tax expert is a chartered accountant with over 20 years of local and international tax experience and our legal expert is a professional lawyer of over 30 years of experience in commercial law.

While SMSFs may have traditionally been set up by older Australians, there continues to be significant growth in fund establishments among younger, self-directed investors who want more control over their superannuation. “We’re seeing first-hand that younger people are more active in making decisions relating to their super compared to previous generations of the same age,” said Stake Chief Mr Leibowitz. “They feel empowered to make their own investing choices for the benefit of their retirement. They have access to more information about SMSFs and the financial markets than ever before. In this digital age, establishing a SMSF to build retirement assets is not as difficult as it once was.” Mr Leibowitz said he has seen these kinds of trends reflected in the SMSF establishment data from Stake Super. “Just under 50 per cent of all SMSFs established during FY22 were set up by 35 to 44-year-olds. This is by far the most active age group entering the SMSF industry, and shows that younger investors want more control over their retirement savings and greater flexibility in choosing the type of assets they want to invest in,” he noted. “In line with that trend, the percentage of SMSF establishments with balances of less than $50,000 has more than doubled from FY21 to FY22, from 11.8 per cent to 31.09 per cent.” Also commenting in the report, Heffron managing director Meg Heffron noted while the average age of all SMSF members is still around 60, the average age of establishment is one year lower than it was five years ago. “That’s one statistic where there seems to have been a steady drop over time,” said Ms Heffron. “If young people are setting them up, the message about how powerful SMSFs can be is clearly getting out well before retirement age.” Buying SMSF today at Company123 to secure your nest egg today. The median age of those wishing to purchase SMSFs has decreased, meaning younger and younger people are looking to take their retirement into their own hands. Data from AUSIEX shows that during the first quarter of fiscal 2022, there was a 9.3 per cent increase in new SMSF accounts opened, compared with the same period a year earlier. It has been said that those who are more engaged with their investments, and they have that level of control, feel like that approach is less risky. The average age of someone running their own SMSF has dropped from 58 to 45 in just three years, according to Bell Direct head of distribution Tim Sparks. Company123 offers a high-quality deed for your Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF), helping you save for retirement. To register your new SMSF for $149 plus GST visit our website. Since 1999, the sector has grown from around 200,000 SMSFs with $55 billion in assets to 600,000 SMSFs totalling $750 billion in assets. Today, SMSFs comprise nearly one third of Australia’s total $2.76 trillion retirement system. SMSFs differ from other types of funds by having the members of the fund also be the trustees. This means the members of the SMSF run it for their benefit and are responsible for complying with the super and tax laws. More information can be found on the ATO website. SMSFs provide a range of investment options. Trustees can potentially access direct shares, high-yielding cash accounts, term deposits, income investments, direct property, unlisted assets, international markets, collectables and more. Like all super funds, SMSFs benefit from concessional tax rates. In the accumulation phase, tax on investment income is capped at 15 per cent; in the pension phase there is no tax payable, not even capital gains tax. Carefully considered tax strategies can help you grow your super savings and reduce tax payments as you transition to retirement. SMSFs allow multiple members to run a mixture of accumulation and pension accounts. You’ll be able to adjust your investment mix as it suits you, allowing for a fast response to changes in market conditions, super rules or personal circumstances. SMSFs offer significant transparencies that allow trustees to align their personal goals with their investment decisions. Whether you’re passionate about property, shares or sustainable and ethical investing, SMSFs provide a platform which allows you to understand where your money is invested, with complete visibility over performance and tax treatment. SMSF trustees must lodge an annual tax return and audit and pay ATO fees (these are capped and not based on a percentage of your super balance). The more an SMSF grows, the more cost-effective it becomes, but the total cost of running an SMSF will depend on the related investments and any costs associated with engaging professional support. An SMSF currently allows a trustee to combine their superannuation assets with up to five other members, such as partners or family members. Consolidating super accounts immediately creates a larger fund balance, which increases the fund’s assets and investment opportunities – with only one set of fees. SMSF: Can have a maximum of six members. All members are either individual trustees or directors of a corporate trustee of the fund. This means all members are involved in managing the SMSF. Other super funds: Usually no limit on the number of members. Professional, licensed trustees are responsible for managing the fund. SMSF: Trustees are expected to have knowledge of tax and super laws and must make sure their fund complies with those laws. Compliance risk is borne by the SMSF trustees, who can be personally fined if their fund breaches the law. Other super funds: Compliance risk is borne by the professional licensed trustee. SMSF: Trustees develop and implement the fund's investment strategy and make all investment decisions. Other super funds: Most allow you some control over the mix and risk level of your super investments, but you generally can't choose the specific assets your super will be invested in. SMSF: Trustees must consider whether to purchase insurance for their members. Insurance premiums may be higher than in other super funds. Other super funds: Most offer insurance cover to members. Member insurance usually costs less as large funds can get discounted premiums. SMSF: Regulated by the ATO. Trustees are required to engage with us to manage their fund. Other super funds: Regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Generally members don't have to engage with APRA. SMSF: We are not involved in resolving disputes among members. Disagreements can be resolved through alternative dispute resolution techniques or in court, at the members' own expense. There is no government compensation scheme. Other super funds: Members have access to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and may be eligible for statutory compensation. SMSF: No government financial assistance is available to SMSFs. Members may have legal options under Corporations Law but there is no guarantee that compensation will be awarded. Other super funds: Members may be eligible for government financial assistance in the event of fraud or theft. You need to have the time and skills to manage your SMSF, and there are ongoing running costs. As a trustee of an SMSF you'll be responsible for operating your fund within the law. If you don't, you may face severe penalties and your fund may suffer tax consequences. You'll also need to make investment decisions for the SMSF, including formulating an investment strategy that you review regularly. You'll need to understand the restrictions on the investments an SMSF can make. It costs money to set up and run an SMSF. You might find that the fees you pay for an SMSF are more than you would pay in another type of super fund. Every year that you have an SMSF you'll need to pay for an independent audit and the supervisory levy. Most SMSFs also pay for additional help, such as: • preparing the SMSF annual return. • valuations of the SMSF's assets. • actuarial certificates for SMSFs paying income streams (pensions) • financial advice. • legal fees, for example if the trust deed needs to be amended. • assistance with fund administration. • insurance for members. You can choose one of the following structures for your fund: -up to four individual trustees. -a corporate trustee (essentially, a company acting as trustee for the fund). • Two to six members. • Each member of the fund must be a trustee, and each trustee must be a member of the fund. • A member cannot be an employee of another member – unless they are relatives. • One to six members. • Each member of the fund must be a director of the corporate trustee, and each director of the corporate trustee must be a member of the fund. • A member cannot be an employee of another member – unless they are relatives. • There are no (ASIC) fees, so establishment costs and ongoing administrative requirements are less. • A trustee cannot be paid for their duties or services as a trustee. • ASIC charges a fee to register a corporate trustee for the first time. • There is an annual review fee, which is lower if the corporate trustee acts solely as a super fund trustee, but higher if the corporate trustee also performs another function, such as running a business. • A corporate trustee cannot be paid for its services as a trustee, and directors of the corporate trustee cannot be paid for their duties or services as directors in relation to the fund. • If an individual trustee is removed or another added, you must change the titles of the SMSF's assets. This can be costly and time-consuming. • State government authorities may charge a fee for title changes. • Most financial institutions also charge a fee for title changes. Corporate trustee. • Recording and registering assets can be simpler, particularly for changes in membership. • When a person starts or stops being a member of the SMSF, they become, or cease to be, a director of the corporate trustee. • You must notify us, and ASIC of any change in director. • The corporate trustee doesn't change, so the titles of the SMSF’s assets are unchanged. Separation of assets. Individual trustees. • Fund assets must be in the fund's name. • Fund assets must not be combined with personal assets. Corporate trustee. • Fund assets must be in the fund's name. • Fund assets must not be combined with director's personal assets. • Companies have limited liability, so a corporate trustee offers greater protection if the trustee is sued for damages. Penalties. Individual trustees. • If super laws are breached, administrative penalties are levied on each trustee. • For example, for failing to prepare financial accounts and statements, each trustee is liable for a $2,100 penalty (10 penalty units). This would amount to $8,400 if there were four trustees. • The value of a penalty unit is $210. Corporate trustee. • If super laws are breached, administrative penalties are levied on the corporate trustee. • For example, for failing to prepare financial accounts and statements, a corporate trustee would be liable for a $2,100 penalty (10 penalty units). • The value of a penalty unit is $210. Succession. Individual trustees. • Where changes in trustees occur, the fund is not likely to continue to operate as usual unless an appropriate succession plan has been prepared. Corporate trustee. • A corporate trustee continues in the event of a member's death. • In the event of the death or incapacity of a member, control of an SMSF and its assets by a corporate trustee is more certain. Appoint Your Trustee. Once you have decided on which structure if right for you, you will need to appoint a trustee. New funds usually appoint trustees or directors under the fund’s trust deed, and Company123’s SMSF deed has provisions for the appointment, and we provide additional documentation to provide consent. You need to ensure that the people who become trustees or directors of the SMSF: Are eligible to be a trustee or director. • Anyone 18 years old or over can be a trustee or director of a super fund as long as they're not under a legal disability (such as mental incapacity) or a disqualified person. • Disqualified persons include having been convicted of a dishonest offence, issued a civil penalty order, being under bankruptcy or insolvent under administration or been previously disqualified by the ATO or APRA. Understand what it means to be a trustee or director, which involves: • acting honestly in all matters concerning the fund. • acting in the best interests of all fund members when you make decisions. • managing the fund separately from your own superannuation affairs. • knowing, understanding and meeting your responsibilities and obligations. ensuring that the SMSF complies with the laws that apply to it. All trustees and directors must: • consent in writing to their appointment. • sign the Trustee declaration stating they understand their responsibilities (this must be done within 21 days of becoming a trustee or director). You must keep these documents on file for the life of the SMSF and for 10 years after the SMSF winds up. The ATO may impose penalties if you don't comply. All trustees and directors are bound by the trust deed and are equally responsible if its rules aren’t followed. Creating the Trust and Trust Deed. A trust is an arrangement where a person or company (the trustee) holds assets (trust property) in trust for the benefit of others (the beneficiaries). A super fund is a special type of trust, set up and maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to its members (the beneficiaries). To create a trust, you need: • trustees or directors of a corporate trustee. • governing rules (a trust deed) • assets (an initial nominal consideration to give legal effect to the trust can be used, for example, $10 attached to the trust deed) • identifiable beneficiaries (members). A trust deed is a legal document that sets out the rules for establishing and operating your fund. It includes such things as the fund’s objectives, who can be a member and whether benefits can be paid as a lump sum or income stream. The trust deed and super laws together form the fund’s governing rules. The trust deed must be: • prepared by someone competent to do so as it's a legal document. • signed and dated by all trustees. • properly executed according to state or territory laws. • regularly reviewed, and updated as necessary. In terms of the SMSF trust deed, Company123 provides comprehensive deeds for $149 plus GST, prepared by a superannuation lawyer. Registering a fund. Once your fund is established and all trustees have been appointed (including signing the Trustee declaration), you have 60 days to register the SMSF with the ATO by applying for an Australian business number (ABN). Before you register, you must already have: • considered appointing professionals to help you. • chosen individual trustees or a corporate trustee (and created the corporate trustee if needed) • appointed trustees or directors of the corporate trustee. • created a trust (including transferring an asset to the trust) • checked that your fund is an Australian super fund. Once you have completed these steps then you are ready to register. Obtaining an ABN is part of the registration process. When completing the ABN application you should: -ask for a tax file number (TFN) for your fund. -elect for your fund to be an ATO-regulated SMSF. If you don't, your fund will not receive tax concessions and the members’ employers can't claim deductions for contributions. -register for GST (if necessary). Most SMSFs don't need to register for GST because SMSFs mainly make input-taxed sales, and these don't count towards GST turnover. SMSFs with an annual GST turnover of more than $75,000 must register for GST. Annual GST turnover doesn't include: contributions. interest and dividends. residential rent or income generated outside Australia. However, it does include gross income from the lease of equipment or commercial property. As registered tax agents, Company123 offers the service of registering an ABN for your SMSF for $70 plus GST. Regulation. As an SMSF trustee you may need to deal with two key government agencies. These are: Australian Taxation Office (ATO) – administering the relevant super laws for SMSFs. Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) – regulating financial services to protect consumers and manages SMSF auditor registrations. Therefore, the ATO and ASIC are joint regulators of SMSFs. The ATO’s Role in Regulation. The ATO assists ASIC by: • providing SMSF data to assist superannuation sector analysis. • collaborating to develop publications and guidance material. • making referrals to ASIC if we discover potentially unlicensed advice providers, or SMSF auditors who fail to meet their obligations. The ATO checks compliance with the law to safeguard retirement income. These regulatory activities include: • checking you manage your fund in accordance with super laws. • implementing and maintaining systems to check the legal compliance. • taking enforcement action to correct matters when there is a breach of the law. • checking SMSF auditors perform their duties to the required standard. • verifying a fund’s primary purpose is to pay retirement benefits to members. • providing information and forms to help set up and manage your fund. • assessing applications for early release of super on compassionate grounds. However, the ATO does not: • develop the law or related policy. • provide financial or investment advice. • evaluate your investment choices. • advise on the structure of your fund, or whether an SMSF is a sensible choice for you. • advise on resolving disputes between trustees. • recommend specific professionals, or intervene if you have a dispute with a professional. More information about the ATO’s regulatory role can be found here. Administration and Reporting of an SMSF. You must appoint an approved SMSF auditor to audit your fund each year, not later than 45 days before you need to lodge your SMSF annual return. The auditor examines your fund's financial statements and assesses your fund's compliance with super law. Your SMSF auditor must be: • registered with ASIC– if they are, they will have an SMSF auditor number, which you need to provide on your annual return. • independent – they should not audit a fund in which they hold any financial interest, or where they have a close personal or business relationship with members or trustees. An audit is required even if no contributions or payments are made in the financial year. Before an SMSF auditor can start an audit, you or your professional adviser need to give them information about your accounts and transactions for the previous financial year. Any additional information requested by your SMSF auditor, in writing must be provided within 14 days. Your auditor should advise you of any breaches of the rules. You, as trustee, should rectify any contravention as soon as possible. Your auditor is also required to report certain contraventions to the ATO. Even if you terminated an auditor engagement or the auditor does not finish the audit, if they have identified a reportable contravention, their obligation to report to the ATO remains. See the ATO website for more details about the reporting of SMSF.

Trademarks are a form of Intellectual Property that allows you to distinguish the goods or services of your business from those of other businesses. It gives you exclusive rights to commercially use, license or sell the trade mark. This means that no one else in Australia can commercially use your trade mark within the class of goods and services its registered under. IP Australia is the government body that regulates all Intellectual Property in Australia. If you're just starting out in business, it's natural to be a little nervous about protecting your brand. After all, there are so many things to think about: What will my business look like? How do I make sure that my customers know about me? What services can I provide and what's my target market? But one thing that shouldn't be too far down your list of priorities is trademark protection. Trademarks protect your business by distinguishing it from others and helping you stand out from the crowd. They help build customer loyalty by allowing them to identify with your brand and feel comfortable doing business with you. Most importantly though they help create "brand equity", which means they allow consumers to associate certain qualities with products or services (for example fair prices, high quality etc). A registered trademark can act to protect your brand, business and investment. It also helps to protect your ideas, creativity and intellectual property. A registered trademark gives you the exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with goods or services for which it is registered. A registered trademark can also be used as a badge of origin for those goods and services. Trademarks are distinctive signs that distinguish one trader from another, such as a name logo or colour scheme that identifies a product or service with its provider (e.g., McDonald's golden arches). So you are interested in trademarks and are not sure where to start... Well here's a list of what you can trademark: You can trademark one, or a combination of them, such as a word and a logo. Oh yes, that's right, you can also trademark scent. Although uncommon and widely unknown a scent can be registered as a trade mark. In Australia, scents can qualify for registration if certain requirements are met. There are currently two registered scent trade marks on the Australian Trade Marks Register; these are Eucalyptus Radiata and Cinnamon. Under the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) (the Act), a trade mark is ‘a sign used, or intended to be used, to distinguish goods or services dealt with or provided in the course of trade by a person from goods or services so dealt with or provided by any other person’. A ‘sign’ is defined in the Act to include a scent. Thus, you can trademark a scent with IP Australia. There are a number of requirements that must be met in order to register a scent trademark, which is also common for all other types of trademarks. The most important requirement is that the scent must be capable of distinguishing one’s goods or services from those of other traders. In other words, the scent must be something unusual or unique to the goods or services they are applied, and must have been added to identify the source of those goods or services. The scent cannot be a natural or expected characteristic of the product itself (such as, the scent of lavender from the flower; two already trademarked in Australia) and cannot serve a functional purpose of masking a scent (for example, lemon scented candles). Another part to consider is whether owners of the trademark would want to use the trademarked scent in there day-to-day business operations; for example a scent which makes a product more attractive such as, herbal scents for shampoos. General scents that are too common to an industry cannot be trademarked that allows one company trading in that industry to control and use. A scent based trademark registration must function to distinguish the claimed goods or services in order to be registered. An applicant cannot register a scent trademark if the product is packaged so that the scent is only apparent to the consumer after it is purchased because the scent itself is not being used as an identifier of trade source for prospective purchasers. The final requirement is, the scent must be capable of graphic representation. In other words, it must be capable of representation by a written description of both what the scent is and how it is to be used in respect of the claimed goods or services. This ensures that the scent can be depicted on the Trade Marks Register and can be identified by other traders or consumers. An example of a scent that would not be accepted as a registered trade mark is the scent of an air freshener, as air fresheners cannot have a trademark scent, as that is the primary purpose of those products. An Australian trade mark provides protection only within Australia. There are two ways Australian trade mark owners can seek trade mark protection overseas: If you apply directly to another country you need to do that through their systems, and not through IP Australia. You will need to apply to each country separately. We recommend that you seek advice from an intellectual property (IP) professional before you file overseas. Whichever option you choose, you will still end up with separate trade mark applications in each country. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, scent or design that identifies the source of goods or services. It can be a word, phrase, symbol or design used in connection with the sale of goods or services to distinguish those sold by one company from those sold by others. Some examples of trademarks are Nike's swoosh logo and Apple's apple with a bite taken out of it. Trademarks can be registered (which gives rights to use them nationally) or unregistered (which gives no rights beyond your own state). Trademarks can be very important to businesses because they allow them to distinguish their products from others'. While most people recognize Coca-Cola as being associated with soft drinks made popular by inventor John Pemberton in 1886, if there were another company called Soft Drinks Ltd with exactly the same product then customers would not know who makes what until after they buy it. Trademarks also provide consumers peace of mind knowing that if something is made by one company then it will taste similar everywhere else even if they've never tried it before! The Madrid System facilitates the filing of trade mark applications in a number of countries through one application. It is administered by WIPO in Geneva. All requests for protection in Madrid member countries are examined according to the trade mark legislation and laws existing in the designated countries. You may want to get the advice of an IP attorney professionals who are familiar with the details of each country. WIPO provides a full list of member countries that an international application can cover. Conversely, the Madrid System also allows foreign trade mark owners to designate Australia in their international applications. This means that overseas traders could have trade marks similar to yours that are operational in Australia. You should be checking databases to make sure there are no crossovers. Requirements to apply for an international trademark are: You can work out the cost of applying for an international trade mark by using the WIPO fee calculator to determine the amount due in Swiss francs. Please note the exact figure in Australian dollars will depend on the conversion rate used on the day your application is submitted. For more information on fees and the Madrid system please refer to: If you're interested in obtaining trademark protection in Australia, there are several benefits to consider. For one, Australia is a member of the Madrid Protocol, which simplifies the process of obtaining trademark protection in multiple countries. The Madrid Protocol allows you to file a single application in one country and have the same application accepted in other signatory countries. In other words, if someone else has already registered a similar mark in another jurisdiction (such as another European Union member state), an Australian application will not be accepted unless it qualifies as a different mark or there is no likelihood of confusion between them. In addition to its membership with so-called "Madrid" agreements that allow for international trademark filing under one centralized registration system, Australia also has bilateral agreements with many nations around the world for simplified registration under their respective systems. These include United Kingdom; France; Germany; Italy; Japan; New Zealand; South Africa and Switzerland among others. The trademark registration process can seem complicated, but it’s really not. In fact, it’s an important part of protecting your business and making sure people know about it. The more you know about trademarks and how they work, the better off you’ll be when it comes time to filing one for yourself or someone else. If applying for an international trademark within 6 months of lodging of a Domestic Trademark, the international trademark can claim priority and be backdated to the date of the original domestic lodgement. Your international registration is protected for a period of 10 years from the date of registration. Registration can be renewed every 10 years upon payment of the relevant fees. Benefits of the Madrid System include: The rules and requirements in the United States and other countries in relation to trade marks are slightly different to those in Australia. Here are a few examples: Have a registered scent trademark described as scent of sweet, slightly musky, vanilla fragrance, with slight overtones of cherry, combined with the smell of a salted, wheat-based dough. Used with their toy modelling compounds. Have a registered scent trademark with a bubblegum scent. Which is used for the Shoes, sandals, flip flops, and accessories, namely and flip flop bags they sell to consumers. Have registered a chocolate scent trademark. Which is used with retail store services featuring jewellery, gems, watches, and more. Many industries can take advantage of using scent to distinguish themselves and the goods and services they provide. Here are a few types of companies that could benefit from trademarking scent; these include: Interested in trademarks but don't know where to start? Filing a trademark application in Australia is a straightforward process. The first step is to search for existing trademarks, which can be done on the IP Australia website, to ensure that no one else has registered the same or similar mark as you. Once you have done this, you can begin your application by providing: As IP agents, Company123 can guide clients through the application process, which involves the following steps: This is an optional step but is strongly advised to allow for clients to be well-informed before proceeding to application which can be costly. This process can involves: Trade Mark Search Report, prepared by our trade mark specialists. A Trade Mark Search Report will outline the likely outcome of your application, highlighting any potential difficulties, problems or potential conflicts. The search report will also provide advice in regards to appropriate classes, if the text, phrase or logo needs to be changed as all as well as some general trade mark information. The search report is a great starting point if you are unsure about Trade Marks, as this allows you to see how likely your mark will be registered without paying the full fee. Search reports are generally delivered with 5 business days and if you are happy with the outcome, you can proceed to the application. With the option to add an: Expedited Analysis Report, coordinated by Company123 with IP Australia which allows for both speedy analysis results and a quicker application process afterwards as well. You can read about this system on the IP Australia website. For further clarification on how Expedition works feel free to call our specialists at 03 9832 0660. Before submitting an application, there are some simple questions to answer first (when conducting an analysis prior to application, these questions are answered as part of the analysis). First, what type of trademark are you applying for? For example, a text or a logo? Each has to be a separate application.  These are the most common types, but there are various specialised and niche types of trademarks, which can be found on the IP Australia website. Next, what class/classes your trademark should be registered for? There are 45 different classes, encompassing a wide range of goods and services. To help you decide what goods or services to list think about the exact nature of your business and ask yourself the following: IP Australia provides a Trade Mark Assist service that can help further determine what classes are best for your trademark. To lodge an application through Company123, this form has to be filled out. Once payment is made, Company 123 as IP agents proceed to lodge the same day, and the Notice of Filing is given by IP Australia within 1 business day. If successful, the trademark will be issued a Letter of Acceptance, and will proceed to Step 5. If unsuccessful, IP Australia will issue an Adverse Report detailing the issue. From there, there are often options to overcome the objection. Sometimes this involves amending the application by limiting the scope, sometimes providing evidence of Prior Use. During this 2 month period, it is advertised for opposition purposes. If there is no opposition (which is common), the application will proceed to Step 6. When a trademark is registered, you will receive a Certificate of Registration and the trademark is valid for 10 years, after which it must be renewed. In today's global marketplace, it's more important than ever to protect your business. Trademarks help you do this by giving you the exclusive right to use a name or logo for goods and services. This means that if someone else tries to use your trademark without permission, they can be stopped and forced to pay damages. Company123 are IP agents that can guide you through the application and registration of both Australian and International trademarks.

A Trust amendment is a legal document that can change one or more aspects of a revocable living Trust, that is without revoking the entire structure of the deed. The goal of a living trust amendment is to help you make changes to beneficiaries, trustees, provisions, or modify any conditions to the Trust. A trust is an obligation imposed on a person or other entity to hold property for the benefit of beneficiaries. While in legal terms a trust is a relationship not a legal entity, trusts are treated as taxpayer entities for the purposes of tax administration. Trusts are widely used for investment and business purposes. In Australia, the trust fund is a key structure to make sure individuals safely pass on their assets to their chosen beneficiaries. A trust is a great tool for segregating a person's assets from his estate or portfolio, effectively shielding those assets from creditors in bankruptcy proceedings or plaintiffs in lawsuits. The assets in a trust may contain stocks, bonds, cash, real estate, antiques, and fine art. The trustee is responsible for managing the trust's tax affairs, including registering the trust in the tax system, lodging trust tax returns and paying some tax liabilities. Beneficiaries (except some minors and non-residents) include their share of the trust's net income as income in their own tax returns. There are special rules for some types of trust including family trusts, deceased estates and super funds. Below are the advantages of trusts, these are: The assets of a discretionary trust are separate to the assets of the beneficiaries. As a result, the trust assets may be protected from creditors in circumstances where a beneficiary is sued or made bankrupt. It also allows the trustee to control the assets of individuals who are too young or incapacitated to handle their own financial affairs. It can also help manage and distribute pension/retirement funds during an individual's employment years. The overall tax paid by a family group may be reduced by: Each beneficiary then pays tax at their marginal rate on income distributions received from the trust in each financial year. A discretionary trust may carry forward losses, in certain circumstances. A discretionary trust is entitled to a 50% discount on any capital gains made on disposal of any assets held by the discretionary trust for greater than 12 months. A Family Trust (also known as a Discretionary Trust), one of Australia’s most common small business structures, is ideal for families with private businesses and other income-generating operations. Such trusts give trustees the discretion to decide who receives distributions, and how often payouts occur. Accepted in every Australian state, Family Trusts are relatively easy to establish and operate. A Unit Trust (also known as a Fixed Trust) differs from a Family Trust in that the trustee generally does not hold discretion over the distribution of assets to beneficiaries. These structure divide the trust property into units, similar to shares of stock. Each beneficiary (known as a "unit holder") owns a given number of those units, and at the end of each year, he or she receives a distribution from the trust, based on the number of units held. Ideal when multiple families are involved, Unit Trusts operate somewhat like a company. A Hybrid Trust bears characteristics of both Discretionary and Unit Trusts, whereby the Trustee is empowered to distribute trust income and capital among nominated beneficiaries--as with Discretionary Trusts. However the income and capital is proportionally distributed--as with Unit Trusts, based on the number of units each beneficiary holds. Hybrid Trusts are often the favored structures when there are significant investment assets involved, due to their income tax and capital gains tax benefits. The trustee(s) (there may be more than one) of a trust may be a person or a company (the latter is known as a corporate trustee). In either case, the trustee must be legally capable of holding trust property in their own right. The trustee holds the trust property for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Where the trust is established by deed (which in the case of a deceased estate is the will), the trustee must deal with the trust property in line with the intentions of the settlor as set out in the trust deed. They must also act in accordance with the relevant state or territory law regulating trusts, and with any other applicable law, including tax law. Under trust law, trustees are: Under tax law, the trustee is responsible for managing the trust's tax affairs, including registering the trust in the tax system, lodging trust tax returns and paying some tax liabilities. The sole trustee cannot be the sole beneficiary because a trust is a legal relationship between a trustee and the beneficiary or beneficiaries. If a sole trustee were also the sole beneficiary, then this would be an agreement that a person had with themselves. The law says that no trust can exist in these circumstances. However, a trustee can be a beneficiary of the trust as long as there is at least one other beneficiary as well. It is a common practice to have corporate trustees for family trusts for tax benefits. This ensures the limitation of the trustees’ liability to the corporate asset. Generally, corporate trustees are shell corporations with no, or minimal, assets. The trustee is personally liable for the trust’s liabilities. Therefore, it is common for trusts to have corporate trustees to limit the trustees’ liabilities to the assets of the corporation. Because of this, often, this business structure is more tax effective. Advantages of switching/implementing a corporate trustee structure include: Therefore, corporate trustee can be very beneficial and allow the trust further longevity. A trust beneficiary can be a person, a company or the trustee of another trust. The trustee may also be a beneficiary, but not the sole beneficiary unless there is more than one trustee. Beneficiaries may have an entitlement to trust income or capital that is set out in the trust deed or they may acquire an entitlement because the trustee exercises a discretion to pay them income or capital. Generally, the beneficiaries are taxed on the net income of a trust based on their share of the trust's income – regardless of when or whether the income is actually paid to them. A discretionary trust need not have an appointor and the role has no defined meaning at law. If an appointor position is created under the discretionary trust it is done so under that particular discretionary trust deed (Deed) and the powers conferred on the appointor will depend on the Deed's terms. At a minimum the Deed will confer on an appointor the power to appoint or remove the trustee. The appointor may also be granted protective powers: for instance, the trustee may need the appointor's consent to add or exclude additional classes of beneficiaries, or vary the Deed. The appointor's role is generally seen as the most definitive role in the discretionary trust. This is because, although the trustee under the Deed is granted the discretion as to whom and in what proportion the capital and the income is distributed to beneficiaries, the appointor controls who acts as trustee and, therefore, who exercises those discretions. An Appointor may also be advisable for administrative ease: for instance, if the trustee becomes unable to act or insolvent, then it is a relatively simple process for the Appointor to remove that trustee and appoint another. An Appointor also makes sense as a means of planning for future contingencies. The Trustee of a discretionary trust is given full discretionary powers up to the vesting date — usually a period of 80 years. During this time, a trustee may be administering a sizeable trust fund. The presence of an appointor may: Ultimately the answer may turn on the trust's objectives, and whether having an appointor will further those objectives. For instance, if the primary purpose of the trust is asset protection, then for the reasons referred to under 'Other considerations' below, it would be advisable: Options include: The Deed states who will succeed the appointor on their death. It can be a particular named person, or the executor of the appointor's will (i.e., the appointor's legal personal representative). The Deed states that the appointor is permitted to appoint a replacement appointor under the terms of the appointor's will. That person takes over the appointor role on the appointor's death. The Deed names two (or more) appointors, and provides that on the death of one appointor the survivor(s) continue to act as appointors. The Deed permits the appointor to appoint additional or replacement appointors. The Deed provides for temporary succession during any period when the appointor is unable to act. The replacement appointor may be determined by one of the methods above. The Deed may set out a combination of the above to deal with succession. For instance, on the death of the appointor the appointor's spouse becomes appointor, and on the death of the spouse the spouse's executor becomes appointor. It is recommended that the appointor provisions and succession of the appointor be carefully considered before establishing a discretionary trust. Having provisions in the Deed which deal with the resignation, removal and appointment of the appointor is necessary to ensure certainty of the Deed and remove any confusion when an appointor wishes to resign, dies, lacks capacity or is bankrupt. The settlor must hand over the settled sum to the trustee to be held on the terms of the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The settlor does not have to reside in Australia, however they must be present when the trust deed is settled because he/she is responsible for the trust property becoming vested in the trustee. The trustee must issue a receipt to record the settling sum exchange has occurred. This is the point at which the trust is created because, by executing the trust deed and providing the settled sum: The settlor then steps out of the picture. There are tax implications under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936[1] where a settlor creates a trust and: Has the power to revoke or alter the trust to acquire a beneficial interest in the income derived by the trustee, or take back trust property; orThe income of the trust is payable to the minor children of the settlor. In such a case, the trustee of the trust will be assessed as having to pay income tax on the income of the trust by the ATO, rather than income tax being assessed in the hands of the beneficiaries of the trust to whom distributions are made. For this reason, it is advisable to limit the settlor's role in a trust to the initial establishment of the trust and payment of the settled sum. To avoid the perception that the settlor's declaration of trust is revocable, the settlor should be unrelated to the trustee and the beneficiaries of the trust. A unit is a piece of property that entitles the unit holder to a specified proportion of the income and capital of the trust. A unit held under a trust is different from a share in a company. A share confers on the holder no legal or equitable interest in the assets of the company; Units under the trust deed confer a proprietary interest in all the property which is subject to trust of a deed. In other words, a unit in a unit trust confers on the unit holder an equitable interest in both the underlying capital and the income of the trust. Just like the discretionary trusts, there is a trustee in a unit trust, who has similar duties and responsibilities. It is also advantageous to have a corporate trustee in a unit trust structure. Instead of beneficiaries, unit trusts have unit-holders. Unit holders,  are all predominantly un-related members of two or more separate families getting together to hold an asset together (usually a large property or shareholding) or run a business together. All income and capital is distributed according to unit holding, rather than by the discretion of the trustee, which is why Unit Trusts are also referred to as "fixed' trusts. The unit holders as a group control the trust. This is because the trust deed gives them the power to direct the trustee and if necessary, dismiss the trustee and appoint another person to act as the trustee instead. The deed specifies the percentage vote required for a resolution of a meeting of unit holders to be effective. Usually it is 50% unless the unit holders decide otherwise. Trust Deeds are technical and complex. The first place to start is to review the trust deed to see how to amend the trust deed.  You can only amend the trust if the terms of the trust deed allow it. Consent may be required by a custodian, appointor, or other party to amend the trust deed, and if consent is not provided then the amendment cannot be made. We at company 123 can help you prepare a deed of variation for only $88. If you are interested to begin the process by visiting and completing our application here. Please also provide a copy of your trust deed, as this is required during the process of amending your deed. Within our deed amendment application: https://company123.com.au/trust-deed-amendments/register we offer various types of amendments. These include: For other types of variations that are not listed here, you can contact us for further information. If you make any amendments in accordance with the proper powers and procedure under the original trust deed, there will usually be no major tax consequences.However, if you make major amendments that results changes to the structure of the trust, the amendment will give rise to a resettlement. A trust resettlement occurs when a trust is varied or amended to the extent that it becomes a new trust.  This has some significant tax repercussions in regard to: When a resettlement occurs, the previous trust is taken to have been disposed by the trustee. The trustee then reacquires the new trust. This kind of disposal triggers a CGT event, resulting in either a capital gain or loss. Any losses that have been previously carried forward by the trust, to be offset against future income, will also cease to exist upon the trust’s disposal. This is because a different taxpayer (i.e. the old trust rather than the new trust) incurs the carry-forward losses. A resettlement of trusts generally should not trigger duty tax since there is no change to the parties or properties of the trust. A resettlement will generally only cause duty liabilities if the termination of the old trust causes the property to change hands. Company123 can help set up your trust quickly, easily, and professionally. In our role as tax agents and with our team of legal experts, we can provide a clear, comprehensive deed and all related documents for the fee of $149 plus GST. We provide both Family (Discretionary) Trusts and Unit (Fixed) Trusts at high standards.We also provide deed amendment services for only $80 plus GST. Do you need to add a new clause? Has your trust recently changed appointors? Do you need to add new members or beneficiaries to your Trust? Well look no further, you can get started with Company 123 here and receive a deed of variation document developed by a team of experts.For further information on trusts or trust amendments, you can call us on (03) 9832 0660 or alternatively send us an email at support@company123.com.au.

Pet grooming businesses provide grooming services for dogs and cats. These services range from essential tasks, such as bathing, nail clipping and hair trimming, through to breed-specific clips for the show ring and even doggy day spa services. While a passion for animals is a prerequisite, there are a number of other skills and business considerations to take into account: Pet Grooming is a skill and you must be trained to do it professionally. This is so that you can be efficient and do the right thing for your clients, and so that you don’t inadvertently cause injury to a pet that could result in financial trouble and also impact your business. There are many courses available where you will be taught essential grooming skills, such as bathing, brushing, trimming. You will also learn how to keep equipment in good order, provide great customer service and how to run a salon. There will be costs associated with starting up a pet grooming business. To determine the upfront costs you will need to decide whether you’re going to operate your pet grooming business from home, from within your current business or set up a mobile dog grooming entity. Your business structure and the services offered will impact what basic grooming equipment you will need to purchase. You will need to factor not only equipment but also the promotion of your business. Once you have figured out your start up costs, and your on-going costs, the next step is to work out how many pets you can groom in a day and what you are going to charge for each session. This will give you a realistic idea of your earning potential. It is also important to consider liability implications. As a business owner you must consider injuries and accidents that can happen to you, your employees, the pets and your customers. Animal welfare extends beyond a love of pets. As a professional within the pet industry you must understand your duty-of-care responsibilities and ensure you uphold the well being of animals in your care. Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia. You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. Step 1: Fill in a company registration form at Company123.Step 2: Receive all company documents within minutes, sign and file.Step 3: Receive your ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. For Directors & Secretaries: For Shareholders: General Information: The address of the registered office and principal place of business. You must get written consent from the people that will fill these roles: Anyone can, however you must have at least one director that resides in Australia and a physical Australian address for the registered office of the company. If none of the directors are eligible to work in Australia you will be able to register a company but you may not be able to trade. If in doubt we recommend that you discuss your needs with an accountant or solicitor for professional advice. Company123 provides free consultations if needed and over the phone advice within business hours of 9-6pm at 03 9832 0660. In terms of providing Australian directorships, Company123 cannot provide a registered office service or resident director service to international applicants. To find some providers do a search for 'resident director service Australia'. ASIC registered agents can lodge documents including company registrations on behalf of third parties. We are also an ASIC accredited software provider. This means we have our own direct electronic link to ASIC, allowing us to lodge your registration at any time of day, any day of the week. To get started with your company registration, fill in our online form. For some more information on the registration process see the ASIC website. If you're an officeholder of a company, you must follow the requirements in the Corporations Act. This includes meeting your legal obligations , which includes: Officeholders are ultimately responsible for a company's adherence to the Corporations Act. See the ASIC website for more. A company can be formed with one person, as a proprietary company limited by shares can have one director and one share member who may be the same person. Individuals and other companies can be shareholders of your company. A trust cannot own shares in a company because the law says a trust is not a separate legal person. For example, the 'John Smith Family Trust' cannot own shares or any other property. Even so, the trustee of a trust, in his, her or its capacity as trustee, is capable of owning shares and other property. Therefore, a trustee or a corporate trustee can own shares in a company - as long as you include the trustee's name and their capacity. In these cases, the trustee holds the shares in the company on trust for the beneficiaries of the trustee's own trust. Under Australian taxation law, every company carrying on business or earning income from property in Australia must have a public officer – unless the company is specifically exempted. The company decides who acts as public officer in accordance with its Constitution. The company must appoint a public officer within 3 months of the company: If a company fails to appoint a public officer within the 3 month period, it is guilty of an offense for each day it does not have a public officer. The public officer must be at least 18 and must live in Australia. They must also be capable of understanding the nature of their appointment. The public officer deals with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in relation to the company's tax affairs and is responsible for ensuring that the company pays the correct amount of tax. If a company is in default, then the public officer is liable to pay any penalties. However, the public officer is not personally liable for payment of tax due by the company with the exception of certain liabilities such as superannuation payments due by a company and when it is not paid, Directors may be personally liable for unpaid superannuation of the company. Additionally certain Pay As You Go (PAYG) Withholding obligations in relation to tax withheld on employees wages, directors may be personally liable if the company does not remit the liability to the Australian Taxation Office in timely and due manner. With the exception of these liabilities all other debts of the company generally stay with the company unless the directors personally guarantee obligations to pay the debt for the company. A company name is not compulsory. The name of your company can be its Australian Company Number (ACN), the unique number automatically given to a company by ASIC when it’s registered. You can select to use the ACN as your company name when you complete your application and you won’t have to nominate a name. During company registration in Australia, names can also be rejected for the following reasons: If your business is a company, then you'll need an ACN. By law, an ACN must be shown on several documents, including: If your company also registers for an ABN, then your ACN will form part of your ABN. In these cases, you won't need to display your ACN if your documents already display your ABN and company name. You are automatically given an ACN when you register a company. A company is an ultimate holding company of a wholly owned group if it has a subsidiary and the company is not a subsidiary of another company. This means, the ultimate holding company owns or controls more than 50% of the shares in the subsidiary and can be referred to as the "controlling entity". The key element is control. One company controls a second company if it has the capacity to determine the outcome of the decisions of the second company's financial and operating policies. The ultimate holding company may have a few subsidiaries. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one, for example, ABNs help you: Also, you need an ABN to register for GST. Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia with a GST turnover of $75,000 must register for GST. To obtain an ABN, your company must: Goods and services tax (GST) is a tax of 10% on the sale (supply) of most goods and services consumed in Australia. In general, an organisation that is required by law to 'register' for GST purposes: Your organisation may be required by tax laws to pay GST on any goods and services it supplies. A registered business name helps customers find, identify and connect with your business. You can have multiple business names linked to your Australian business number (ABN). If you want to trade your business under a specific name, you need to register it as a business name with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). It’s an offence to carry on business under an unregistered business name unless you trade under your own name such as Mary Jones. If you want your business to trade under a name that is different from your legal name, then you’ll have to register it as a business name. You only have to register your business name once. The business names register is National and once registered, the business name can be used Australia wide. If you're in business, the name of your company is probably one of your most valuable assets. An effective name is one that establishes a strong identity and describes the type of business you're conducting. It's not unusual for companies to go through one or more name changes as they grow. Choosing a name for a company can be the first step in developing a new identity for the business and establishing a new image. It's the first impression the public will have of your growing company. When choosing a business name, keep the following tips in mind: ‘Trading name’ is an old term, and now ‘trading name’ and ‘business name’ can be used interchangeably. Specifically, a ‘trading name’ refers to an unregistered name that businesses could use before the introduction of the National Business Names Register on 28 May 2012. A trading name is not a registered business name. If you wish to continue using a trading name, you need to register it as a business name. The Australian Business Register and ABN Lookup still display unregistered trading names however they will be removed from November 2023 and only registered business names will be displayed. A transition period from 28 May 2012 to 31 October 2023 is in place to allow businesses affected by the removal of trading names sufficient time to inform their customers, suppliers and other stakeholders of any changes to the name that they use to conduct their business. ‘Business name’ is the newest and most correct term and refers to names registered with ASIC after May 2012. Business name refers to the title your business operates under. You can register a business name here. You will need to register a business name if you carry on business within Australia and are not trading under your own name. Here are examples of when you need to register a business name: Exceptions to needing a business name include: Here are examples of when you don’t need to register a business name: You can’t update a registered business name, even if you only want to make a slight change to it. If you want to trade under a different business name, you must register a new one. You can either cancel your existing business name (if you don’t want to use it anymore), or keep your existing business name (in case you want to use it later or for a different part of your business) Setting up a private company or a business name is easy. Visit www.company123.com.au website where you will find useful links and information to register a company in under 5 minutes. Company123 offers simple all inclusive solution whether you a business owner setting up a business or you run an accountancy or legal practice and set up companies for Clients. Our support line is open 24/7 if you have any questions and we are always here to help and assist you with any of your questions.

To understand the benefit of a corporate trustee, we will first go through what a trust is in Australia as well as what the legal implications of a company are. A corporate trustee blends these two ideas together! To understand the benefit of a corporate trustee, we will first go through what a trust is in Australia as well as what the legal implications of a company are. A corporate trustee blends these two ideas together! You might seek to appoint a company to act as a trustee of your trust. This entity is commonly known as a corporate trustee company. While it is possible to use an existing company as your corporate trustee, best practice is to register a new entity which is incorporated with the sole purpose of acting as trustee and has no historical liabilities. Low set-up and management costs. Associated fees for registering a company and paying ongoing annual ASIC fees. If the trustee changes, they must execute a deed of appointment and transfer trust assets to the new trustee. This can be administratively onus. If directors or shareholders of the corporate trustee change, the corporate trustee remains the same legal entity. This means there is no need to transfer assets to another entity (unless the corporate trustee is no longer. The trustee is responsible for the trust’s affairs and debts. A trust is not its own separate entity. As a result, the trustee can be held personally responsible, and their personal assets are at risk to satisfy any of the trust’s debts/liabilities. If directors or shareholders of the corporate trustee change, the corporate trustee remains the same legal entity. This means there is no need to transfer assets to another entity (unless the corporate trustee is no longer. It may be difficult to distinguish between personal and trust assets – particularly if records around asset ownership are unclear as to whether the individual holds the asset in their personal capacity or as trustee of the trust. Easier separation of trust assets and personal assets because they are held in different names. Much the same as an individual trustee, a corporate trustee is tasked with carrying out the trust powers and managing the trust’s affairs for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The company holds the trust assets on the beneficiaries’ behalf. It is common for the person setting up the trust to be appointed as a director and shareholder in the trustee company. Consequently, they retain control over the trustee and can make decisions about the trust assets. A corporate trustee company is recommended due to the greater level of asset protection it provides. In contrast with an individual trustee, a corporate trustee allows for greater separation of trust’s assets and the personal assets of the directors and shareholders. This clear distinction of assets can be important where the trust incurs debts it is unable to repay. You would register the corporate trustee in the same way as any other company, with shareholders and directors. Importantly, although the shareholders and directors may be behind the decisions of the corporate trustee, they are not the trustee. The company itself takes up this role. A Family Trust (also known as a Discretionary Trust) is one of Australia’s most common small business structures. It is ideal for families with private businesses and other income-generating operations. Such trusts give trustees the discretion to decide who receives distributions, and how often payouts occur. Discretionary Trusts are accepted in every Australian state and are relatively easy to establish and operate. The roles in a Family/Discretionary Trust are: -    Individual, or                -    Corporate. A Unit Trust (also known as a Fixed Trust) differs from a Family Trust in that the trustee generally does not hold discretion over the distribution of assets to beneficiaries. These structures divide the trust property into units, like shares of stock. Each beneficiary (known as a "unit holder") owns a given number of those units, and at the end of each year, he or she receives a distribution from the trust, based on the number of units held. This setup is ideal when multiple families are involved. Unit Trusts operate somewhat like a company. The roles in a Unit Trust are: -    Individual, or                 -    Corporate. Company registration in Australia involves setting up a company as its own legal entity, which lets you conduct business throughout Australia. You can also make use of other privileges, such as corporate tax rates or limited liability. Step 1: Fill in a company registration form at Company123. Step 2: Receive all company documents within minutes, sign and file. Step 3: Receive ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. In Australia, the most common types of company are: All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. Advantages of a company include that: Since the company is a separate legal entity, individuals gain the advantage of limited liability. This means that if there are any issues with the trust, the company is legally responsible, not the directors that are controlling it. With a corporate trustee, there can be an easier separation of trust assets and person assets, given they are held in different names. As a result, it is relatively straightforward to distinguish which of a person’s assets are part of the trust. Since asset separation is more clearly designed, there is greater asset protection. If for example, a person gets sued, assets held in a separate trust with a corporate trustee are the company’s assets. Consequently, their personal assets will not be at risk. Through a corporate trustee, there is simpler succession and control of the trust in the event of death. Since a company cannot ‘die’. The company continues to act as trustee. If something happens to one of its directors, the corporate trustee must simply replace its director. The title to the assets would not change, so the trust’s assets do not need to be transferred in the case of the death of a director. The main disadvantages of having a corporate trustee include: Although it is possible to use an already registered company as a trustee, this is generally not recommended. It is best to register a new company to act as trustee, so that: Though there are some additional costs and challenges associated with setting up a trust with a corporate trustee, the benefits of doing so often outweigh the disadvantages. Private companies are separate legal persons at law. Companies are not the directors or shareholders behind them. Even where there is a company with 1 shareholder who is also a director the company that company is a separate person to the director. Companies can enter into contracts just like a person can. They can be sued in contract or in negligence just like a person can too. Liability of a company generally is restricted to the company. The directors of the company are not liable for the company debt, except in 2 circumstances: So where a trust is being set up it is a good idea to arrange for a company to act as trustee. This is very important where there will be a business operated, and is also important for where the trust will hold assets which carry risk. Real Estate carries a certain amount of risk as the owner of the property can be sued by tenants and others entering the property. So where there is any risk having a corporate trustee can limit the liability to the company which is acting as trustee. If the trust is sued it will be the trustee that cops it - see my previous legal tip. This is why the trustee should not own any other property other than trust property. The company will be a $2 company with no assets set up only to operate as trustee. The assets of the trust will still be at risk though. Due to the strict requirements of a Self-Managed Super fund it may be advisable to set up a corporate trustee instead of having the members as trustees. The members of the trust must be directors of the trustee, however. A self-managed super fund (SMSF) is a superannuation trust structure that provides benefits to its members upon retirement. SMSFs differ from other types of funds by having the members of the fund also be the trustees. SMSFs provide a range of investment options. Trustees can potentially access direct shares, high-yielding cash accounts, term deposits, income investments, direct property, unlisted assets, international markets, collectables and more. The roles in an SMSF are: -    Individual, or                  -    Corporate. Separation of assets. The fund's assets must be kept separate from any assets members hold personally. Penalties. According to ASIC, corporate trustees for SMSF companies are considered special purpose companies. ASIC sets out special rules for these types of companies. A 'special purpose company' is generally one that's created for a set reason, not just general business. Special purpose companies are usually one of the following: A superannuation trustee company acts solely as a trustee of a regulated superannuation fund. Refer to s19 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 for more information. The company's constitution must prohibit the company from distributing income or property to its members. Discretionary and Unit Trusts as well as SMSFs can be amended. Although Trust Deeds and SMSFs are technical and complex. The first place to start is to review the deed to see how to make these changes. You can only amend the deed if the terms allow it. Consent may be required by a custodian, Appointor, or other party to amend the deed, and if consent is not provided then the amendment cannot be made. We at company 123 can help you prepare a deed of variation for only $88. If you are interested to begin the process by visiting and completing our application here. Other changes can also be made, which can be viewed in our website. Please also provide a copy of your trust deed, as this is required during the process of amending your deed. Having a Corporate Trustee for your Trusts and Self-Managed Superfunds is far more advantageous over having individual Trustees. Corporate Trustees have a greater level of asset protection, and it provides and allows for greater separation of trust’s assets and the personal assets of the directors and shareholders. This is because private companies are separate legal persons at law. Trust Deeds and Self Managed Superannuation Funds can always be amended, should you wish to change your Trustee from an individual to a company. Want to begin registering for a company? You can click HERE to register OR if you already have a company registered and would like to create a trust with a corporate trustee, you can begin the application HERE. Should you have any questions you can call us on 03 9832 0660 or alternatively email us at support@company123.com.au.

Artificial intelligence (also known as A.I) has undergone many improvements over the years which has led it having a wide range of uses in real world applications like businesses. A.I has many uses from helping streamline job processes to collecting business data and more. Artificial intelligence is “the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, in other words, it is systems or machines that imitates human intelligence to perform tasks and can improve itself based on the information it collects. AI systems work by taking in large amounts of information, analysing the data for any correlations and patterns, and then using those patterns to calculate predictions. An example of AI systems at work are chatbots. A chatbot, created by a company, is given examples and scenarios of conversations, which in turn teaches the chatbot to produce lifelike exchanges with people and assist them with enquiries. AI programming focuses on three cognitive skills: Learning, Reasoning and Self-Correction. These skills are what AI implement within its programming to function in its day-to-day use. The ‘learning’ aspect of AI programming focuses mainly on the acquisition of data and creating algorithms for how to turn the data into actionable information. These algorithms, provide computing devices with step-by-step instructions for how to complete a specific task. During the stage of the reasoning process, the AI program focuses on selecting the right algorithm to reach a desired outcome. Through complex calculations, the system processes of the Artificial Intelligence goes through a selection process and selects the right code for the job it is assigned. The next stage is the self-correction process. The AI programming undergoes a selection process to choose the right algorithm in order to reach a desired outcome. AI is a crucial tool that can give enterprises insights into their operations that they may not have been aware of previously. AI programming can help with repetitive, detail-oriented tasks and can quickly complete jobs while making very few errors. Many large and successful companies have implemented AI and as a result have improved their day-to-day operations and have gained competitive advantage. AI can be categorized into four types, from the task-specific intelligent systems in wide use today to sentient systems. The categories are as follows: Reactive machines are AI systems that have no memory and are mainly task specific. Examples include spam filters in emails. These AI systems have memory, which can use past experiences to make future decisions. Examples include self-driving cars, which use the data collected in the recent past to make immediate decisions. Self-driving cars use sensors to identify civilians crossing the road to make better driving decisions. A Theory of mind type AI involves an AI system with social intelligence to understand emotions. This type of AI will be able to apply reasoning to human intentions and predict behaviour, which can be a necessary skill for AI systems to integrate as a member in human teams. In this category, AI systems are self-aware which understand their own current state and have consciousness. This type of AI does not exist yet. AI automation can augment its capabilities while expanding their volume and types of tasks performed. Machine learning is the science of getting a computer to act without programming. Artificial intelligence systems are used to perform complex tasks in a way that is like how humans solve problems. Data sets are labeled so that patterns can be detected and used to label new data sets. Data sets aren't labeled and are sorted according to similarities or differences. Data sets aren't labeled but, after performing an action or several actions, the AI system is given feedback. This gives a machine the ability to see. Machine vision captures and analyses visual information using a camera, analogue-to-digital conversion and digital signal processing. Machine vision can be programmed to see through walls. This involves the processing of human language by a computer program. These tasks include text translation, sentiment analysis and speech recognition. Current approaches are based on machine learning. A well-known example is spam detection, which looks at the subject line and text of an email and decides if it's junk. This field of engineering focuses on the design and manufacturing of robots. Robots are often used to perform tasks that are difficult for humans to perform or perform consistently. For example, robots are used in assembly lines for car production. Self-driving cars use a computer vision, image recognition and deep learning to automatically pilot a vehicle while driving in the lane and avoiding unexpected obstructions, such as pedestrians and hazards. Artificial intelligence has made its way into a wide variety of markets. Here are four examples: Rather than being implemented as a replacement for human intelligence and ingenuity, artificial intelligence is generally seen as a supporting tool for businesses. Machine learning algorithms are being integrated into analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms which are used to uncover information on how to better serve customers. Chatbots have been incorporated into websites to provide immediate service to customers. AI is constantly used in financial institutions. Personal finance applications are used to collect personal data and provide financial advice. AI is used to automate the legal industry's processes by saving time and improving client service. Law firms are using machine learning to describe data and predict outcomes and use computer vision to classify and extract information from documents and natural language processing to interpret requests for information. AI technologies are also being used in transportation to manage traffic, predict flight delays, and make ocean shipping safer and more efficient. A company is a legal entity formed by a group of individuals to engage in and operate a business, commercial or industrial, enterprise. The most common types of company in Australia are: All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. Step 1: Fill in a company registration form at Company123Step 2: Receive all company documents within minutes, sign and fileStep 3: Receive ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. General Information: The address of the registered office and principal place of business. Some of the most standard uses of AI in business are machine learning, cybersecurity, customer relationship management, internet searches and personal assistants. As discussed previously, machine learning can be used in systems to capture vast amounts of data. Artificial intelligence can be used in the protection of computer network defences. AI systems can recognize a cyberattack, as well as other cyberthreats, by monitoring patterns from data input. Once the AI detects a threat, it can backtrack through your data to find the source and help to prevent a future threat. A system as diligent and continuous as AI will serve as a great benefit in preserving your infrastructure. Artificial intelligence are also changing customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Most software programs require heavy human intervention to remain current and accurate, however when you apply AI to these platforms, the CRM system will transform into a self-updating, auto-correcting system that stays on top of your relationship management for you. Artificial intelligence uses data to identify patterns in a consumers search behaviours and provide them with more relevant information regarding their circumstances. The more people use their devices, the more the AI technology becomes even more advanced, which in turn leads to users having a more customizable experience. Artificial intelligence can also transform the way your company operates from the inside. AI bots can be used as personal assistants to help manage your emails, maintain your calendar, and even provide recommendations for streamlining processes. You can also program these AI assistants to create chatbots to answer questions for customers who call or chat online. These implementations make a huge difference by providing you extra time to focus on implementing strategies to grow the business. When adopted the right way, both Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) benefit businesses in millions of ways. From enhancing efficiency and workflow to offering user convenience and accessibility. If your company’s system is still not integrated with AI, there's a chance you might lag behind your competitors. Here are a few ways AI will transform your company: Organizations on the day-to-day bases perform hundreds of tasks. Implementing AI enables businesses to automate their routine operations and free up the workforce for more critical tasks. For example, when applying AI to the customer support department, instead of Customer Service Officers manually answering every customers query, they can use AI-powered chatbots for easy tickets and focus on complex support cases and marketing-related tasks. AI can be used to minimize human errors and ensure accuracy. As businesses keep automating more of their operations, they will soon achieve a more efficient workforce and quality output. AI’s can analyse data which can improve on its decision making. Majority of the time, it can be difficult for humans to analyse huge chunks of data, however for AI, it can crunch the assigned data in a matter of seconds. With Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, businesses can have massive amounts of data available. These advanced technologies identify trends, predict future results, and suggest the right action plan. This is then use the analyse data to solve issues and decide on the best course of action that is in line with the company’s goals and mission. Since AI is more accurate and quicker than humans, it can save time, money and resources used in manual decision making. AI is helping businesses boost productivity in many ways by automating workflow and optimizing day-to-day tasks. This in turn, reduces the time employees spend performing a task. As a result, more is achieved in less time, enhancing the company’s overall productivity. With companies increasing their revenue, it’s evident that AI and ML will be more in-demand in the coming years. The typical recruitment process in many companies involves posting a job ad, reviewing submitted resumes, and conducting interviews with potential candidates. Many businesses have now implemented the use AI in recruitment and talent-sourcing solutions to find skilled candidates efficiently. AI can be implemented to read job descriptions in natural language and compile data to recommend top candidates based on the described qualifications. Chatbots can also help recruiters in the screening process, These automated tools ask candidates questions about their skills and experience, allowing the hiring manager to receive interview answers from a larger pool of candidates with the same amount of effort when done manually. Businesses can also use Machine Learning algorithms to identify data patterns in a candidate’s interview answers, resume, social media profiles and job postings to score and compile a summary pros and cons based on all the required job qualifications, which in turn, makes the final hiring decision faster. Businesses can find the most suitable candidates much quickly and efficiently and candidates hear back if they’ve gotten the position without weeks of waiting. Customers are now more empowered than ever. With Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence can help businesses tailor their customers’ needs and wants and develop on-demand experiences. For example, a music streaming service can integrate AI algorithms into the app, which can lead to allowing your users to create personalised playlists. When they open the app, AI can identify their preferred genre and singers and suggest songs accordingly. Therefore, AI lets businesses develop a more personalised user experience and reach a whole new level in marketing. What does implementing AI mean for the worker? Artificial Intelligence is not replacing worker jobs, but rather it can be used to enhance it. Integration means it will create more jobs and shift to more specialised skill development. However, first things first, implementing AI-powered tools in your business operations requires a solid plan. The first is to envision how you want to take things forward as a business owner or leader. Here are a few tips every business leader can use to integrate AI into their company: Business leaders must prepare and understand that AI must be embraced within your manual workforce, it is not just a technology that can be integrated with just a few organizational changes. AI can’t work alone like other technologies. The entire organization, including your workforce and business structure, must be part of a single plan aligned with the company’s objectives. To address all the challenges, business leaders and executives must develop an AI roadmap to better understand how implementing the technology will help the business achieve its long-term and short-term goals. modern landscape. It offers convenience, accessibility, automation, and efficiency which are all directly related to achieving more productivity and enhancing user experience. AI can allow businesses to reach a larger audience and establish long-term customer relationships. This has a chance to create customer loyalty, leading to a continuous revenue flow for your company. With time, AI is getting more sophisticated and powerful. While can be implemented into business processes, but transitioning AI into your business can take years, perhaps decades, which can lead to further advancements in Artificial Intelligence, that can lead to further uses in our daily lives or business processes. The future is always around the corner, and artificial intelligence will certainly be a part of that future. The more AI develops, the more we will see increases in new start-ups, business applications and consumer uses as well as the replacement of some jobs and the creation of entirely new ones. You can also take advantage of implementing Artificial intelligence into your business processes by registering your company. Set your company up here and take the first step towards success! Should you have any further questions, you can call our consultants on 03 9832 0660 or alternatively email us at support@company123.com.au.

A Company and Business Name are entirely separate entities. When registering a company, it is possible to have your proposed company name be the same as your registered business name. We at Company 123 can show you how it can be done when registering through our website. Companies are legal entities separate from its owner that can be registered with ASIC. Every company must have members or shareholders, minimum of at least one member, who are the owners of the company and directors and secretaries who are the officers that manage the company. As companies are given the same rights as a natural person, they can incur debt, sue or be sued for legal reasons. There are various types of companies in Australia. The most common types of companies in Australia are: All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. As mentioned above, a company is made up of directors, secretaries, and shareholders. To fill in these roles, you must get written consent from the people that will fill these roles: If you're a director or a secretary of a company, you must follow the requirements in the Corporations Act. As an officeholder, you must follow your legal obligations, these are: You, as an officeholder are ultimately responsible for your company's adherence to the Corporations Act. A company can be formed with only one person, as a proprietary company limited by shares, the director and the shareholder or member can be the same person. Along with the director, secretary and shareholders, a company also has a public officer. The Public Officer of a company is the person who deals with the Tax Office in relation to the company's taxation affairs such as record keeping and submitting company returns. Under Australian taxation law, every company carrying on business or earning income from property in Australia must have a public officer – unless the company is specifically exempted. The company decides who acts as public officer in accordance with its Constitution. The company must appoint a public officer within 3 months of the company: If a company fails to appoint a public officer within the 3 month period, it is guilty of an offence for each day it does not have a public officer. The public officer must be at least 18 and must live in Australia. They must also be capable of understanding the nature of their appointment. The public officer deals with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in relation to the company's tax affairs and is responsible for ensuring that the company pays the correct amount of tax. If a company is in default, then the public officer is liable to pay any penalties. However, the public officer is not personally liable for payment of tax due by the company with the exception of certain liabilities such as superannuation payments due by a company and when it is not paid, Directors may be personally liable for unpaid superannuation of the company. Additionally certain Pay as You Go (PAYG) Withholding obligations in relation to tax withheld on employees’ wages, directors may be personally liable if the company does not remit the liability to the Australian Taxation Office in timely and due manner. Apart from these liabilities all other debts of the company generally stay with the company unless the directors personally guarantee obligations to pay the debt for the company. The total fee to register a company with Company 123 is $598 which includes all government fees, our service fee and GST. The ASIC registration fee is $538 and our service fee, inclusive of GST, is just $55. ASIC also charges an annual fee on the anniversary date of registration. We also offer extra optional services, which includes: When it comes to name your company, a company name is not compulsory. Instead of choosing a name, the name of your company can be its Australian Company Number (ACN), which is the unique number automatically given to a company by ASIC when it’s registered. Company names cannot be identical to an existing name. When filling in the online form, you will come across a question asking, whether you have a proposed company name. Choosing "No" to the question, will remove the option to name your company and allow you to use your ACN as your company name. If your business is a company, then you'll need an ACN. By law, an ACN must be shown on several documents, including: If your company also registers for an ABN, then your ACN will form part of your ABN. In these cases, you won't need to display your ACN if your documents already display your ABN and company name. ABNs are not compulsory. However, there are many good reasons to have one, for example, ABNs help you: If you want to look up information about a registered ABN, such as to check that your details are up to date or check the details of a supplier, you can do this on the ABN Lookup website. ABN Lookup allows you to search publicly available information supplied by businesses when they register for an ABN. Anyone can, however you must have at least one director that resides in Australia and a physical Australian address for the registered office of the company. If none of the directors are eligible to work in Australia, you will be able to register a company, but you may not be able to trade. A company that is an ultimate holding company of a wholly owned group if it has a subsidiary and the company is not a subsidiary of another company. This means, the ultimate holding company owns or controls more than 50% of the shares in the subsidiary and can be referred to as the "controlling entity". The key element is control. One company controls a second company if it has the capacity to determine the outcome of the decisions of the second company's financial and operating policies. The ultimate holding company may have several subsidiaries. Contains certain words and phrases that cannot be used without the approval of a government minister. Fore example; these include bank, trust, Royal, Incorporated. The name is considered offensive or suggests illegal activity. Step 1 - Fill in a company registration form at Company123Step 2 - Receive all company documents within minutes, sign, and fileStep 3 - Receive ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. You need to make sure: According to the legal obligations and responsibilities under the Corporations Act, if there are any changes in the company, it’s important that you inform ASIC within 28 days. To inform ASIC of the changes, Company123 can file on your behalf form 484 simply known as “Changes to your company details” for your company as registered ASIC agent #34511. - Register Address. - Principal place of business activity. - Officeholder’s address. - Shareholder’s address. If you no longer require to use a Pty Ltd company, Company123 can carry out official deregistration on your behalf. De-registering a company means that you no longer have to continue your obligations as an officeholder and company ceases to exist. It might be worthwhile to apply for voluntary deregistration where a company is no longer trading or carrying on a business. In order to apply for a deregistration of a company with ASIC, the following requirements need to be fulfilled: As registered ASIC agent, Company123 can assist you in preparing all necessary ASIC form and other compliance documents to submit deregistration request to ASIC on the same business day. The cost of the service is $299 + GST (which includes ASIC fee). Simply click the following Link & complete a short form. Take advantage of Company123 professional service and order de-registration service today for any of your unwanted companies and save on incurring ASIC annual review fees. If your company has been deregistered, Company123 can assist you with the company reinstatement. Reinstatement will restore to the original status of a deregistered company with ASIC. To apply for reinstatement of company ASIC, following needs to be fulfilled: Company Reinstatements are a lengthy process that can take up to 3 months to be processed by ASIC. Company123 can carry out the reinstatement process. Simply click the following Link & complete a short form. A business name is simply a name under which you conduct a business. You must register a business name in Australia, unless you trade under your own name, or fall within an exemption. Anyone can register a business name, if they want to operate and trade under a name which is different to the name of the legal entity. As mentioned above, Company123 are ASIC agents who can provide a quick and simple business name registration through our easy online form. You have the option for both 1 year and 3 year business name registration. We are also happy to offer renewal of business name services, through a similarly easy online form. The legal name of an entity is the name that appears on all official documents and legal papers whereas a business name is mainly used to conduct a business. For example, the legal name typically for private companies will have PTY LTD (or any variation of ‘proprietary limited’), whereas for registered sole traders their legal name is their full name that was registered with the ABN. There are no limits to how many business names you can have. You can have multiple business names under a single Australian Business Number (ABN). Having multiple business names can help customers and clients find, identify, and connect with your business. Yes, to run a business operation with a registered business name, you need to have an ABN. It is vital to choose something that will help customers easily identify and connect with your product or service. Business Names can be changed as your business grows and changes. It is not uncommon for businesses to go through a process of ongoing change. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when thinking of a business name: Now that you have chosen your business name, the next step is to see if it is available to be registered.You can check the availability of a business name through ASIC as well as clicking the link to our website Company123 here.When selecting a business name, there are three criteria for determining whether a business name is available under the Business Names Registration Act 2011 and the Business Names Registration (Availability of Names) Determination 2015.These criteria are: This includes: A word or expression mentioned in Schedule 2 is a restricted word or expression in relation to entities and businesses unless the Minister has given written consent to the use of the word or expression. A Business Name can be considered undesirable if it is considered by ASIC to be offensive to the general public or members of a section of the general public. Also, if your business name suggests a connection with established companies or government agencies. You can’t update an already registered business name, even if you only want to make a slight change to it. If you want to trade under a different business name, you must register a new one. You can either cancel your existing business name (if you don’t want to use it anymore) or keep your existing business name (in case you want to use it later or for a different part of your business). If you are the holder if an identical name, you may be able to register the name for the company in some cases: If you are registered business name owner, and you would like to register a company with the same name, here is how to you can get that company registered on Company 123’s online form: Step 1: On the first page of the application, select ‘Yes’ to the question: “is your company name the same name as your business name?”. Step 2: Once ‘Yes’ is selected, you are given to options: Insert your sole trader or individual ABN that has your business name registered to it OR select the amount of states you have your business name registered in; then, insert the registered business number and select the state(s). Step 3: Continue and submit your application to become registered. While in many instances, you cannot use similar names to already registered companies or business names. However, if you are the owner of a registered business name, you can use register a company with the same name, by providing your individual ABN. If you would like to begin the process of registering your business name, you can begin here or alternatively you can register a company here.

Domains are a vital key when it comes to marketing and branding for your business. Your domain is a contact point between your business and your customers, therefore it is important to choose the right domain name, so that it is easier for your customers to find you online. Company 123 assist you through the process of your domain registration. Click below to begin your domain registration. A Domain or ‘Domain name’ is the web address of your business’ website, that online users type into the browser URL bar to visit your website. Domain names were invented to make it easier for users to visit a website, instead of typing in an IP address. A typical IP address is a unique string of numbers that connect computers to web servers. IP addresses are great for computers, but difficult for people to memorize, thus why domain names were developed. The history of domain names dates back to the early days of the internet, when computer networks were first being established. In this section, we'll explore the evolution of domain names, from their early beginnings to the present day. In the early days of the internet, computers were identified by numerical IP addresses, which were difficult to remember and prone to errors. To make it easier for users to find websites and connect to different computers, domain names were introduced. The first domain name, "symbolics.com", was registered in 1985 by a Massachusetts-based computer manufacturer. Over the next few years, a number of other domain names were registered, mostly by universities, government agencies, and large corporations. In 1991, the first top-level domains (TLDs) were introduced, including ".com", ".org", and ".net". These TLDs were intended to categorize different types of websites, with ".com" being used for commercial websites, ".org" for non-profit organizations, and ".net" for network infrastructure providers. In the mid-1990s, the number of registered domain names began to grow rapidly, as more and more individuals and businesses began to establish an online presence. By the early 2000s, there were millions of registered domain names, with ".com" being the most popular TLD by far. In recent years, a number of new TLDs have been introduced, including ".io", ".ai", and ".club", among others. These new TLDs offer greater flexibility and more options for businesses and individuals looking to establish a unique online presence. Today, domain names are an essential part of the internet, and are used by billions of people around the world to connect to websites and access information. The introduction of new TLDs has made it easier for businesses and individuals to find the perfect domain name, while the increasing importance of online branding has made domain names a crucial part of any marketing strategy. As the internet continues to evolve, the history of domain names will continue to be written, with new innovations and developments shaping the future of the web. When you enter a domain name in your web browser, it first sends a request to a global network of servers that form the Domain Name System (DNS). These servers then look up for the name servers or DNS servers associated with the domain and forward the request to those name servers. These name servers are computers managed by your hosting company. Your hosting provider will forward your request to the computer where your website is stored. This computer is called a web server. It has special software installed. The web server then fetches the web page and pieces of information associated with it. A domain typically consists of two or three words separated by dots. For example, company123.com.au is a domain. Domains are one part of a complete web address, or URL. URLs typically consist of a protocol, domain name, and path. For example, the URL of this blog post is: https://company123.com.au/BLOG/A-guide-to-domains. The protocol (also referred to as transfer protocol or scheme) in a URL determines how data is transferred between the host and a web browser. HTTP and HTTPS (secure) are two of the most common protocols you’ll find in most URLs. A domain name is the word or phrase used by the Domain Name System to define a websites location. For example, "company123.com.au" is a domain name. In the Domain Name System hierarchy, a subdomain is a domain that is a part of another domain. Subdomains separate a section of your website. For example, from https://company123.com.au/BLOG/A-guide-to-domains, the subdomain is "/BLOG/". The path refers to the exact location of a page, post or file on your website. The path or file consists of any asset file extension, such as images and documents. For example, from https://company123.com.au/BLOG/A-guide-to-domains. The path is "/A-guide-to-domains/". To get a business domain name, you must first decide the right domain name for your business and then purchase it from a domain name registrar. There are many domains name companies that can help you set up your domain. However, buying a domain does not automatically give you hosting service. For that, you will need a website hosting account as well. A domain name registrar is a company that manages the reservation of Internet domain names. For example: Crazy Domains. It is ideal to purchase a domain name similar to your business name. When choosing a domain, keep your business brand – or personal brand, consistent across all of your content, platforms and marketing items. If your domain name isn’t exactly the same as your registered business name, it can still give your customers something similar to search for online. Choosing a domain name can be difficult, however it is always best to follow these tips when choosing: No, there are no limits, which means you can buy as many domain names as you like. There are a variety of domain extensions that are available to everyone. Some domain extensions are also localised. Here are a few standard extensions: Limited to government agencies. A popular domain extension for many non-governmental organizations, nonprofits, politicians and political parties, and online communities. Limited to educational institutions. .au (Australia) .jp (Japan) .us (United States) .de (Germany) .eu (Europe) Domain names are a fundamental part of the internet infrastructure, serving as the virtual address where users can access websites, emails, and other online services. Over the years, some domain names have become household names, synonymous with their respective brands and businesses. In this blog post, we'll explore some of the most famous domain names and the stories behind them. Below we'll explore some of the most famous domain names and the stories behind them. Google is the most popular search engine on the internet, with millions of users performing searches every day. The domain name 'Google.com' was registered in 1997, when the company was still in its infancy. The name Google was derived from the word 'googol,' which is a mathematical term that represents the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, chose the name to represent the vast amount of information that the search engine was capable of indexing. Facebook is one of the world's largest social media platforms, with over 2.8 billion active users. The domain name 'Facebook.com' was registered in 2005, when the platform was launched by Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues. Originally, the platform was only available to students at Harvard University, but it quickly expanded to other colleges and universities before becoming available to the general public. Amazon is the world's largest online retailer, offering a wide range of products and services. The domain name 'Amazon.com' was registered in 1994, when the company was still primarily an online bookstore. The name Amazon was chosen to represent the vast size of the company and its ambition to become the largest online retailer in the world. Twitter is a popular social media platform that allows users to share short messages, known as tweets. The domain name 'Twitter.com' was registered in 2000, but the platform didn't launch until 2006. Originally, the platform was called 'Twttr,' but the founders later changed the name to 'Twitter' to better reflect the platform's purpose. YouTube is the world's largest video sharing platform, with billions of users watching videos every day. The domain name 'YouTube.com' was registered in 2005, when the platform was launched by three former PayPal employees. The name 'YouTube' was chosen to represent the idea of a TV channel that users could create and broadcast their own content. LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that allows users to connect with colleagues, find job opportunities, and share industry news. The domain name 'LinkedIn.com' was registered in 2002, and the platform was launched the following year. The name 'LinkedIn' was chosen to represent the idea of users building professional connections and relationships. Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform that has become increasingly popular in recent years. The domain name 'Instagram.com' was registered in 2004, but the platform didn't launch until 2010. The name 'Instagram' was derived from the words 'instant camera' and 'telegram,' representing the platform's focus on visual content and instant messaging. Domain names are a crucial part of the internet infrastructure and have become synonymous with the businesses and brands they represent. The most famous domain names, such as Google.com, Facebook.com, and Amazon.com, have become household names and are instantly recognizable to people around the world. As the internet continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see which new domain names become the next household names. When it comes to choosing a domain name, there are several factors to consider to ensure that it is memorable, easy to type and spell, and relevant to your brand or business. In this section, we'll explore some of the key factors that make a good domain name. A good domain name should be memorable and easy to recall. Ideally, it should be short and catchy, so that users can easily remember it and type it into their web browser. Avoid using hyphens, numbers, or other special characters, as they can make your domain name harder to remember. Your domain name should be easy to type and spell, so that users can find your website without any confusion. Avoid using uncommon words, non-standard spellings, or words with multiple spellings. If your brand or business has a unique name, you may want to consider registering multiple domain names with different spellings to ensure that users can find your website. Your domain name should be relevant to your brand or business, so that users can easily understand what your website is about. If possible, include keywords that describe your business or services in your domain name. For example, if you run a bakery, you might choose a domain name like "bakerydelight.com" or "sweettreatsbakery.com". When choosing a domain name, it's important to avoid infringing on any existing trademarks or copyrights. Before registering a domain name, conduct a trademark search to ensure that it is not already in use by another business or brand. Finally, consider the domain extension when choosing a domain name. The most common domain extension is ".com", but there are many other options available, such as ".org", ".net", and country-specific extensions like ".co.uk" or ".de". Choose a domain extension that is relevant to your brand or business, and that will be easily recognized by your target audience. A good domain name should be memorable, easy to type and spell, relevant to your brand or business, avoid trademark infringement, and consider the domain extension. By following these guidelines, you can choose a domain name that is both effective and memorable, and that will help your website stand out on the internet. The .AU domain was first delegated to Robert Elz in 1986, who served as its administrator for nearly 30 years. Today, the domain is managed by .au Domain Administration (auDA), a not-for-profit organization that oversees the registration and administration of .au domains. There are several second-level domains under .au, including ".com.au" for commercial entities, ".org.au" for non-profit organizations, ".net.au" for network infrastructure providers, and ".gov.au" for government agencies, among others. Registrants must meet certain eligibility criteria to register a .au domain, including having a registered business or trademark in Australia. In addition to the second-level domains, there are also a number of geographic subdomains under .au, such as ".nsw.au" for New South Wales and ".vic.au" for Victoria. These subdomains are intended for organizations based in those regions. Until recently, the registration of .au domain names was restricted to businesses and organizations that could demonstrate a connection to Australia, such as having an Australian Business Number (ABN) or trademark registration. However, in April 2021, a new policy was introduced that opened up the .au domain to the general public. Under the new policy, individuals and businesses without an existing connection to Australia can now register .au domain names, as long as they have a presence in Australia. This presence can be demonstrated by having an Australian address, phone number, or other contact information. The goal of this policy change was to make it easier for individuals and small businesses to establish an online presence using the .au domain, and to encourage competition and innovation in the Australian domain name market. The move has been welcomed by many in the Australian tech industry, who believe it will help promote growth and diversity in the sector. However, the change has also been met with some criticism, particularly from those who believe that the .au domain should be reserved for Australian businesses and organizations. Some have raised concerns that opening up the domain to the general public could lead to an influx of domain squatting or other abusive practices. To address these concerns, the new policy includes a number of measures to prevent abusive domain registration practices. For example, registrars are required to conduct additional checks on new registrants to verify their identity and ensure they have a genuine connection to Australia. There are also processes in place for resolving disputes over domain names and revoking domain names in cases of abuse. Overall, the availability of .au domain names to the general public is a significant change that is likely to have a significant impact on the Australian domain name market. While there are concerns about the potential for abuse, the new policy includes measures to mitigate these risks and promote responsible use of the domain. When it comes to establishing an online presence, a domain name is just the first step. In this section, we'll explore some extra services that can go well with domains to help businesses and individuals make the most of their online presence. Once you have a domain name, you'll need a place to host your website. Website hosting services provide space on a server where you can store your website files and make your site accessible to the internet. Email hosting services allow you to set up professional email addresses using your domain name (e.g. name@yourdomain.com). This can help you establish a professional image and build credibility with your customers. SSL certificates provide an extra layer of security for your website, encrypting data and protecting your visitors' information. Having an SSL certificate can also boost your website's search engine rankings, as Google now favors secure websites. If you don't have experience building websites, a website builder can help you create a professional-looking site quickly and easily. Many website builders offer drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-designed templates, making it easy to create a site that looks great and functions well. Once you have a website up and running, you'll need to promote it to attract visitors. Online marketing tools, such as search engine optimization (SEO) services, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and social media marketing, can help you reach your target audience and drive traffic to your site. When you register a domain, your contact information is made publicly available in the Whois database. Domain privacy services allow you to keep your personal information private, protecting you from spam and unwanted solicitations. These are just a few examples of the extra services that can go well with domains. By combining these services, businesses and individuals can create a strong online presence that is both professional and effective. To transfer your domain name to another registrant, you can initiate a change of registrant by contacting your current registrar. Your registrar will then ask for your confirmation via a secure mechanism (which typically will take the form of an email to the registered name holder). After registering domain with us, you can register your email or website hosting at your preferable service provider. With less than $10 per month, you can have unlimited business email with Spam & Virus protection, unlimited SSD Webspace, unlimited websites as well. Contact Company123 team for more details. A Domain is a crucial for your companies first step with connecting with your customers online. It is also a powerful marketing strategy that can improve your branding. A carefully selected name, with keywords related to your business, will make it easier for your customers to find you online.

While a foreign person or company can own an Australian company’s shares, they cannot be a sole director of this company. Australian law provides that at least one director of any company in Australia must be an Australian resident. Further, two directors of an Australian public company need to be a resident in order to register with ASIC. You can order a company in just 3 quick steps through Company 123. Order a company today! As per Corporations Act 2001 section 1.5.5 5.1: Only an individual who is at least 18 years old can be a director. If a company has only 1 director, they must ordinarily reside in Australia. If accompany has more than 1 director, at least 1 of the directors must ordinarily reside in Australia. An Australian resident is defined as an individual that has their domicile in Australia. Before you can register your company with ASIC, you will need to determine your eligibility to do so. Foreign residents can register a company in Australia, but you will need to have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and an Australian Registered Business Name (ARBN). You can apply for these online through the Australian Business Register (ABR). Once you have an ABN and ARBN, you can choose a name for your company. The name you choose must be available and not already in use by another company. You can check the availability of your preferred company name on the ASIC website or through Company123. There are several company structures to choose from when registering your company with ASIC, including: • Sole trader: This is a simple structure that involves a single person owning and operating the business. • Partnership: This structure involves two or more people sharing ownership of the business. • Company: This is a more complex structure that involves a separate legal entity being established for the business. To register your company with ASIC, you will need to complete an online company registration application form with Company123 and pay a registration fee. You will need to provide information about your company, including its name, structure, and registered office address. You will also need to provide details about the company's directors and shareholders. Depending on the nature of your business, you may need to obtain licenses and permits to operate in Australia. This may include licenses for specific industries, such as healthcare or finance, or permits for specific activities, such as selling alcohol or operating a food business. You can find information about the licenses and permits you may need on the Australian Government's business website. If you are a foreign resident and plan to stay in Australia long-term, you may wish to apply for permanent residency. There are several pathways to permanent residency, including employer-sponsored visas, family visas, and skilled visas. Employer-sponsored visas: If you have a job offer from an Australian employer, you may be eligible for an employer-sponsored visa. This type of visa is for people who are sponsored by an Australian business to work in a specific role. Family visas: If you have a family member who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you may be eligible for a family visa. This type of visa is for people who have a spouse, partner, parent, or child who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Skilled visas: If you have skills that are in demand in Australia, you may be eligible for a skilled visa. This type of visa is for people who have skills in occupations that are on the Australian Government's skilled occupation list. To apply for permanent residency in Australia, you will need to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through the Department of Home Affairs' SkillSelect system. The EOI will provide information about your qualifications, work experience, and other relevant details. Based on the information you provide in the EOI, you may be invited to apply for a visa. After you have submitted your visa application, you will need to wait for a decision. The processing time for visa applications can vary depending on the type of visa you have applied for and other factors, such as the level of demand for your occupation. Once your visa application has been approved, you will ned to make arrangements to move to Australia. This may include finding a place to live, opening a bank account, and obtaining any necessary insurance. Foreign residents can register a company in Australia via ASIC and there are several pathways to permanent residency in Australia. Registering a company with ASIC involves choosing a company name and structure, completing an online application form, and paying a registration fee. Applying for permanent residency in Australia involves determining your eligibility, submitting an Expression of Interest, and waiting for a decision. If you are considering registering a company in Australia and applying for permanent residency, it is important to seek professional advice to ensure that you meet all of the necessary legal requirements and obligations. Choosing the right company structure is an important decision when registering your company with ASIC. Here are some of the pros and cons of each business structure: Pros: • Simple and easy to set up. • Low cost of registration and ongoing compliance. • Complete control over the business. Cons: • Unlimited personal liability for the business's debts and obligations. • Limited ability to raise capital. • Limited ability to delegate responsibility. Pros: • Simple and easy to set up. • Low cost of registration and ongoing compliance. • Shared responsibility and resources. Cons: • Unlimited personal liability for the business's debts and obligations. • Potential for disagreements and conflicts between partners. • Limited ability to raise capital. Pros: • Separate legal entity, meaning the business is responsible for its own debts and obligations. • Limited personal liability for the company's directors and shareholders. • Ability to raise capital by issuing shares. Cons: • More complex and expensive to set up and maintain. • More regulations and compliance requirements to follow. • Limited control for shareholders. Directors are required to act in good faith and for a proper purpose. This means that they must act honestly, in the best interests of the company, and for a purpose that is related to the company's business. Directors must also avoid any conflicts of interest that may arise between their personal interests and the interests of the company. Directors must exercise care and diligence in the performance of their duties. This means that they must take the time to understand the company's financial position, its operations, and its strategic direction. Directors must also stay up to date with changes in the regulatory environment that may impact the company. Directors have a duty to prevent insolvent trading. This means that they must ensure that the company does not trade while it is insolvent or likely to become insolvent. If a director is aware that the company is insolvent or likely to become insolvent, they must take steps to prevent the company from trading. Directors are responsible for ensuring that the company maintains accurate financial records. This includes keeping track of the company's financial transactions, preparing financial statements, and ensuring that the company's accounts are audited. Directors must disclose any conflicts of interest that arise in the course of their duties. This includes disclosing any personal or financial interests that may conflict with the interests of the company. Directors must also abstain from voting on any matters where there is a conflict of interest. Directors are required to ensure that the company's financial records are accurate and up-to-date. This includes preparing financial statements that comply with the relevant accounting standards and ensuring that the company's accounts are audited. HIH Insurance was once Australia's second-largest insurance company, until it collapsed in 2001. An investigation found that the company had been engaging in fraudulent accounting practices, and the company's CEO was later charged with multiple criminal offences. The collapse of HIH is considered one of the largest corporate collapses in Australian history, with losses estimated to be over $5 billion. One.Tel was a telecommunications company that was founded in 1995. The company rapidly expanded in the early 2000s, but it was later revealed that the company had been inflating its revenue and hiding its losses. The company collapsed in 2001, and its founders were charged with multiple criminal offences. The collapse of One.Tel led to the loss of over $2 billion in shareholder value. AWB Limited was Australia's largest wheat exporter until it was revealed that the company had been paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in violation of United Nations sanctions. The company was found to have made payments of over $200 million to the Iraqi government. The scandal led to the resignation of several high-ranking executives and a lengthy public inquiry. Centro Properties Group was a shopping centre developer and manager that collapsed in 2007. An investigation found that the company had been engaging in misleading accounting practices, which had led to the overstatement of the company's assets and understatement of its liabilities. The company's auditor was also found to have failed to detect the accounting irregularities. The collapse of Centro Properties Group led to the loss of over $2 billion in shareholder value. In 2004, the National Australia Bank (NAB) was embroiled in a foreign currency trading scandal, which resulted in the bank losing over $360 million. The scandal involved unauthorized foreign currency trades that were made by four traders in the bank's foreign exchange options desk. The traders were later charged with criminal offences, and the scandal led to the resignation of several senior executives. Appointing a registered agent is a legal requirement for all Australian companies. Your registered agent is responsible for receiving and responding to official ASIC correspondence on behalf of your company. It is important to keep your registered agent up-to-date with any changes to your company's details, such as changes in address or directorship. All Australian companies are required to file an annual statement with ASIC. This statement confirms the current details of your company, including its registered address, shareholders, and directors. Failing to file your annual statement on time can result in late fees and even legal action, so it is important to ensure that you submit it before the due date. ASIC requires all Australian companies to keep accurate and up-to-date records of their finances, including income, expenses, and assets. It is important to maintain these records in compliance with accounting standards and to ensure that they are readily available for ASIC inspections. If your company's details change, such as a change in address or directorship, it is important to update these details with ASIC as soon as possible. This can be done online through ASIC's website, and failure to update your company details in a timely manner can result in penalties or legal action. ASIC requires all Australian companies to comply with legal and ethical standards. This includes complying with tax laws, employment laws, and other regulations that are relevant to your industry. It is important to seek professional advice and guidance if you are unsure about your obligations or responsibilities as a business owner. A strong business plan is essential to the success of any company. It should outline your company's goals, target market, competition, marketing strategy, and financial projections. A well-written business plan can help you secure funding, make informed decisions, and stay focused on your goals. Customer satisfaction is a key factor in the success of any business. It is important to understand your customers' needs and preferences, and to provide high-quality products or services that meet or exceed their expectations. By prioritizing customer satisfaction, you can build a loyal customer base and generate positive word-of-mouth. Innovation is essential to staying competitive in today's rapidly changing business environment. It is important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in your industry, and to be open to new ideas and approaches. By embracing innovation, you can stay ahead of the curve and differentiate your company from the competition. A strong team is essential to the success of any company. It is important to hire talented and motivated employees, and to provide them with the support and resources they need to succeed. By building a strong team, you can foster a positive company culture, increase productivity, and achieve your goals more effectively. 5. Monitor your financials closely. By following these strategies and adapting to the changing needs of your customers and industry, you can make your company successful and achieve your long-term goals. At Company123, we are committed to making the company registration process as smooth and straightforward as possible. With our user-friendly online platform and expert support team, we offer a one-stop-shop solution for all your company registration needs. Whether you need to register a new company, change your company details, we have the tools and resources to help you every step of the way. Our streamlined process and affordable pricing make us the ideal choice for businesses of all sizes and types. Trust us to take care of the paperwork, so you can focus on what you do best - running and growing your business.

There are many business opportunities for students in Australia. Whether you have a talent for writing, design, or organization, there is likely a business idea that suits your skills and interests. With the right idea and a solid business plan, you can start a successful business and join the ranks of Australia's thriving entrepreneurial community. To register as a sole trader, you can apply online through the Australian Business Register website or through Company123. Once you have registered, you will be able to legally operate your business as a sole trader in Australia. At Company123, we are committed to making the company registration process as smooth and straightforward as possible with the fastest company registration process on the market. With our user-friendly online platform and expert support team, we offer a one-stop-shop solution for all your company registration needs. Whether you need to register a new company, change your company details, we have the tools and resources to help you every step of the way. Our streamlined process and affordable pricing make us the ideal choice for businesses of all sizes and types. Trust us to take care of the paperwork, so you can focus on what you do best - running and growing your business. On the other hand, a company structure might be right for you depending on where you see your business’ growth in the future. Setting up a company in Australia involves several steps, including choosing your company name and type, registering your company with ASIC, obtaining a TFN and ABN, and registering for GST and other taxes. It is important to understand your legal and tax obligations as a company and seek professional advice if necessary. Students are most welcome to contact us on our website to book a tax and legal consultation. The choice between being a sole trader or a company depends on your business needs, goals, and personal circumstances. Both structures have advantages and disadvantages, and it's important to consider these carefully before making a decision. It's a good idea to seek professional advice from an accountant or business advisor to help you make an informed decision. These examples show that students have the potential to start and build successful businesses that can have a significant impact on the world. We wish you luck with your entrepreneurial journey and much success in the future.

When allocating shares within your company, you may have come across the various types or ‘classes’ of shares. Each class of shares grants shareholders certain rights for owning shares within the company. Australian shares, also known as equities or stocks, represent ownership in a company. When an individual or organization buys shares in a company, they become a shareholder and have the potential to earn a return on their investment through dividends and capital gains. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is the primary market for trading shares in Australia. It is home to over 2,200 companies and is the 11th largest exchange in the world by market capitalization. The ASX is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) which oversees the listing of companies, the trading of shares, and the disclosure of information to shareholders. One of the key characteristics of the Australian share market is its high level of concentration. A small number of large companies, known as blue chips, account for a significant portion of the market. The top 20 companies on the ASX make up over 50% of the market capitalization, with the top 10 accounting for around a third. This concentration can make the market more volatile and susceptible to changes in sentiment towards these large companies. Another important aspect of the Australian share market is the high level of foreign ownership. Around 60% of the shares listed on the ASX are owned by foreign investors, with the majority being from the United States and United Kingdom. This high level of foreign ownership can make the market more susceptible to changes in global sentiment towards Australian shares. The Australian government also plays a role in the share market through its regulations and policies. One of the key regulations is the Corporations Act 2001, which sets out the rights and responsibilities of companies and shareholders. The government also sets policies that affect the market, such as the Foreign Investment Review Board, which reviews foreign investment in Australian companies to ensure it is in the national interest. In recent years, the Australian share market has been affected by a number of factors including the global financial crisis, the mining boom, and the low interest rate environment. The mining boom led to a significant increase in the value of resources companies, but the downturn in commodity prices has affected the performance of these companies in recent years. The low interest rate environment has also led to a search for yield among investors, with many turning to shares for higher returns. There are various types of share ownership, here are the types below: 1.  Individual Ownership. 2.  Joint Ownership. 3.  Trust Ownership. 4.  Corporate Ownership. 5.  Mutual Fund Ownership. 6.  Superannuation Ownership. The share structure of a company refers to the way in which ownership is divided among shareholders. The most common form of share structure is the ordinary share, which gives the shareholder voting rights and the potential to receive dividends and capital gains. Companies may also issue preference shares, which have a higher claim on dividends and assets in the event of liquidation, but do not have voting rights. Additionally, companies may issue shares with different classes, such as Class A and Class B shares, which have different voting rights and dividend entitlements. Below table displays each share class and what rights it offers for shareholders. It is important to note that different share classes may have different rights and privileges and thus the value of each class may be different. It's important for an investor to understand the share classes of a company before investing in it. In Australia, there are generally no restrictions on who can own shares in a company. Anyone, whether an individual or a corporation, can purchase shares in a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) or another exchange, subject to some regulatory requirements. However, there may be restrictions on certain types of investors, such as foreign investors, who may need to comply with additional regulatory requirements, such as obtaining government approval. For example, if a foreign investor wishes to own more than 20% of a company listed on the ASX, they may need to seek approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). In addition, there may be specific restrictions on the types of shares that can be owned by certain investors. For example, some companies may issue non-voting shares, which may not be suitable for investors who want to have a say in the company's decision-making processes. It's also worth noting that there may be differences in the ownership rights and privileges between different classes of shares. For example, preference shares may have different voting rights or dividend entitlements compared to ordinary shares. Foreign investors may also be subject to ownership restrictions depending on the nature of the investment. For example, if a foreign investor wishes to invest in a company involved in critical infrastructure, they may be subject to tighter regulatory scrutiny and ownership restrictions. It's also worth noting that private companies may have specific rules and requirements around foreign ownership of shares. For example, the company's constitution may prohibit or restrict foreign ownership of shares or require foreign investors to seek board approval before investing in the company. While there are generally no restrictions on who can own shares in a company in Australia, there may be additional regulatory requirements for certain types of investors. Foreign investors are generally allowed to own shares in private companies in Australia, but they may need to comply with additional regulatory requirements and seek government approval in some cases. Private companies may also have specific rules and requirements around foreign ownership of shares that investors need to be aware of. Shares in private companies can be transferred from one shareholder to another through a process known as share transfer. Share transfer involves a change in the legal ownership of the shares from the seller to the buyer. In private companies, share transfers are generally subject to restrictions and requirements set out in the company's constitution or shareholders agreement. These restrictions may include requirements around shareholder approval, transfer fees, and pre-emptive rights for existing shareholders. The process for transferring shares in a private company typically involves the following steps: It's important to note that the transfer of shares in private companies can be complex and may require legal and accounting advice. Additionally, the company's constitution or shareholders agreement may include additional restrictions or requirements that must be followed when transferring shares. Company 123 are registered ASIC agents who can help you with making changes to your company. For share transfers or any other changes, fill in a changes to company details application and we will provide you the necessary documents to make these changes on ASIC. Company registration is the process of officially incorporating a business as a legal entity under the law. It is a legal requirement in most countries and is necessary to establish a company. Company registration can be done either as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation, depending on the size and nature of the business. Companies are legal entities separate from its owner that can be registered with ASIC. Every company must have members or shareholders, minimum of at least one member, who are the owners of the company and directors and secretaries who are the officers that manage the company. As companies are given the same rights as a natural person, they can incur debt, sue or be sued for legal reasons. There are various types of companies in Australia. The most common types of companies in Australia are: All companies are governed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which administers the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and other legislation. Public companies must also comply with the rules of the Australian Stock Exchange. A company is made up of directors, secretaries, and shareholders. To fill in these roles, you must get written consent from the people that will fill these roles: If you're a director or a secretary of a company, you must follow the requirements in the Corporations Act. As an officeholder, you must follow your legal obligations, these are: You, as an officeholder are ultimately responsible for your company's adherence to the Corporations Act. A company can be formed with only one person, as a proprietary company limited by shares, the director and the shareholder or member can be the same person. Along with the director, secretary and shareholders, a company also has a public officer. The Public Officer of a company is the person who deals with the Tax Office in relation to the company's taxation affairs such as record keeping and submitting company returns. Under Australian taxation law, every company carrying on business or earning income from property in Australia must have a public officer – unless the company is specifically exempted. However, the public officer is not personally liable for payment of tax due by the company except for certain liabilities such as superannuation payments due by a company and when it is not paid, Directors may be personally liable for unpaid superannuation of the company. Additionally certain Pay as You Go (PAYG) Withholding obligations in relation to tax withheld on employees’ wages, directors may be personally liable if the company does not remit the liability to the Australian Taxation Office in timely and due manner. Apart from these liabilities all other debts of the company generally stay with the company unless the directors personally guarantee obligations to pay the debt for the company. The total fee to register a company with Company 123 is $598 which includes all government fees, our service fee and GST. The ASIC registration fee is $538 and our service fee, inclusive of GST, is just $55. ASIC also charges an annual fee on the anniversary date of registration. We also offer extra optional services, which includes: An ABN (Australian Business Number) is a unique 11-digit number that is assigned to a business by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). It is used to identify a business for tax and other business-related purposes, such as registering for GST (Goods and Services Tax) and claiming business-related tax deductions. To register for an ABN, the business owner can visit the ATO website and complete the application form. The form requires the following information: It's important to note that ABN's are not mandatory but they are recommended for businesses that have a turnover of $75,000 or more, and it is required for certain business activities. The process of registering for an ABN is generally straightforward and can be done online. It is important to provide accurate and complete information to avoid delays in the processing of the application. Once the application is submitted, it can take up to 28 days for the ATO to process the application and issue the ABN. Keep in mind that, once you have an ABN, you will need to update the ATO with any changes to your business details, such as changes to your business name, address, or contact details. If you want to look up information about a registered ABN, such as to check that your details are up to date or check the details of a supplier, you can do this on the ABN Lookup website. ABN Lookup allows you to search publicly available information supplied by businesses when they register for an ABN. There are a variety of ways in which individuals and organizations can own shares in a company. The form of ownership can impact the level of control and influence that an individual or organization has over the company, as well as the potential risks and rewards of the investment.The Australian share market offers investors the opportunity to participate in the ownership of companies and potentially earn a return on their investment. The market is characterized by a high level of concentration and foreign ownership, and is affected by both global and domestic factors. It is important to understand the share structure of a company when registering a company as well as the regulations and policies that govern the market in order to make informed investment decisions.

The world of business is constantly evolving, and companies must stay up-to-date with the latest technologies to remain competitive. Integrating the latest technologies into their operations can help your registered company improve efficiency, reduce costs, enhance customer experience, and gain a competitive advantage. Below, we will discuss the importance of companies integrating the latest technologies and some of the technologies that companies can integrate into their operations. Want to register your company? Click “order now” to begin filling in your application! Integrating the latest technologies into business operations can have several benefits for companies. For example, automating repetitive tasks using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can reduce errors and improve efficiency. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help companies personalize customer experiences, while Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can enhance customer engagement. By being early adopters of new technologies, companies can differentiate themselves from their competitors and provide unique value propositions to their customers. There are several latest technologies that companies can integrate into their operations. Let's look at some of these technologies in detail: As discussed in our previous blog about integrating artificial intelligence in your business, artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing technology that has the potential to transform the way companies operate. However, like any technology, there are pros and cons to integrating AI into a company's operations. Integrating AI into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as cost, security, ethics, and job displacement. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating AI into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Internet of Things (IoT) technology has become increasingly popular in recent years, allowing companies to connect and communicate with their devices and systems in new ways. However, like any technology, there are pros and cons to integrating IoT into a company's operations. While integrating IoT into a company's operations can provide many benefits, it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as security, complexity, compatibility, and privacy. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating IoT into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Blockchain is a digital ledger technology that has the potential to transform the way companies conduct transactions and manage data. However, like any technology, there are pros and cons to integrating Blockchain into a company's operations. Integrating Blockchain into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as complexity, regulatory challenges, scalability, and adoption. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating Blockchain into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are immersive technologies that have the potential to transform the way companies interact with customers and employees. However, like any technology, there are pros and cons to integrating AR and VR into a company's operations. Integrating AR and VR into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as cost, technical challenges, adoption, and health and safety. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating AR and VR into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that allows companies to automate repetitive and manual tasks using software robots. While RPA can provide many benefits, there are also some drawbacks to consider. Integrating RPA into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as cost, limited capabilities, technical challenges, and lack of flexibility. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating RPA into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Cloud computing is a technology that allows companies to access and use computing resources, such as servers, storage, and applications, over the internet. While cloud computing can provide many benefits, there are also some drawbacks to consider. Cons: Integrating cloud computing into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as scalability, cost savings, accessibility, data backup and recovery, security, dependence on third-party providers, internet connectivity, and technical challenges. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating cloud computing into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Cybersecurity solutions refer to technologies and practices that protect computer systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, theft, and damage. While cybersecurity solutions can provide many benefits, there are also some drawbacks to consider. Integrating cybersecurity solutions into a company's operations is essential in today's digital landscape, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as protection against cyber threats, compliance with regulations, improved customer trust, prevention of financial loss, cost, technical challenges, false sense of security, and disruption to business operations. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating cybersecurity solutions into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Integrating 5G networks into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and capabilities and consider factors such as faster speeds, lower latency, greater connectivity, enhanced productivity, cost, infrastructure requirements, security concerns, and regulatory challenges. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating 5G networks into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. Quantum computing represents a revolutionary leap forward in computing technology, promising to solve complex problems and perform calculations that are beyond the capabilities of traditional computers. While the potential benefits of quantum computing are significant, there are also some drawbacks to consider. Integrating quantum computing into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should consider factors such as increased computing power, improved data analysis, enhanced cybersecurity, innovation, cost, complexity, scalability, and security concerns. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating quantum computing into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. While quantum computing is still in its early stages of development, it represents a potentially transformative technology that could provide businesses with a significant competitive advantage in the future. Biometric authentication is a technology that uses a person's unique physical characteristics, such as their fingerprint, face, or iris, to verify their identity. While biometric authentication has become increasingly popular in recent years, there are both benefits and drawbacks to consider when integrating this technology into a company's operations. Integrating biometric authentication into a company's operations can provide many benefits, but it is important to carefully evaluate the costs and risks involved. Companies should consider factors such as increased security, convenience, accuracy, improved compliance, privacy concerns, cost, limited interoperability, and inaccuracy. By weighing the pros and cons of integrating biometric authentication into their operations, companies can make informed decisions that align with their business goals and values. While biometric authentication is an increasingly popular technology, it is important for companies to balance the potential benefits with the potential risks and ensure that they are implementing appropriate safeguards to protect user privacy and security. Step 1: Fill in a company registration form at Company123.Step 2: Receive all company documents within minutes, sign, and file.Step 3: Receive ABN, TFN and GST registration (if necessary) and begin operations. Integrating the latest technologies into business operations can provide several benefits for companies, such as improving efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing customer experience, and gaining a competitive advantage. Companies should stay informed about the latest technologies and evaluate which technologies are suitable for their operations. By integrating the latest technologies, companies can stay ahead of the curve and be well-positioned for success in the future.

The first step to starting a successful startup in Australia is to develop your idea. This involves identifying a problem or need in the market and developing a product or service that solves that problem. It's important to conduct thorough market research to determine whether there is demand for your product or service, and to identify potential competitors. This research can help you refine your idea and identify any potential challenges you may face in launching your startup. Once you have developed your idea, the next step is to write a comprehensive business plan. This document outlines your business goals, strategies, and financial projections. A well-written business plan can help you secure funding and attract potential investors. It should include information such as your target market, your unique selling proposition, your marketing and sales strategies, and your financial projections. This document should be regularly updated as your business grows and evolves. At Company 123 we can help you on your start up journey. Order a Business Plan through us today. Choosing the right business structure is an important step in starting a startup in Australia. The most common business structures are sole trader, partnership, company, and trust. Each structure has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it's important to consult with a lawyer or accountant to determine the best structure for your startup. Factors to consider include taxation, liability, and compliance requirements. If your ideal start up structure is a company or if you want to set up as a sole trader, order a company through Company 123 or set up your ABN. Once you have chosen a business structure, you will need to register your business with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). This involves providing details about your business, such as its name, address, and structure. You may also need to register for an Australian Business Number (ABN) and a Tax File Number (TFN). Registering your business ensures that you comply with legal requirements and enables you to access government support programs. Securing funding is an important step in starting a startup in Australia. There are a number of options available, including grants, loans, and equity funding. It's important to research the different funding options and determine which one is best for your startup. This may involve preparing a pitch deck and presenting your business plan to potential investors or lenders. It's also important to have a clear understanding of your financial needs and projections. If your startup requires employees, you will need to hire them. This involves advertising job vacancies, interviewing candidates, and conducting background checks. It's important to comply with Australian employment laws and regulations, such as minimum wage and working conditions. You may also need to provide training and support for your employees to ensure their success and satisfaction. The final step in launch a startup in Australia is to launch your product or service. This involves marketing your business, acquiring customers, and establishing your brand. It's important to have a clear marketing and sales strategy to reach your target audience and build your customer base. It's also important to monitor your financial performance and make adjustments as necessary to ensure the long-term success of your startup. Building a strong brand and customer base is key to growing your business and achieving your goals. • Limited liability: A company is a separate legal entity, which means that the shareholders' liability is limited to the amount of their investment in the company. • Access to funding: Companies can raise capital through the sale of shares, which can make it easier to access funding for growth or investment. • Greater growth potential: As a company, you can expand your business more easily than as a sole trader by attracting investment, hiring employees, and accessing resources. • Complex set up: Registering a company can be more time-consuming and expensive than registering as a sole trader. • More reporting requirements: Companies have more complex reporting requirements, including annual financial statements, tax returns, and company secretarial obligations. • Less control: As a director of a company, you have legal obligations to act in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. This means that you may have less control over the decision-making process. The choice between being a sole trader or a company depends on your business needs, goals, and personal circumstances. Both structures have advantages and disadvantages, and it's important to consider these carefully before making a decision. It's a good idea to seek professional advice from an accountant or business advisor to help you make an informed decision. You will need to choose a unique name for your company that is not already registered. You can check the availability of your preferred name on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) website or through Company123. There are several different types of companies in Australia, including proprietary limited (Pty Ltd), public, and special purpose companies. You will need to decide which type of company is best suited to your needs. A company must have at least one director who is responsible for managing the company's affairs. You will need to appoint a director who is over 18 years of age and not disqualified from managing a company. While it is not mandatory to appoint a company secretary, it is recommended. The company secretary is responsible for ensuring that the company complies with its legal and regulatory obligations. You will need to register your company with ASIC. This can be done online through Company123. You will need to provide details of your company name, type, director/s, and shareholder/s. You will need to apply for a TFN and ABN for your company. This can be done online through Company123. If your company has a turnover of $75,000 or more, you will need to register for GST. This can be done at the same time as applying for your ABN and registering your company through Company123. Depending on your business activities, you may need to register for other taxes such as Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding, Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT), or the Luxury Car Tax. It is important to keep your personal and business finances separate, so set up a separate bank account for your company. As a company, you will have a range of legal and tax obligations that you will need to comply with. It is important to understand these requirements and seek professional advice if necessary. Starting a startup in Australia requires careful planning and execution. By following these key steps, entrepreneurs can increase their chances of success and build a sustainable and profitable business. It's important to seek advice from experts, such as lawyers, accountants, and business advisors, to ensure that you comply with legal requirements and best practices. With the right strategy and support, starting a startup in Australia can be a rewarding and exciting journey. However, you should feel comfortable knowing that Australia is home to hundreds of successful startups, some of which are the leaders in their respective industries. Australia is a great country to build a startup. It has a well-developed ecosystem with a supportive government, excellent infrastructure, and a highly educated workforce. The country has a stable political and economic environment, making it an attractive destination for investors. Moreover, Australia has a vibrant startup culture with a large number of co-working spaces, accelerators, incubators, and venture capital firms that support startups at different stages of development. The country also boasts a strong research and development sector, with numerous universities and research institutions working on cutting-edge technologies. Additionally, Australia is a member of several international trade agreements, making it easier for startups to access global markets. The government has also implemented various programs to support innovation and entrepreneurship, including tax incentives, grants, and funding opportunities. These Australian start-ups have not only become successful in Australia but have also made a name for themselves globally. Each of these companies started with an idea, a vision and a passion to make a difference. Their success is a testament to the potential of the Australian start-up ecosystem and the opportunities available to those who are willing to take a risk and pursue their dreams. Starting a startup requires a unique set of skills and qualities that go beyond technical expertise or business acumen. Here are some of the key qualities that a startup founder should possess: A successful startup founder should possess a combination of these qualities to navigate the challenges of building a successful business. While some of these traits may come naturally, others can be developed and honed over time with experience and training. A founder's success will depend on their ability to lead their team, adapt to change, and stay focused on their vision. At Company 123 we are dedicated to helping your business grow into what you want it to be.  We strive to be the one stop shop for your business needs where we offer the fastest ASIC registration in Australia, help you register for an ABN, and can even help you with your Business Plan and future goals. We have experts on our team with decades of tax and legal experience to guide you through the tough process. If you feel that your start up idea is a million or even a multimillion dollar idea, it may be worth your while looking into and researching the prospect of obtaining a Trademark on your logo or company name. This will provide you with the best protection against potential competitors. If you want to get a trademark with IP Australia, here are the general steps you will need to follow: Conduct a trademark search: Before applying for a trademark, it's important to conduct a search to ensure that your proposed trademark is available and doesn't infringe on any existing trademarks. Company 123 expert trademark team will conduct a search on your behalf and look into potential issues that may crop up in the process. Submit your application: You can submit your trademark application online through Company 123 website. The application will require you to provide information about your business, your trademark, and the goods or services that your trademark will be used for, you can look on the IP Australia website  for more information about the processing times. We wish you the best of luck on your entrepreneurial journey and we hope the guidance that Company 123 can provide will be of much assistance.

At Company123, Business Name Registrations are made simple and fast. We are ASIC agents who lodge Business Name applications on clients’ behalf, where clients have the option to go for a 1 Year or a 3 Year Business Name Registration. We also offer Business Name Renewal services. To initiate your Business Name Registration process, please visit our online form. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE NOT ASIC NOR THE ATO; WE ARE SIMPLY AGENTS WHO REPRESENT OUR CLIENTS. WE CAN, HOWEVER, CONTACT THE ATO ON YOUR BEHALF. Throughout our lives, we have encountered tons of Business Names. From the store where you grab your morning coffee to your local boutique, all of them operate under a Business Name. Some of them can be long, and you might find some challenging to pronounce, while there are those that are extremely simple. Perhaps you’re wondering: What makes a Business Name important? Why is it important to set up a “good” or fancy Business Name, if at the end of the day what matters are the products and services your business provides? Why are certain businesses performing better than others, despite selling similar or even identical products? Let’s dive deeper! Think of a Business Name as a “brand” for your business. We all can agree that every single business owner shares one common objective: Generating as much profit as possible. The obvious approach is to draw customers to your products and/or services, but putting prices and quality aside, first impressions matter. Just like in relationship building, one of the very first things people will encounter when meeting you for the first time is your name (and in this context, your business name), and a catchy, memorable name often creates a positive, memorable impression towards your customers. This will be crucial in establishing long-term commitments with your customers, since it’s proven that those who manage to build a strong, lasting first impression tend to succeed in constructing healthy, long-term relationships. Another key reason is to establish identity. Your coffee shop definitely won’t be the only one serving coffee in town. There are heaps of apparel stores competing against each other (think about Uniqlo, Lululemon, Boss, etc.). However, the apparel as an example, note how each of them has a different appeal, and as a result, “identity”, despite providing the same or similar services. Uniqlo is the go-to place for cheaper, more relaxed/casual outfits. Sports enthusiasts often visit Lululemon to grab their essentials, and Boss is definitely one of the brands you consider when thinking about fancier, more expensive clothing. Apart from helping customers understand what your business is about, it enables them to distinguish your business and its services from your competitors. Finally, placing extra effort in your business name improves its searchability, and considering how tech-savvy and digitalized everything is these days, an easily searchable name will positively contribute to your business online visibility, which generally correlates with increase in sales. Let’s say you actually wish to register a Business Name. Would you (a) Keep the name as simple and short as possible, or (b) Use a long, complex name for it? If you go with (a), you have made the right decision, as we can confidently assert that web users won’t be bothered to enter a long, winded name on the search bar. Users want everything to be intuitive and simple, therefore (a) will be the ideal solution. This, however, doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to use longer names; you definitely can, but try to keep things as short and simple as possible. While picking a business name, there is a risk of falling into the trap of going for a fancy, attention-seeking name and completely forgetting about what your business’ value proposition. This is definitely something everyone wishes to avoid, as a business name that contradicts its activities will be less appealing, and could even lead to legal issues with ASIC. Therefore, please ensure that your business name is truly reflective of your business’ operations. Ask yourself questions like how marketable your business name is, how your business name will be perceived by the public, who are your target audience(s), and what makes your business name different and more appealing to the public than your competitors’, and many more. Doing so will actually help you gain deeper understanding on your business. As highlighted in the previous section, it is advisable to consider business names that are flexible and easily expandable to enable expansions. This means that you should go for names that are future-proof yet able to cope with current trends, to ensure your business’ longevity. Yes, we understand that we are only dealing with Australian businesses here, or you might have no intentions to “go international” at all. However, since we are more than interconnected these days (thanks to digitalization), and considering how culturally diverse Australia is, it won’t do any harm to consider how cultural differences play a significant role in your business name selection process. We are by no means asking you to consider every single culture group in Australia; however, please be extra careful with certain words, as these words might translate to something offensive or intimidating in other languages. It’s all about personal preferences, but it will be wise to consider the pros and cons of doing so. Using your name as your business name establishes authenticity. For instance, you’ve decided to name your florist “Flowers by Betty” or “Betty’s Florist”. This could show that you are running the florist with passion and dedication, your flowers are carefully crafted and taken care of, and so on. Obviously customers will want to purchase flowers from those kinds of florists, as they translate to quality flowers. Your florist will end up being “the” florist people will want to go to, instead of “a” florist people can easily spot on a regular basis. Similarly, it will be easier for potential customers to distinguish your business from competitors. Using the previous florist example, imagine a scenario where your close friends or relatives find out that you run a florist. The news will spread via word of mouth, ideally with some recommendations, and assuming people are interested in visiting your store, it will be extremely easy for them to identify it as, you guessed it, your name is on your business! On the other hand, you might consider confidentiality issues, or you might feel uncomfortable with having your name shown or advertised in public. Your name (without sounding too offensive) might not be unique (think of how many James or Emmas you’ve met in your life), and this defeats the purpose of using your name for differentiation. It might also affect your business’ change of ownerships, just in case it will actually happen in the future. All in all, the decision is in your hands. A Business Name is simply the name you registered in which your business will be primarily conducted. You are legally required to register a Business Name in Australia before setting up a business. A Company Name is the name of a separate legal entity registered with ASIC. It includes the legal terms or abbreviations such as ‘PTY’ and/or ‘LTD’ and the end of the name. In most cases, a Company is the entity that governs a Business. Yes you can. ASIC considers a Company and a Business as two entirely separate entities. As a result, your proposed business name may be similar or identical to your existing company name. However, please note that additional information will be required when filling out the application to register your business name to prove that you actually own the aforementioned company. For more information, please click here. Alternatively, feel free to contact us. A single ABN can have more than one business names. Once you’ve filled out and submitted the form, one of our Consultants will process your application. It will only take a few minutes for us to lodge your application to ASIC. Meanwhile, it shouldn’t take too long for ASIC to process and register your business name. In most cases, it will only take them 24 business hours. Yes it is. They are often used interchangeably, although a ‘Trading Name’ is often deemed as an outdated/old term. If your business name is registered in more than one state or territory, all your business names will have transferred to ASIC’s national business names register. You may now have multiple identical business names registered to you. Please visit ASIC for further details. Unfortunately, registering a Business Name does not provide you with any exclusive trading, branding or ownership rights. To make things simple, consider the following scenario: Say you’ve decided to register “Nike Armadale” as a Business Name. Your application will definitely go through, as ASIC will run a check on their database and notice that there isn’t any business called “Nike Armadale” registered in Australia. However, Nike will contact you in the coming days, telling you that they have the name “Nike” trademarked, and therefore you will need to register a new Business Name, otherwise legal action will be taken. The rationale behind this is that Business Name Registrations and Trademarks are handled by two different entities in Australia: ASIC and IP Australia. As of now, there aren’t any mechanisms that enable us to cross-check between Business Name and Trademark Registrations. Therefore, it is advisable to run a trademark search to avoid any unwanted problems. Please visit this link for further information. Similar to Trademarks, registering a Business Name does not come with any rights for domains. Business Name Registration and Domain Registration are treated separately. Should you wish to register a domain that is similar to your business name, we recommend doing so as soon as you have lodged your business name registration, as the domain name you are interested in registering might have been taken by others. For domain registrations, please visit here. NOTE: AFTER LODGING YOUR DOMAIN REGISTRATION, YOU MIGHT RECEIVE AN EMAIL STATING THAT YOUR DOMAIN REGISTRATION WAS REJECTED. PLEASE CONTACT US VIA EMAIL (SUPPORT@COMPANY123.COM.AU) OR CALL (03) 9832 0660 SO WE CAN RESOLVE THE ISSUE FOR YOU. Unfortunately you can’t. You will need to re-register a new Business Name. Please make sure to double-check before registering to avoid any mistakes. Yes you can. Please visit ASIC for further details. Once you’ve lodged the Business Name Reservation form, ASIC will reserve/park your name for 2 months, meaning that no one else will be able to register a Business with that name. Yes. However, you will need to lodge a separate form to request for extension. You can appeal to ASIC’s decision. However, before appealing, please ensure that your application rejection meets the criteria outlined on the link provided. You could. Although there aren’t any specific restrictions on registering a business name with the name of a location/state/territory, your application will be subject to revision from ASIC, and they will make a decision to reject or accept your application. However, we wouldn’t recommend you do so, as most of the applications relevant to this context were rejected. We strongly suggest avoiding including location names in your business name if possible. After your business name has been registered, you will receive a copy of your record of registration via email, and you can start trading/conducting business under that name. Most of the details of your business, such as date of registration, date of business name expiry, as well as the state and postcode of the location of your business will be available online via the ABN Lookup.  But fret not, your personal details will not be posted. Should you require detailed records for a specific business name holders, you can place an order here to obtain official ASIC documents. Absolutely. Please complete the following form to initiate your renewal request. However, do note that you can only renew a business name that hasn’t expired more than 6 months. If the business name has expired for more than 6 months, you will need to re-apply a new business name, as that name is no longer available for registration for anyone. It depends. While using numbers in your business name is definitely not forbidden, it might not be a good idea to do so from a marketing perspective due to differentiation purposes. For instance, you can definitely find a handful of business names with the number 8, especially in the Asian community considering the number is deemed as a lucky number in Asian traditions. As a result, your business will not be considered “special” should you add the number 8 on it, although this also depends on the positioning of the number itself. Meanwhile, some business decided to use numbers in their names due to strategic purposes. You’ve definitely heard of 3M. Did you know that they initially started as “Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company”? You probably know why they’ve decided to shorten/simplify their business name……because their original name might be too complicated to remember! Other notable business names with numerals are 7-Eleven, 3, Forever 21, and many more. Note how these companies are thriving in their respective industries. Also note that your decision should be influenced by the area or industry your business is operating in. You’ve surely seen a lot of cafés or restaurants with numbers on their names, or in some cases, their name is made up of numbers only. For some reason, using numbers increases the appeal of a café/restaurant, and this has been the recipe for success for many of them. Eventually, it all depends on YOUR business strategies. If it is strategically wise to use numbers in your business name, then go ahead. Otherwise, don’t. While it is tempting to do so, we actually wouldn’t recommend it. Firstly, while it is remarkable that name generators run on smart algorithms with complex mechanisms, it should be remembered that they are simply machines. Unlike humans, they don’t have any emotions, and as a result, the names they generate tend to lack emotional appeal, which often results in marketing or competitive disadvantages. Also it should be noted that YOU are the mastermind behind YOUR business, and you definitely want your business to suit your preferences, ideas, and style. Using a name generator to generate your business name is similar to asking someone without any knowledge on your tastes and/or preferences to cook for you; You might hit a jackpot if the food prepared suits your appetite, but what are the odds? We do, however, recommend you using name generators for inspirations. This is because sometimes the algorithm is actually smart enough to generate ideas which might catch your interest. You could. Think about all the acronym business names you have encountered. How many of them are thriving? The answer should be a lot. This is because acronyms are extremely easy to remember and pronounce, and as previously discussed, these are the features you should be aiming when going for a business name. However, one common pitfall is going for acronyms that actually don’t mean anything. This should be avoided at all cost, as people may consider you lazy and pays no attention to your business and its operations whatsoever, which often spells trouble in a marketing and branding perspective. If you’ve decided to use acronyms for your business name, please ensure that it actually represents something; ideally what your business is about. Alternatively, you can contact us, and our friendly consultant will assist you.

Company123 provides a full-automated, quick, and cost-effective SMSF registrations. All you need to do is fill out our online form, which should only take you 5 minutes to complete, and upon submission and placing your order, you will receive all relevant trust documents, including a deed drafted by a qualified lawyer and accountant, in an instant. We also provide telephone ((03) 98320660) and email (support@company123.com.au) support should you have any questions or concerns. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE NOT ASIC NOR THE ATO; WE ARE SIMPLY AGENTS WHO REPRESENT OUR CLIENTS. Please visit here to initiate your SMSF application. You’re definitely aware of what a time capsule is. A time capsule, as per its online definition, is a “cache of goods or information stored for communication purposes with future people”. It is usually buried (or stored) in a specific location, and can only be accessed and opened sometime in the future (typically decades, or in some cases, centuries). Its function is, as mentioned, for the benefit of those from future generations. This is, in a nutshell, how SMSFs work, but instead of artifacts, it involves financial assets such as money and investment properties, which can be accessed upon your retirement. Unlike the retail or industry super funds you are required to contribute part of your wages to by your employer and government, you are actually saving for yourself, and can decide the type of investment(s) and insurance to go for, therefore “self-managing” it. Also note that an SMSF is actually a type of trust. However, what makes it “special” is that the members of an SMSF are usually also the trustees of the fund. As a result, members of the SMSF run it for their benefit and are responsible for investment decisions, super and tax laws, and so on. Should you require further advice on setting up an SMSF, please consult a financial adviser. We also provide consultation services, and you can book an appointment here. The main principle of running an SMSF is more or less the same as your typical industry or retail super funds: You are making contributions to save up for your retirement. You are not allowed to set up an SMSF for other reasons than financing your retirement, such as purchasing properties or getting early access to your super. There are different types and forms of contributions that can be administered into an SMSF: Investments (Money, Properties, Direct Equities and other assets), Insurance (Term life, income protection, etc.) and Retirement Income (Pension income stream and Lump sum withdrawals). Meanwhile, just like setting up a company/business, SMSFs are required to apply for a TFN and ABN. Administrative and accounting tasks will be conducted regularly to ensure that the SMSF is actually tax and law compliant, while confirming that member records are correct. An SMSF can have a maximum of six members/trustees. In most scenarios, members/trustees comprise of family members (spouse, children, etc.), as in most cases SMSFs are set up for the benefit of family members. Finally, before proceeding to set up an SMSF, please do some research and decide whether an SMSF is actually suitable for you. You may consider speaking to an accountant/financial adviser, or alternatively, you can book a consultation with us. Since SMSFs can be considered as long-term investments, it will involve heaps of administration, accounting, auditing, tax and legal advices (assuming they are required), just to name a few. These are costly activities and are definitely worth taking note of when deciding to run an SMSF. Be aware that SMSFs, like other investments in general, are taxable. It will be great if you have a concrete understanding of all the tax implications for your SMSF. Alternatively, seek advice from a tax professional or financial advisor to avoid any trouble. A Trustee of an SMSF can be an individual or a company (ie Corporate Trustee). You should decide on which type of trustee your SMSF will consist of. It is worth noting that a Company/Corporate Trustee is becoming the more popular option these days due to administrative benefits. As previously mentioned, different investment types can be contributed to an SMSF. Please ensure that your investment strategy aligns with your retirement goals and risk tolerance. In addition, as with all investment goals, remember to DIVERSIFY. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Remember to diversify to minimize risks while maximizing returns. Ensure that your SMSF is liquid enough to meet expenses, including tax liabilities and pension payments. On the other hand, while diversification is advisable, please avoid illiquid or high-risk assets for obvious reasons. Just like businesses/partnerships in general, SMSFs are prone to complaints/disputes amongst their members. To resolve this, alternative dispute resolution techniques must be taken. In more serious cases, the issue may be taken to court. However, since this will be considered an internal issue, all expenses will be incurred on the members of the SMSF. Unfortunately, no government financial assistance will be provided to SMSFs. Members may have legal options under Corporations Law but there is no guarantee that compensation will be awarded. All SMSFs must appoint an approved SMSF auditor to perform annual audits. The appointment must take place not later than 45 days before SMSF annual return lodgements. The auditor will examine the fund’s financial statements and assess your fund’s compliance with the super law. The SMSF auditor must be: An audit is required even if no contributions or payments are made in the financial year. Before an SMSF auditor can perform audits, a professional adviser must provide them with information on the fund’s accounts and transactions for the previous financial year. Any additional information requested by the SMSF auditor, must be provided within 14 days, in writing. The auditor should advise on any breaches of the rules. The trustee(s) of the SMSF should rectify any contravention as soon as possible. The auditor is also required to report certain contraventions to the ATO. Even if the auditor is terminated or does not finish the audit, if they have identified a reportable contravention, their obligation to report to the ATO remains. Just like Funds and Trusts in general, in simple terms, a Trustee is a party (individual or company) that is responsible for running a Trust/Fund for the sake of a third party. A Trustee is responsible for a number of tasks, such as: An SMSF provides you with more control over your retirement savings compared to traditional funds/trusts. You, as the Trustee, have the power to make investment decisions that align with your specific goals and risk tolerance. We have been discussing diversification quite a few times so far, but its actually worth reiterating again: With an SMSF, you can choose from a wide range of investments, including shares, property, bonds, and managed funds. This flexibility allows you to diversity your portfolio and potentially reduce risks. We can’t stress enough how important diversification is in SMSF, or Trusts/Funds in general. By having full control of your own SMSF, you can have a clearer picture of the costs associated with the fund, potentially leading to cost savings in the long run. And let’s not forget the main purpose of SMSFs……TO SAVE UP FOR YOUR RETIREMENT. How is an SMSF Taxed? A Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) is subject to various tax rules and regulations, and their tax treatment differs from other superannuation funds in several ways. In general, the tax payable by SMSFs are: SMSF contributions are generally taxed 15%. However, please note that contributions that exceed a certain amount or threshold will attract additional taxes. General threshold for 2024 financial year is 27,500 for concessional. contributions and $110,000 non-concessional contributions. A flat 15% tax rate is applicable for incomes generated from investments in SMSFs subject to 1.9m cap where tax rate may increase to 30%. Please note balance over $3m per member in a SMSF may carry additional tax burden. This includes dividends, interests, rental incomes, and capital gains. Meanwhile, capital gains from investments held for more than 12 months are discountable, thus reducing the tax rate. For more details, please book a consultation with us, and our Legal and/or Tax experts will help you out. Unlike Trust Deeds, which may attract Stamp Duties depending on which state the Trust is established, SMSFs are generally not Stamp Dutiable. However, do note that: Absolutely! This process, often referred to as “rollover”, is doable. However, please ensure that you and your SMSF complies with ALL ELIGIBILITY CRITERIAS. This includes regulatory requirements by the ATO, trusteeship and/or the directorship of the SMSF, and other applicable eligibility criteria. Again, please book a consultation with us should you require further assistance. Yes, there’s actually quite a few restrictions in terms of SMSF memberships, which involves: Just like Trusts in general, all members must be over 18 years old to be a member of an SMSF. In addition, members must ideally be under 65 years old to make contributions to SMSFs, unless they have met certain criteria to be able to contribute between ages of 65 and 74. An SMSF can strictly have 6 members maximum. This is enforced to ensure that SMSFs are “small” enough and are established primarily for family members and/or close associates. Although it is actually possible for non-residents to be SMSF members, there are several restrictions and reporting obligations that are applicable. Individuals who have been convicted of a crime and/or are undischarged bankrupts will be disqualified from being members of an SMSF. Yes, it can, provided certain conditions are met: Investors and business owners in Australia have several options when it comes to structuring their investments and assets. Family Trusts, SMSFs, and Proprietary Companies are three distinct vehicles, each with its own set of advantages and limitations. Understanding the differences and strengths of these structures is crucial for making informed financial decisions. + Generally favorable income tax rates. + Flexibility in terms of investment decisions. + Greater control on investments and investment decisions. - Very limited access to funds until members are close to retirement. - Some investment and borrowing restrictions. - Inability to use it for business operations, however commercial property may be rented to a member of a SMSF or related entity. + Flexibility in terms of income and capital (if any) allocations. + Ease of access to fund. + Ability to use it as an investment or a business entity. - Higher land tax rates in NSW, VIC & QLD. - Higher income tax rates. + Flat 28.5% tax rate on income retained in the company. - Not qualified for the general 50% CGT discount. Ultimately, the choice between Family Trusts, SMSFs, and Proprietary Companies should align with your specific financial objectives, risk tolerance, and the nature of your investments or business activities. Seeking professional advice is crucial to make the most informed decision that suits your needs. Company123 provides services for SMSF , proprietary company and Family Trust registrations. The popularity of SMSFs in Australia has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years due to its advantages and benefits. According to official statistics from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), there has been a consistent upward trend in SMSF registrations since June 2015. During this period, SMSF terminations and wind-ups have been on a steady decline. Despite a slight dip in SMSF registrations in 2019-2020, largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the upward trajectory resumed. As of mid-2022, approximately 30,000 new SMSF registrations were recorded, pushing the total number of SMSFs in Australia to an impressive 603,000. Additionally, there are over a million individuals and corporate entities registered as members of SMSFs, indicating the broad appeal and reach of these funds. We are more than confident that the number of SMSF registrations will keep rising constantly, considering the economic uncertainties along with how financially literate people are becoming these days. The regulatory environment for SMSFs in Australia is unique and differs significantly from retirement savings structures in many other countries. While some countries have retirement savings systems that share similarities with Australia's superannuation system, the specific regulations, structures, and tax treatments can vary widely. For comparison: - The United States has a 401(k) Plan, where every employees, just like in Australia, are required to contribute a section of their income to an investment account. However, employers actually have the option to contribute, either partially or fully. - Meanwhile, the UK offers pension plans to its citizens, and there are three distinct types: Defined Benefit (DB) Schemes = the amount to be contributed depends on your pay and years of service with the employer. Defined Contribution (DC) Schemes = Here, both the employee and the employer contribute to the savings account. - Canada has RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan), which is a tax-advantaged retirement savings account. - Pension is structured differently in the Netherlands; To receive 100% pension, you will have to work and live in the country for 50 years at least before reaching the eligible age, which will be 67 by 2024. Each country's retirement savings structure has its own unique features, including contribution rules, regulatory bodies, and tax treatments. While there may be some commonalities in the broad concept of retirement savings, the specific details and regulatory environments can vary significantly from one country to another. Therefore, it's crucial for individuals to understand the rules and implications of their own country's retirement savings system and seek professional advice when planning for retirement. As of July 2023: For more details, please visit the ATO. In conclusion, an SMSF is a powerful financial tool that empowers individuals in Australia to take control of their retirement savings. As we've explored, SMSFs offer a range of benefits, including greater control over investments, diversification opportunities, and a clearer picture of associated costs. These funds are designed with the primary purpose of providing for your retirement, and they come with responsibilities, including tax obligations and the appointment of an SMSF auditor. Should you have any further concerns or questions, feel free to contact us via email (support@company123.com.au) OR telephone ( (03) 9832 0660). DISCLAIMER. The above information is to be considered general in nature and doesn’t substitute financial advice which is recommended prior to opening a SMSF.

Here at Company123, Business Name Registrations are simplified. We are ASIC agents who lodge Business Name applications on clients’ behalf, where clients have the option to go for a 1 Year or a 3 Year Business Name Registration. We also offer Business Name Renewal services. To initiate your Business Name Registration process, please visit our online form. Food. Water. Those are two of human’s basic needs. Without sounding like your cliche elementary-grade teacher, we all know that we need food and water (or in this context, beverages) to survive. As a result, you can expect a stable (if not constantly rising) demand for both, considering how essential they are in our daily lives. As per various reports, Food & Beverage is the most rapidly growing industry globally. This is no surprise, and apart from what was mentioned earlier, the main factors contributing to this are: Perhaps the elephant in the room. Australia experiences an average of 1.3% population growth each year. The Australian population is projected to jump to 28 million by 2030. This is definitely a good news for those operating in Food & Beverage. From that finger-licking, mouth-watering Chicken Parma to that thirst-quenching Bubble Tea, you’ve definitely seen heaps of posts of foods and desserts on social media. The internet actually (and unsurprisingly) plays an important role in boosting sales in the Food & Beverage industry, considering how often everyone spends time on the internet. With the constant uprising of social media, it has never been this easy to sell your products, which is another reason to be optimistic. Somewhat related to the previous point, thanks to how savvy technologies are these days, food production, distribution and (again) sales are made simple. You can also expect more improvements due to Artificial Intelligence. Australia is one of the go-to countries for tourists. With the COVID-19 pandemic thankfully ended, more and more people are flocking into the country, and regardless of their purpose of traveling, one inevitable fact is that people will look for food (and drinks). Culinary tourism is also becoming a thing these days and is definitely something positive for the Australian Food & Beverage Industry. As per the Australian Government website, the Australian Food & Beverage industry is getting a boost with the release of the Food and Beverage National Manufacturing Priority road map, which is essentially a plan to pump up Food & Beverage-related activities, mainly manufacturing, over the next decade. The road map identifies a number of opportunities for future growth: - Smart food and beverage manufacturing for consumer-driven products. - Innovative foods and beverages; and. - Food safety, origin and traceability systems to enhance quality and assurance. For more information, please visit here. With the Food & Beverage industry becoming more lucrative than ever, you may be keen on starting your adventure by setting up your business. To initiate your Business Name Registration process, please visit our online form. We can safely assure you that the Food & Beverage Industry is going absolutely nowhere, unless in the distant future humans are able to survive without food and water, which sounds absolutely ridiculous! There are, however, a couple of tweaks, mainly in terms of trend, in the Food & Beverage Industry in the recent years: People nowadays are paying more attention to their health and well-being, especially after COVID-19. There are more demands for more nutritious and organic products which, thankfully, are easy to spot in your local markets. Meanwhile, “greener” (i.e. plant-based) products are also trending these days. This occurs as more are keen to switch to having plant-based diets, and partially due to the desire to purchase easy-to-prepare meals. AKA lab-grown meat. The first breakthrough was back in late 2022, where the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the green-light for the first ever sale of cultured meat. The motivation behind this is to decrease meat consumption, while eliminating both environmental and ethical impact of livestock farming. Well, not exactly something new. Considering the economic uncertainties these days, people are more inclined to prepare their own meals at home or opt for takeaways rather than dining in. This is, however, not an attack on all existing and aspiring proprietors. What we’re simply saying is that consumers are, if not already, becoming more cost-conscious, and price is becoming a more important factor. Not a surprise, to be fair. Aussies are known for their love of alcohol. It is a must-have before and after football games. As per latest reports, 67.6% of Australians consumes alcohol, which is a 1.3% rise from the pre-pandemic figure. And with Australia being one of the world’s major wine producers, this definitely spells good news for all bar tenants out there. Again, nothing new. One thing almost every single Australian can agree on is the fact that they need coffee before starting the day. Our love for coffee is so strong, as if our body runs on caffeine. Approximately 75% of Aussies drink at least a cup of coffee a day. Coffee is becoming a staple item these days. Gotta concentrate at work? Get coffee. Planning to meet up with your mates? Meet up at your local coffee shop. Pulling an all-nighter? Guess what, coffee! In addition, new coffee types and trends are also emerging. A good example is Bulletproof Coffee, which is claimed by many to support your digestive help, manage your blood sugar level, and helps in weight loss. There is no reason to not expect more coffee innovations, considering how creative and smart people are these days. Tempted to start your own Food & Beverage Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration. Supply Chain is and will definitely be one of the key challenges faced by every party involved in the Food & Beverage Industry. With the never-ending political tensions, extreme climate changes and economical instabilities, this challenge won’t go away anytime soon. These have resulted in delays in supplements of essential resources, and as a result, alternative recipes and other workarounds may be required to ensure continuous production. Technological advancement may actually come in handy in combatting this challenge. The good ol’ classic. As per the ABS, annual food inflation sits at 7.5% as we speak. The frontrunners are Dairy, Bread and Cereals, and NECs, with 15.2%, 11.2% and 11%, respectively. This comes to no surprise considering the demand and supply of the aforementioned. With this problem not going anywhere anytime soon, this is definitely something worth considering for all Food & Beverage vendors, who should be more cautious with their pricing and spending. Food & Beverage vendors are actually struggling in terms of hiring, despite the ongoing unemployment. As per the ABS, 51% of businesses are unable to find suitable staff to fill jobs. This doesn’t mean that the Hospitality workforce isn’t big enough, but there isn’t enough skilled labour in the industry. Perhaps this is why the Australian Government has opened up multiple pathways to attract international workers to fill up the shortages in the industry. There are obviously other steps that can be taken, such as the provision of more training/onboarding for new staff, or perhaps vendors can be more lenient in their hiring process, considering skill and experience take time to be honed. Putting aside the previous point regarding skilled human labour, there is actually a foreseeable resurgence, or perhaps threat (depending on how you see it), of digital and automation technologies. Vendors are starting to consider replacing human labour with machineries/equipment. Think about the last time you’ve seen robots serving food to customers in a restaurant or café. The answer is probably recently, or not long ago. While we are definitely still in the early stages, with more significant investment, as stated by the Australian Food and Grocery Council, is required to compete with the demand for imports, we can guarantee that more vendors will be looking more into this as means of creating efficiencies and cost-cutting. More of an ongoing, and not upcoming, challenge in the industry. Vendors must ensure effective quality controls, especially with climate changes and the resurgence of diseases we’ve been experiencing lately. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. You’ve definitely heard of this statement. While people often take this as a joke (thanks to those memes you see on the internet), this is actually true and applicable in this context. Technology is already well-integrated into our daily lives, becoming more and more inevitable. Vendors need to adopt a mindset of embracing it, rather than avoiding or fearing it. Strategies, such as staff training and integration of technology into their daily operations, can be implemented. Employees, meanwhile, shouldn’t see this as a threat to their jobs. Technologies are far from perfect, and humans are still needed to ensure effective operations. In fact, employees should look forward to this, as it will, in a way, make their jobs easier. Not only applicable to Food & Beverage vendors, but to every one of you out there. With the ongoing global economic uncertainty, effective financing, including cash and liquidity planning, should be considered to ensure long-term continuities. Somewhat related to the first point regarding technology. The Food & Beverage Industry is extremely volatile. Today consumers prefer spending on X, the next day might be something else. Vendors also need to remember that demand is highly influenced by seasons (therefore “seasonal demands”). This is why some businesses tend to do well in certain seasons, and less on others. We are, however, not suggesting vendors to completely restructure their businesses and services; simply understanding what is/are currently high in demand and ensuring different needs are catered for are essential to perform well. A good starting point is to look carefully at current trends, mainly in social media, to grasp a better understanding of consumers’ point-of-view. Can’t emphasize enough how critical branding is. Ask yourself: What is your brand? What does your business offer? What differentiates your brand from others? Why should consumers choose you over others? There are loads of questions to be asked, but you get the idea: It’s about the identity of your business. This is actually one of the reasons why some businesses fail. They are unable to establish a business identity, and correspondingly, failed to gain competitive advantages in the market. Consumers have heaps of concerns, such as quality, sustainability, and ethics, and placing a strong emphasis on branding adds value to your business. Doing so shows that you actually care about your customers, and not only about their money. This includes collecting customer details for marketing, loyalty programmes, promotions and offers, and many more. Perhaps you should consider investing in CRM systems available out there. Tempted to start your own Food & Beverage Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration. It’s simply referring to foods that are processed in an environmentally friendly way whilst trying not to waste any natural resources. Ideally, the quality (or taste) of the food itself shouldn’t be compromised. The formal definition of Sustainability itself is “avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”. To put in simpler term, it simply translates to certain practices which ensure conservation and protection of natural resources, or environment, in general. Fortunately, Australians are getting more conscious regarding this matter, and are practicing the following sustainable food practices: This technique refers to utilizing every (or almost all) edible parts of an animal when preparing food with the aim of, you guessed it, reducing wastes. This isn’t actually something new in the culinary world; perhaps you’ll associate Chinese dishes when talking about this technique. Despite the skepticism surrounding, food vendors are actually more than willing to integrate this so-called strategy into their food preparation process. In addition, there are tons of health benefits associated with the consumption of, say intestines or even brains. They are rich sources of animal protein, multiple vitamins, zinc, iron, and even omega-3. Nothing new, to be honest. This includes using biodegradable containers for takeaways, recycling materials, and ensuring that there is absolutely no food wasted on premises. Perhaps you can name plenty of examples who adopts the aforementioned practices? This involves vendors directly getting ingredients from local farmers or their own farms. Doing so not only reduces carbon emissions (since less, or even no transportation will be required to deliver ingredients from long distances), but also ensures that ingredients are fresh and delicious. This is perhaps more common in the coffee industry, where some cafés actually produce coffee beans on their own farms for coffee production. Some even went further and supplied beans to other local vendors. To further promote sustainable practices, the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC) provides some support to local vendors. AFGC takes the lead in identifying model sustainability practices and fostering wider industry adoption of these practices. We work with members to reduce the food and grocery manufacturing sector’s environmental footprint by fostering collaboration throughout the value chain, identifying best-practice and highlighting industry successes and opportunities. AFGC represents members at the local, state and commonwealth levels, in the areas of strategy and policy development, driving sustainable outcomes. There are a number of active working groups in the packaging and food waste space, which the AFGC participates in on behalf of members. This keeps government informed of member activity and requirements. For further information, please visit here. Tempted to start your own Food & Beverage Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration. This question has been asked by tons of people, even Australians themselves. Based on a nationwide survey conducted by Continental in 2019, roast lamb was named as the dish which most closely represents “Australia’s National Dish”. Other dishes that followed were fish ‘n’ chips, meat pies, barbeque prawns, and kangaroos (yes). However, you may argue that these aforementioned dishes (apart from kangaroos perhaps) didn’t originate from Australia, and we can’t blame you. In fact, it’s harder to tell considering how diverse the Australian food market is. Ranging from Asian to Mediterranean, you can find numerous cuisines in Australia. Try this: pick any busy district or street in your locality and try strolling straight for 5 minutes. We can guarantee you that you’ll find at least 5 different cuisines. As a result, we can consider migrants as an important factor in the Australian food heritage. Food, or cuisine in general, tends to expose its consumers to the traditions and customs of where it originates from, and therefore people often use the term “Traveling through food”. There will be less desire to travel; instead, people will be queueing up at their local brunch spots to “travel”. Doing so indirectly improves cultural awareness of certain roots, which is definitely great! For some reason, Indigenous cuisine is often overlooked when talking about Australian Cuisine. In fact, Indigenous cuisine can be considered as the fundamental block of Australian’s culture. Late chef Jock Zonfrillo caused controversy when presenting native Australian ingredients in 2019’s edition of Masterchef as part of the so-called “Mystery Box” Challenge. He also founded The Orana Foundation, aimed to preserve historical cooking techniques and ingredients of Indigenous Australians. Another great example is Bundjalung chef Mark Olive, who has been “fighting to embrace Indigenous Cuisine for the past 40 years”, and was also the first Aboriginal chef to bring native cooking to ABC television in the 90s. Without getting too political, it will definitely be great if more people decide to follow the footsteps of the aforementioned greats, and perhaps one day Indigenous cuisine can be well-integrated in the current Australian food industry. Despite the COVID pandemic coming to an end, the number of food delivery service users are still on the rise. As per Statista, as of May 2023, an average Australian household spends $60 a day on Food Deliveries, with Doordash being the major player/contributor in the industry, followed by Uber Eats and Menulog, respectively. There are heaps of reasons why consumers prefer food deliveries over dining out, but the top two are: With a couple of clicks and taps, you can literally get any food or beverages you want delivered to you. Again, you can literally access any food, anywhere, anytime. As a result, vendors will have to reshape their business operations (and luckily lots have done so) to integrate food delivery services into their daily operations. Some vendors actually ended up relocating their premise(s) to accommodate this trend. Meanwhile, there has been a rise of “Pre-Order” food vendors where, instead of establishing an actual premise, vendors operate at home, and prepare orders at home before being delivered to/picked up by customers. Similarly, the trend of “dark kitchens”, aka vendors that make use of a kitchen facility for business purposes, instead of a traditional restaurant setting, has been gaining popularity these days. When being integrated correctly, food delivery services can improve customer loyalty, pump up profits, reach a wider range of potential customers, and overall improve customer satisfaction. Tempted to start your own Food & Beverage Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration.

At Company123, Registrations are simplified. We are Victoria-based ASIC agents who lodge Business Name and Company registrations on clients’ behalf. We also offer Business Name Renewal services. To initiate your Business Name Registration process, please visit our online form. Meanwhile, please visit here to register your company. Not-For-Profit Organizations are organizations that operates without the objectives of generating profits, personal gains nor other benefits of the individual(s) running it. An example of this is ShareTheMeal, a fundraising company backed by the United Nations (UN) which provides platforms for users to make small donations to specific WFP projects and to track its progress. There are two broad categories under Not-For-Profit Organizations (in Australia, at least), consisting of: - Charity (the most common category) - Non-Charity (e.g. Sporting and Recreational Clubs, Community Service Organisations) Not-For-Profit Organizations in Australia are governed by the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC), and all Not-For-Profit Organizations should observe all regulations and laws outlined by the ACNC. Please visit ACNC for further details. It is, however, important to note that, unlike a typical Private Limited Company or Partnership, different procedures and structures are applicable for not-for-profit organizations in Australia, all of which will be discussed in depth here. Should you be interested in setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization with Company123, please contact us at (03) 9832 0660 or support@company123.com.au to discuss further. Perhaps you’re wondering: what's the point of setting up an organization if it won’t generate any profits? It is essential to understand that Not-For-Profit Organizations, paradoxically, actually make profits. Despite its nature, they are still organizations after all, and can (or should we say must) employ people and pay them. The generic ways profits are generated are through membership fees, selling or leasing properties, investing in shares and receiving dividends, or receiving grants or other payment schemes from the government (the latter is usually applicable for "larger" Not-For-Profit Organizations). However, the profits generated will not be kept by those running the organization; while profits will be used to ensure the longevity of the organization, they will also be allocated to support the purpose of the establishment of the organization itself. Now, going back to the first question, there are a handful of reasons why you should set up Not-For-Profit Organizations: You’ve definitely seen those celebrities making generous donations to support certain causes. Some even went to greater lengths by setting up their own foundations and charities. One major advantage of doing so is to boost your public image. Setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization improves your (or your company’s) credibility, goodwill, trustworthiness, and impact, and these generally help you gain competitive advantage in the industry. You will also indirectly broadcast a message saying that you are different from those typical businesses driven by the desire to generate profits only and that you actually care about certain causes and the overall well-being of society. Yep, you heard that right. As per the ATO, you may be eligible for a fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption or rebate if your Not-For-Profit organization provides fringe benefits to its employees (or their associates). FBT concessions for Not-For-Profit Organizations apply as follows: - FBT-exempt organizations (exemption up to a capping threshold) o Public benevolent institutions ( a type of charity) and health promotion charities registered by the Australian         Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and endorsed by the ATO. o Public and not-for-profit hospitals. o Public ambulance services. - FBT rebatable employers – certain non-government not-for-profit organisations eligible for an FBT rebate of 47% of the gross FBT payable (up to a capping threshold) - Religious institutions – exemptions for benefits for religious practitioners, live-in carers and domestic employees. - Non-profit companies that provide care for elderly or disadvantaged people – exemptions for live-in carers. As well as these concessions specific to not-for-profit organisations, there are exemptions and concessions that apply more broadly (such as exemptions for work-related items and minor benefits). These exemptions and concessions also apply to the not-for-profit sector. For further details, please visit here. Should you have further tax or legal questions, please book a consultation with us. As discussed in the first point, setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization shows that you are supporting the development of certain causes and/or societies. One benefit of doing so is to improve your/your company’s goodwill, which is defined as the value (intangible) of a company obtained from its brand, reputation, and customer base. Imagine a scenario where you’ve decided to set up a Not-For-Profit organization under your company, and loads of people are actually part of that organization. Wouldn’t it make your company more attractive and lucrative in the eyes of potential investors? Wouldn't it be easier to generate more revenue, both for your company and the Not-For-Profit Organization? The answer is yes! An important aspect which is, unfortunately, often overlooked when setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization. Perhaps you’re a religious person who simply wants to set up places of worship for your fellow worshippers or is aspiring to make the world a better place. By setting up a Not-For-Profit organization, you are actually taking a huge leap to achieve your personal aspirations! Should you be interested in setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization with Company123, please contact us at (03) 9832 0660 or support@company123.com.au to discuss further. Before actually diving straight into registering your Not-For-Profit Organization, some key aspects should be considered: The key component. Do us a favour: grab a pen and a piece of paper, and write down, in detail, what you are trying to achieve when setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization. Not only this is a mandatory step when generating all the necessary paperwork to register your organization, but doing so will give you a clear direction on where your organization is heading and what should be done to ensure those purposes will be achieved in the future. Also known as the set of rules and regulations that should be observed by everyone involved in your organization operations. This document is a legal requirement to set up a Not-For-Profit Organization. In addition, please ensure that your constitution complies with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commissions (ACNC) Governance Standards. Please contact us at (03) 9832 0660 or support@company123.com.au to discuss further. We can provide you with a legal expert who can assist you with Constitutions. Just like an ordinary organization or company, Not-For-Profit Organizations will need to register for ABN and GST. However, this is only mandatory if the annual turnover of the organization exceeds $150,000. Please contact us at (03) 9832 0660 or support@company123.com.au to discuss further. Not-For-Profit organizations will need to have a clear structure to ensure effective operations. Members and board of directors/management committee will be required. A membership base will also be needed to keep the organization running. Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, there are two distinct legal structures for Not-For-Profit Organizations: Charity and Non-Charity. Please ensure that you have correctly registered your Not-For-Profit Organization under the appropriate legal structures to avoid any legal issues. If you have registered a Not-For-Profit Organization as a charity, you’ll have to register it with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commissions (ACNC), and may need to perform additional reporting to comply with their obligations. Please proceed to ACNC for further details. Despite its nature, you’ll need to work out on how to raise funds for your Not-For-Profit Organization to keep it running. Generic ways include membership fees, donations, or obtaining grants. However, there are different regulations governing different states for fundraising activities. Please seek legal advice to ensure compliance with the existing regulations. Before diving into the legal aspects to kick-off your registration, let’s briefly touch on the non-legal requirements: Now, going to the legal side: Notice how many times we’ve mentioned Constitution in this blog post (and you're probably bored of it by now)? Shows how important it is, not only for Not-For-Profits, but for every organization in general. A company constitution is a legally binding agreement between your company and its internal members that defines rules related to corporate governance, business activities, and rights and obligations of its internal members. Please ensure that your constitution complies with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commissions (ACNC) Governance Standards. Due to its relatively complex nature, it is advisable to seek legal help to establish your Constitution. Alternatively, we can provide you with a legal expert who can assist you with Constitutions. Please contact us at (03) 9832 0660 or support@company123.com.au to discuss further. Once you’ve got your hands on a Constitution, you’ll then need to proceed to ASIC to register your Not-For-Profit Organization. Your Not-For-Profit Organization will be registered as a Public Company Limited by Guarantee. A Private Company can be set up with just a single member, and once a Private Company is set up, operations can kick-off straight away. A Public Company, on the other hand, will undergo a somewhat more intensive procedure when setting it up. While at least two members will be required, it will need to wait for necessary certifications to arrive from Companies House before it can jump into business. The term “Limited by Guarantee” simply means that the member(s) of the Public Company will be provided with financial protection. As a result, member(s) have limited personal liability for the debts of the enterprise. Since Not-For-Profits Organizations will not generate any profits to its member(s), all profits generated can only be used to fund the organization’s operations set out in the Constitution. Simultaneously, when a Not-For-Profit Organization is wound up, its assets must not be distributed to its member(s). Instead, the aforementioned assets must be provided to an entity with the same or similar objectives of the organization. Upon completion of the previous steps, you will then have to register your Not-For-Profit Organization with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC). As its name suggests, the ACNC is the governing authority for charities and Not-For-Profit organizations within Australia. All Not-For-Profit Organizations will have to comply with all existing ACNC regulations. Please visit ACNC for further details. Note: The ACNC does not regulate fundraising; Fundraising is regulated by different bodies across different states. Please ensure that your Not-For-Profit Organizations comply with the state’s fundraising regulations. Last but not least, you will need to register your Not-For-Profit Organization for Deductible Gift Recipient. What is Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR)? It is a status that allows everyone who makes donations to the organization to claim their donations as tax reductions. For your Not-For-Profit Organization to have a “Deductible Gift Recipient” status, you must: o Fit within one of the categories set out in subdivision 30-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997; and. o Meet other requirements. For further details, please visit ATO. Meanwhile, please visit here for a more detailed explanation on the steps to register a Not-For-Profit Organization. Disclaimer: The aforementioned are the steps we at Company123 (and most company/business registration agencies) will have to undergo to set up a Not-For-Profit Organization. Since these steps are mandatory, there will be no way to skip nor fast-track the process. Should you be interested in setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization with Company123, please contact us at (03) 9832 0660 or support@company123.com.au to discuss further. Please visit Sustainability Victoria to read more on their agenda. Recently in June 2023, Sustainability Victoria announced a $4.5m funding through the Circular Economy Infrastructure Fund (CEIF) Hazardous Waste stream to increase the recovery and local reprocessing of hazardous waste and reduce the amount and impact of waste going to landfill. Funding was made with the aim of supporting industry and local government infrastructure projects focused on safe management and high value recovery of low-level contaminated soils, Reportable Priority Wastes (RPW) and specified priority wastes. For further details, please visit here. Please visit here to access the full story. At this point, you should be able to see and understand why people set up Not-For-Profit Organizations, mainly due to its benefits. While the “benefits” are non-monetary, the fact that Not-For-Profit Organizations were generally established to improve living conditions should further convince you. And, as proven by Sustainability Victoria’s case, from an employee’s point of view, working for a Not-For-Profit Organization is, in fact, no different from working for a “normal” corporation. It may actually be even better, considering the causes you are working on achieving. It must be remembered, however, that there will be certain requirements and procedures that differentiate the process of setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization from a generic organization/company. We strongly encourage you to think and revise thoroughly, and if necessary, seek legal advice. We are, unfortunately, living in a non-idealistic world. The world is always evolving. Everything these days seems unpredictable and somewhat unstable. As a result, more and more problems are arising, most of which can be solved should more people provide more helping hands. By establishing a Not-For-Profit Organization, you are taking the first, essential step to empowering society, and while it is a far stretch, with consistent contributions, you will definitely achieve your goals in the future, if not the near future. Should you be interested in setting up a Not-For-Profit Organization with Company123, please contact us at (03) 9832 0660 or support@company123.com.au to discuss further.

At Company123, Business Name Registrations are simplified. We are ASIC agents who lodge Business Name applications on clients’ behalf, where clients have the option to go for a 1 Year or a 3 Year Business Name Registration. We also offer Business Name Renewal services. To initiate your Business Name Registration process, please visit our online form. Flowers are arguably one of God’s most vivid creations for mankind. Flowers symbolize warmth, growth, and happiness, which is why they are used in parties or celebrations. Some even collect flowers simply to enjoy their scent and aesthetic (trust me, I have a friend who is a so-called flower “enthusiast”; her house is full of it!). It is, therefore, not surprising why the demand for flowers are somewhat stable, making the florist industry one of the most lucrative, and creative, industries in Australia. Believe it or not, flowers bring some positive psychological impacts: Perhaps you’ve noticed that the moment you’ve received a bouquet from someone, or vice versa, your mood automatically lightens up. This is also applicable when you are simply looking at flowers from afar. These happen as flowers, as per various research conducted, are a natural and healthful moderator of moods. Flowers are scientifically proven to have an instant effect on happiness, bring long-term positive effect on moods, and helps in establishing intimate, genuine relationships among friends and relatives. Thus, if you ever need a mood booster, flowers may be the solution ?? As previously mentioned, flowers are mood boosters. This correspondingly stimulates the brain, enhancing our creativity. This is especially true for warm-coloured flowers like roses and sunflowers. Perhaps this is why most artists tend to spend time on the park or outdoor areas to “look for inspiration”, since you can spot loads of flowers! Smelling and, believe it or not, simply touching flowers, helps reduce cortisol levels in the body, which corresponds to lowering stress and anxiety levels, making us feel calmer and more relaxed. Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! Australia is a Flora-rich nation. There are approximately 24,000 flora species in Australia. Eucalyptus is arguably the most popular Australian plant, as it is often used to produce fresheners, sprays, sweets and many more. In fact, Eucalyptus is branded as THE Australian plant, which isn’t a surprise considering its contribution to the Australian agro industry. As a result, the Australian Floriculture Industry is deemed to be lucrative yet underrated by many. Over the past five years, the Australian flower industry has been experiencing an annual growth of 3.4% in revenue. By the end of 2023 alone, it is expected to grow by another 1.6%. This may come as a surprise for many, considering the uncertainties we’ve been experiencing for the past couple of years. Well, perhaps there’s a simple explanation for this. Buying flowers, as we all know, is a tradition in most, if not all cultures. This tradition stems from ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Chinese civilizations approximately 200,000 years ago! Since traditions won’t, hopefully, go away, you can expect stable, growing demands for flowers. One of the key contributors to the blooming (no puns intended :D) Australian Flower industry is exports. Australia has been a major flower exporter since the late 1980s. Apart from Eucalyptus, Australia’s exports mainly consists of Charmelaucium (Waxflower), Kangaroo Paw, Banksia and Protea (Sugarbushes). As per latest reports, exports contributed to approximately AU$8.4 million worth of revenue. Australia’s main export markets are Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, US, Japan, Canada, and Europe, with Japan leading the line with 31% of total sales in as of 2022. In addition, local wildflower growers rely on the export market for a large portion of their income to avoid oversupply. The Australian Floriculture industry is currently a host to 2,530 employees, and constantly growing. Lynch, Grandiflora and Wafex Pty Ltd are the Top Three players in the industry, based on revenue generated. As per latest reports, Western Australia is the major producer and exporter of floriculture, contributing to AU$3.3m of total exports by 2021. Western Australia is well-known to be the major agriculture, floriculture and horticulture hotspot, producing world-class, high-quality, and safe produces on a regular basis, thanks to its tropical climate, rich fertile soils and abundantly available water. Queensland is next with AU$2.8m, followed by Victoria and New South Wales with AU$1.6m and AU$0.2m, respectively. On the flipside, New South Wales is the major importer of floricultures, spending AU$35.5m on it, followed by Victoria (AU$26.1m), Western Australia (AU$20.6m), Queensland (AU$8.9m) and South Australia (AU$4.2m). Disclaimer: Figures were obtained from Agriculture Victoria, which was released in Jan 2023 Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! As of 2023, the Australian Floriculture Market Size is valued at US$2.59bn (think about it!). The figure is expected to climb to US$3.17bn by 2028. Over the past 10 years, there has been an expansion of the native flower industry, with the entry of large numbers of new growers. This phenomenon has occurred due to the development of crop-based and locally-based grower networks and stronger collaboration between the research and development institutions and industry. Growing consumer demand and the market’s high export potential are the key factors supporting market growth. There are quite a few major influencers in the current Australian Floriculture Market Trends: Cut flowers, as its name suggests, are flowers and flower buds that have been cut from the plant bearing them. Cut flowers are often used for decorations while being an important part of celebrations. Thus, demand is high. In 2021, the production value of cut flowers in Australia amounted to over AU$277m, and is expected to keep increasing. With the dynamic floriculture market in Australia, along with everlasting demand both domestically and internationally, the future of Australia’s Cut Flower, or Floriculture Industry in general, is bright! Nursery stocks are all trees, shrubs, ornamental plants, grass sod, foliage plants, or marsh plants grown or propagated for sale or distribution. Based on recent figures, there are 1650 nursery businesses in Australia, employing up to 23,300 people. Total sales of Nursery stocks nearly exceeded 90,000 units, while production of nursery stocks has been on the rise in recent years. This will definitely be something worth considering for all florists/aspiring florists out there. Australia, as we all know, has a thriving tourism industry. With visitors constantly purchasing flowers as souvenirs or for personal use, the floriculture market is, and will be further stimulated. Urban Gardening is the practice of growing plants, fruits, and vegetables in urban areas. Perhaps the most popular form of Urban Gardening is Rooftop Gardening. As people these days are looking for means to live a more sustainable lifestyle, and thanks to the dreadful COVID-19 lockdowns, more and more are interested in Urban Gardening, which spells good news to the Floriculture Industry. Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! Extreme weather conditions, such as droughts, heatwaves, and bushfires, can pose challenges to cultivation, plausibly affecting the overall supply chain. The uncertainties revolving around climate these days have not been helpful either. Not exclusively a challenge for the Australian Floriculture Industry, to be fair. With increasing energy, labour and many other costs associated to production, revenues generated will be affected. While many Australians (thankfully) prefer local produce, some actually prefer imports. In some cases, imports may offer a more cost-effective option. For instance, the Netherlands is the world’s largest flower exporter. The Netherlands is globally recognized for its iconic, vibrant flowers (e.g. Tulips). Apart from its appeal, flowers have been a significant part of the Dutch cultural heritage and economy. The Dutch flower industry is dynamic and rapidly growing. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the Netherlands makes up 52% of the global flower export market. We are, however, by no means suggesting that Australia has no chance against the Dutch; in fact, the Dutch themselves have been experiencing the same issues we have covered. Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! Now, moving on to the sweeter side of the story :D. The rising popularity of E-commerce (or online shopping) should be embraced by the Australian Floriculture Industry. Florists can utilize e-commerce platforms to reach wider customer base and expand their sales channels. As previously mentioned, Australia is one of the world’s main tourist hotspots. One of the reasons for this is Australia’s rich, unique floriculture landscape. Promotions of floriculture tourism, including flower festivals, garden tours, and floriculture-themed events, can help the floriculture industry thrive. One good example of this is the Tesselaar Tulip Festival, running from late September to early October in Victoria annually. Without having to spend much, tourists are allowed to roam around the mainly tulip-occupied farm, equipped with food and beverages stalls (don’t worry, you will have no issues finding some snacks ??) and a few other attractions. I have personally been there twice, and really enjoyed it. Please visit here for further details on the festival. The growing consumer preference for sustainable and environmentally-friendly products present opportunities for floriculture vendors to adopt eco-friendly cultivation practices, such as organic farming and water-efficient irrigation systems. Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! The Australian Floriculture Industry can be segmented in a few ways: Arguably the largest contributor in terms of sales under this segment. As discussed, cut flowers are flowers that were cut from the plant bearing them, for aesthetic reasons. Due to its appeal, Cut Flowers are often used to commemorate certain events, show appreciation or condolences, or simply as a hobby. The scale of both local and global markets for cut flowers is large and increasing at a steady rate. Also known as “houseplants”. They are plants grown indoors and potted (duh) and are often found in places like residences and offices, mainly for decorations. The demand for Potted Plants has somewhat boomed due to COVID-19. Due to outdoor restrictions, people started getting creative and decide to invest on improving their personal space, thus shifting towards indoor plants. However, high maintenance, regular care and issues associated with mold and bacteria growth need to be considered when going for Potted Plants. Foliage plants are primarily grown for their attractive leaves, rather than their flowers. Examples are alocasias, succulents and begonias. Albeit being the less popular product of the bunch, it is still worth considering and exploring due to its potentials. You can always spot flowers in your local supermarkets and/or hypermarkets. Since Super/Hypermarkets have wide access to various demographics, this is perhaps the safest choice for local florists to market their products. However, people tend to opt for florists when buying flowers. The typical go-to for flowers (or plants in general). Florists are well-known for selling unique, fresh plants to tailor unique customer demands. Think of florists as the “boutique” for flowers/plants: fresh and personalized products, extra services such as delivery and preordering, you name it. And these are actually the reasons why go to florists. Not much difference with Florists, to be fair. Since COVID, the number of online vendors has been on the rise. Its service provides convenience whilst enabling vendors to reach a wider range of audiences or prospective customers. Considering the technological advancements these days, you can expect this segment to grow further. Be it to decorate their rooms, workplaces, or even bathrooms (trust me, seen this before), some people purchase flowers for personal decorations. Flowers (and some plants) are often used to commemorate certain events. Again, some grow flowers for commercial purposes; mainly to export/sell them to other end-users. Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! Sounds odd, but it’s true. Instead of sticking to the old, traditional way of growing plants/flowers on horizontal fields, some are beginning to grow them vertically. To give you a rough idea, imagine walking in a library or a bookstore, but instead of seeing books stacking, you see plants/flowers instead! There are three approaches to Vertical Farming: Plants are fed in a growth medium soaked in water containing nutrients. Plants are suspended and nutrients are delivered to roots in a mist, sprayed at intervals, controlled by sensors. Involves fish creating nutrient-rich water to feed plants, which is then cycled back to fish via sump tank(s). Vertical farming has been a thing since 2010 in the US to tackle produce supply challenges. The main objective of Vertical Farming is to optimize space utilization and improve crop yield. However, some actually believe that Vertical Farming isn’t that optimal in terms of energy usage. In addition, due to having plenty of spaces, low population density, fairly stable climate and significant expanses of agricultural land, it seems like there aren’t any pressures for Australians to integrate this technique, for now at least. Due to the growing demand for eco-friendly products, the floriculture industry is exploring sustainable packaging options. This includes the use of biodegradable materials, recyclable pots, and reduced plastic waste. Thanks to technological and scientific breakthroughs, new, hybrid flower and plant varieties are continuously developing. Some recent breakthroughs are flowers and plants with extended vase life, more vibrant/vivid colours, and disease resistance. This is mainly done to satisfy ever-growing customer preferences and demands. Expect to see more in the near future! Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! The Australian Floriculture Industry has long been a colourful and vibrant sector, contributing significantly to the country's economy. There are, however, several factors which will be shape the future of this industry: One of the most prominent trends that will define the future of Australian floriculture is the increasing emphasis on sustainability and eco-conscious practices. With consumers becoming more environmentally aware, there is a growing demand for locally sourced, organic, and sustainably produced flowers. More innovative practices, such as water-efficient cultivation methods and reduced chemical usage, are expected to be adopted by more, aligning with global efforts to promote a greener and more sustainable industry. The adoption of technology is expected to play a pivotal role in the evolution of the floriculture market. Precision agriculture, smart irrigation systems, and automated harvesting techniques are likely to enhance productivity and reduce operational costs. Additionally, online platforms and e-commerce will continue to gain traction, providing florists and growers with new avenues to reach consumers directly, creating a more efficient and streamlined supply chain. As demographics and lifestyles evolve, so do consumer preferences in the floral market. Younger generations, in particular, are showing an interest in unique and exotic blooms. Native Australian flowers are likely to gain popularity, not only for their aesthetic appeal but also for their cultural significance. Florists who can cater to these changing tastes stand to gain a competitive edge in the market. Climate change poses a significant challenge to the floriculture industry, impacting growing conditions and seasonal patterns. Growers will need to invest in technologies and practices that enhance climate resilience, such as greenhouse cultivation and the development of heat-tolerant flower varieties. Government initiatives and industry collaborations will be crucial in developing strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change on the industry. The Australian floriculture industry has the potential to expand its presence in the global market. With the rise of international trade and increased connectivity, there are opportunities to export Australian flowers to new markets. However, this expansion will require a focus on quality control, compliance with international standards, and strategic marketing to differentiate Australian flowers in the global marketplace. The Australian Floriculture Industry stands at the cusp of transformative changes, where adaptability and innovation will be the keys to success. As the industry responds to evolving consumer preferences, it has the opportunity to not only meet but exceed expectations. The emphasis on sustainability and eco-conscious practices not only aligns with global trends but also positions Australian floriculture as a responsible and forward-thinking contributor to the nation's agricultural landscape. The integration of technology is not merely a convenience but a necessity for the industry's long-term viability. Precision agriculture and smart technologies will empower growers to optimize resource utilization, increase yield, and reduce environmental impact. Simultaneously, the digitalization of the market through online platforms opens up new avenues for direct consumer engagement, providing florists and growers with unprecedented opportunities to showcase their products and build brand loyalty. Navigating the challenges presented by climate change requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders. Investing in climate-resilient practices and fostering research and development initiatives will be imperative. The industry's ability to proactively address these challenges will determine its resilience in the face of an increasingly unpredictable climate. Furthermore, as the industry contemplates global market expansion, strategic planning and collaboration become paramount. The unique array of native Australian flowers presents a distinctive market proposition that, if properly marketed, can captivate international consumers. However, success on the global stage hinges on stringent quality control measures, adherence to international standards, and an effective marketing strategy that leverages Australia's floral diversity as a selling point. In essence, the future of the Australian Floriculture Industry is a mosaic of possibilities. By embracing change, harnessing technological advancements, and staying attuned to consumer dynamics, the industry can not only withstand the challenges it faces but also emerge as a leader in sustainable and sought-after floral products. As growers, florists, and policymakers work in tandem, the Australian floriculture sector is poised to blossom into a resilient, innovative, and globally competitive industry that contributes not only to the nation's economy but also to the global floral marketplace. Tempted to start your own Florist Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration!

At Company123, Business Name Registrations are simplified. We are ASIC agents who lodge Business Name applications on clients’ behalf, where clients have the option to go for a 1 Year or a 3 Year Business Name Registration. We also offer Business Name Renewal services. To initiate your Business Name Registration process, please visit our online form! Coffee is definitely a staple for most Australians. Be it the mornings before work, catching up with old mates, or simply to satisfy your cravings, coffee can be considered essential. Australia is arguably one of the best nations in terms of coffee-making, even better than the USA (no offence, Americans :D). As per recent statistics, three in four Australians drink at least a cup of coffee daily, and around a third of those have three or more cups a day! Coffee has also made significant contribution to the Australian economy. The Coffee Industry is projected to bring AU$3.9bn worth of revenue by the end of 2023, which is a 3.4% jump from 2022, and there are more than 14,000 premises selling Coffee nationwide. In terms of employment, the Coffee Industry currently has 68,780 people employed, with approximately 40,000 of them being Coffee makers (i.e. “Baristas”). I personally find Barista/Coffee-making a “sexy” job, and was initially interested in being one, but after heaps of rejections, finally realized that the job isn’t for me, unfortunately ??. Going back to the topic, with Australia’s deep-rooted coffee culture, along with Australians' love for coffee, the Australian Coffee Industry is expected to thrive more. Tempted to start your own Coffee Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! To touch on the origins of Australian Coffee Culture, or Industry, we have to go all the way back to the late 1940s. Due to World War 2, Australia experienced a rise of Italian migrants, who introduced Australians to coffee machines. To be precise, it was Milanese Coffee maker Achille Gaggia’s espresso machine that started it all. As a result, Italian Coffee houses (or cafes) made their debut in Melbourne and Sydney, with the former often being dubbed as the “World’s Coffee Capital”. Despite Italian migrants being the main market, these coffee houses also attracted plenty of Australians, and in spite of their strong current of anti-migrant sentiment, actually embraced this new, unique culture. This decade also witnessed the establishment of Vittoria (yes, that brand you often see at your local supermarkets), which to date is one of Australia’s most iconic coffee brands. However, due to the World War, many found coffee expensive, being 10 times costlier than tea at one point. In addition, since the industry is relatively new, it was relatively inaccessible for many. In the 1970s, more coffee premises began surfacing, mainly the likes of The Coffee Club and Gloria Jean’s Coffee, making coffee more accessible to Australians. In addition, stronger, black coffee was gaining popularity, considering this is how Italians prefer their coffee. By the 90s and early 2000s, there was a shift towards specialty coffee in Australia, and more independently-owned cafes were established, with Fitzroy (Victoria) and Albury (New South Wales) being the two major hotspots. And, believe it or not, people have more access to more quality coffee, as careful details to coffee bean selection and coffee brewing is ensured consistently. Vendors also start paying attention to design; cups made by local ceramicists were used, coffee shops were designed in a more attractive manner, and these are the foundations of what we often call “Instagrammable” (ie photo-worthy) cafes. Some even claimed that these speciality coffees are way better than coffees from the US, and even Italy. As of now, Australia is thriving in the global coffee industry. Tons of Australian-owned cafes can be found in many major cities like New York, Paris and London, and Australian Baristas are sought after in the global market. One of the major contributors to this is the fact that Australian coffee utilizes different brewing techniques, where roasts are much smoother, lighter, and more caramelized, compared to, say the US, where coffee is generally darker and bitter. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise you that you can spot Flat White on the menu on most cafes you’ve ever visited! Tempted to start your own Coffee Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! I’m sure we can agree that Australians LOVE coffee. Be it during office hours, catching up with some old mates, or simply to kick-start the day in the morning, a cup of coffee (or even more) is simply what we need. As per Jura Australia: Tempted to start your own Coffee Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! As per most recent reports, the vast bulk of the coffee beans ultimately consumed by Australians are imported, amounting to AU$900 million in 2021. This includes raw coffee beans, roasted coffee beans, instant coffee, and other preparations containing coffee, contributing to 50.9%, 25.1%, 20.4%, and 3.6%, respectively. Australia imports coffee from 52 different countries, with American countries such as Brazil and Colombia being the major sources of raw coffee imports, while European countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands are the main sources of roasted and instant coffee. As of today, Australia ranked sixth in terms of total coffee imports with 2%. On the flipside, only 1% of coffee consumed by Australians are locally grown, which is ironic, considering how popular the Australian coffee culture is. Australian coffee exports contributes to only around AU$96million, which is equivalent to only 10% of total imports, with New Zealand being the major importer of Australian-made coffee. Tempted to start your own Coffee Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! If you are an avid coffee person, this should excite you. Drinking coffee has been associated with numerous health benefits: Coffee consumption has been associated with lowering heart disease. This is because coffee improves blood pressure, reduces inflammation, and improve cholesterol levels. In fact, some studies show that drinking two to three cups of coffee per day was associated with a 10% lower risk of developing heart disease. Coffee has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. This results in reduction of type 2 diabetes risk. Coffee also has protective effects on the liver. Studies have found that drinking coffee may lower risk of liver cancer, cirrhosis, and fatty liver disease. This protective effect is related to coffee’s ability to reduce inflammation and improve liver function. Coffee may have beneficial effects on cognitive function, including memory, attention, and alertness. The caffeine in coffee is known to stimulate the central nervous system, which can improve mental performance. Additionally, coffee contains antioxidants and other bioactive compounds that may help protect the brain from damage and reduce the risk of cognitive decline. If you’re a coffee drinker, you know its energy-boosting properties. The caffeine in coffee is a natural stimulant that can improve mental alertness and reduce fatigue. Studies show it blocks neurotransmitters that promote sleep, and increases neurotransmitters that improve mood, reaction time, and cognitive performance. Tempted to start your own Coffee Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! On the contrary, there are, unfortunately, risks associated with coffee, or more specifically with too much coffee. Some common symptoms of too much coffee consumption are: Although there isn’t any “one fits all” answer for this, considering how unique and different everyone is, experts recommend not consuming more than 400 milligrams of caffeine, or roughly four cups of coffee, a day. However, it is important to note that caffeine can be found not only in coffee. Teas, energy drinks, and soda are also notorious for their relatively high caffeine content. Children and pregnant women are strongly discouraged from consuming too much coffee due to obvious reasons. I completely understand how difficult this is. Just like trying to cut back a smoking habit, cutting back coffee addiction is tough. I was a coffee addict back then (well, maybe even now, although its way less intense than it was back then). I need to drink at least two cups of coffee everyday to keep my body (mainly brain) running. One day, for some silly reason, I just decided to put a stop on this, and decided to go “cold turkey” and stop consuming coffee for some time. And boy, it was arguably one of the greatest challenge I’ve ever experienced in my entire life! Especially during the first seven days after cutting back, I can barely concentrate, especially in class. But thank God its all over now, and now, I can safely say that I am no longer an addict! Even though I’d still consume coffee regularly, at least I can survive without it now. And here are some tips I can share should you wish to follow my footsteps: Exactly what I did back then. To do this, you simply stop consuming coffee at all for a certain period of time. Simple? Yes. Tough? Extremely! I’d say this is the most effective solution to exterminate your coffee addiction. However, if this is too tough for you, don’t worry, there’s definitely other ways to do it. The exact opposite of the previous. Instead of completely putting a stop to it, try drinking less each day. For instance, say you drink 3 cups a day; cut it to 2 a day, and after getting used to it, reduce it again to a cup a day. An interesting workaround. A friend of mine actually did this. He would allocate certain days to drink coffee, and others to not. Also make sure that there is no consecutive “coffee drinking” days, since doing so defeats the whole purpose. An example of this is setting Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to drink coffee, and Tuesday, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays to not drink coffee or going for other alternatives such as tea. An increasingly popular alternative to coffee. A “decaf” is simply a coffee with less caffeine content, which should help you cut back your coffee addiction. You can find decaffeinated coffees in many local stores and cafes. As per the study conduced by The University of Sydney, a cup of decaf has the power to reduce withdrawal symptoms. This is especially true when the drinker isn’t aware that the coffee is actually decaf (sounds silly but true). I have never had decaf before, so I can’t tell the difference between a “real” coffee and a decaf, meaning someone can easily trick me to prove that hypothesis :D. Simultaneously, there are quite a few health benefits associated with decafs, such as reducing risks of type 2 diabetes, liver and neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. If these health benefits sound familiar, you’re right, as these are actually the health benefits associated with drinking “actual” coffee! Meanwhile, since non-decafs are best known for its stimulant effect, it is better in terms of increasing alertness and reducing feelings of fatigue. This, however, does not suggest that non-decafs are way more superior to decafs; Considering the fact that decafs is the new kid on the block, you can expect more studies and findings associated with it. Tempted to start your own Coffee Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration! Australia has its own unique coffee culture with a few distinctive types of coffee that are popular in cafes across the country. Here are some of the key ones: Starting the list with the most “Australian” coffee available in Australia, and can definitely be spotted in more and more coffee shops across the globe. Originating from Australia and New Zealand (although many would argue that it was established in the former, with some even mentioning that it the Brits were the ones who invented it), Flat White is a coffee made with espresso and steamed milk, and although it is similar to a Latte to a certain extent, it is typically served in a smaller cup than a Latte. Flat White also stronger in comparison to Latte due to its coffee-to-milk proportion. It is well-known for its velvety texture with a thin layer of microfoam on top. My personal favorite of the bunch. It is often described as the Australian counterpart of Americano (which originated from America), due to its similarities. The only difference is that a Long Black is prepared by pouring a double shot of espresso over hot water, while Americano involves pouring hot water into a cup of double shot espresso. As a result, Long Black retains the crema on top and has a stronger flavor compared to Americano and to other diluted espresso drinks. A classic coffee choice worldwide, a latte consists of a shot of espresso topped with steamed milk and a small amount of foam. It’s typically served in a larger cup than a Flat White. Perhaps what comes to mind when you hear the word “coffee”. Not sure due to its rich flavour or its catchy name, many would often name cappuccino as their favourite coffee. This coffee is made with equal parts espresso, steamed milk, and foam. It usually has a more prominent layer of foam than a latte and is often sprinkled with chocolate or cinnamon on top. The “mini” version of Latte, since the word “piccolo” translates to “small” in Italian. As a smaller version of a latte, it consists of a single shot of espresso topped with steamed milk in a smaller glass, creating a strong but milder flavour than a standard latte. Espresso is a strong and concentrated coffee made by forcing hot pressurized water through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso is brewed quickly in an espresso machine, resulting in a small serving size, typically around an ounce (30 millilitres) per shot. Espresso has a rich, bold flavour and a layer of crema that adds to its intense and aromatic profile. It serves as the base for various coffee drinks and is known for its quick brewing process and robust taste. A Macchiato is a coffee that consists of a shot of espresso “stained” or “marked” with a small amount of frothed milk or steamed milk. The word “macchiato” translates to “stained” or “spotted” in Italian, which reflects how the milk is added to the espresso. There are two main variations of the macchiato: In this version, a dollop of frothed milk or a small amount of steamed milk is added to a single shot of espresso. The milk serves to slightly “stain” the espresso, adding a touch of creaminess while preserving the boldness of the espresso. This version is similar to the short macchiato but with a larger quantity of milk. It typically contains more milk than the short macchiato but less than a traditional latte or cappuccino. The long macchiato offers a bit more milkiness while still allowing the espresso to be prominent. Both varieties aim to balance the intensity of the espresso with a hint of milk, creating a drink that showcases the bold flavours of the espresso while providing a touch of creaminess. Lungo is a long-shot espresso, which is made by using twice the water as a regular espresso. As a result, it is less-intense, but has a more profound and more bitter notes. The aforementioned are the “old school”, more traditional types of coffees. Meanwhile, thanks to the science and creativity of baristas these days, more variations can be found on the menu: Originating in Melbourne, the magic is similar to a Flat White but with a stronger coffee flavour. It’s made with a double shot of espresso and steamed milk in a smaller cup, providing a creamy yet strong taste. While not strictly a coffee “type”, it’s a popular dessert in Australia made by pouring a shot of hot espresso over a scoop of vanilla ice cream or gelato, creating a delightful contrast of hot and cold flavours. Again, not a coffee “type”. In fact, it only contains one main ingredient – steamed milk. It is served by simply pouring 60ml of milk foam in an espresso cup, with a dash of cocoa or cinnamon powder, and served with some marshmallows and chocolate flake. The main target audience for this drink is, well, children. Interesting indeed! Due to how conscious people are regarding their weight these days, Bulletproof Coffee is rising to prominence. Bulletproof Coffee, also known as butter coffee, is a high-calorie caffeinated drink made with added fat. Bulletproof coffee is intended to fuel start your day by replacing carb-heavy breakfasts, and was created by the originator of the Bulletproof diet, Dave Asprey, an American entrepreneur and author. Bulletproof coffee has become popular with low-carb and keto diet followers. The solution for you coffee AND alcohol lovers out there. Irish Coffee is made with four main ingredients: hot coffee, Irish Whiskey, sugar, and whipped cream. You can definitely find this in many restaurants, pubs and bars, and you will be amazed by how tasty it is! Tempted to start your own Coffee Business? Please visit our online form to initiate your registration!

At Company123, Business Name Registrations are simplified! We are ASIC agents who lodge Business Name applications on clients’ behalf, where clients have the option to go for a 1 Year or a 3 Year Business Name Registration. We also offer Business Name Renewal services. To initiate your Business Name Registration process, please visit our online form. Please visit Company123's website for further information! The administrative and support services industry/sector encompass a wide range of activities and industries that provide essential support to businesses, organizations, and individuals. These services are crucial for the smooth operation of various sectors of the economy. Some key components of administrative and support services include office administration, human resources, facilities management, customer and business support, and consulting. The administrative and support services sector in Australia plays a significant role in the economy, contributing to job creation and supporting the efficient functioning of businesses across various industries. It encompasses a diverse range of professions and job roles, providing essential assistance and expertise to organizations of all sizes. A good example of an Administrative and Support Services provider is Company123 . Company123 provides a variety of administrative and support services: Should you wish to register a new Australian company, Company123 can help you out with it. Simply fill out our online registration form, and once the form is submitted, your new company will be registered, and you will receive all company certificates, in an instant! Company123 also helps out with company changes lodgements (changes in directorship, business address, shareholdings, etc.), Company Liquidation, and many more! Perhaps you are willing to register a business name instead. Fret not, because Company123 provides that service as well! Simply head to our registration portal, and your Business Name will be registered in an instant! Company123 also provides Business Name Renewal services. A Trust is a legal arrangement where a Trustee (an individual or entity responsible for managing the Trust’s assets and ensuring they are used for the benefit of the Beneficiaries) holds and manages assets on behalf of Beneficiaries (individuals or entities who are entitled to benefit from the trust). It is a structure commonly used for various purposes, including estate planning, asset protection, and tax efficiency. Trusts in Australia are governed by state and territory laws, with specific regulations dictating their establishment, management, and dissolution. And guess what, Company123 does that too! Once you register your trust, all trust documents will be provided within seconds! Trust Amendment services are also provided! A Trademark is a distinctive sign, symbol, logo, phrase, word, or design that identifies and distinguishes the goods and services of one party from those of others. A Trademark serves as a form of intellectual property protection for businesses or individuals by providing exclusive rights to use that mark in commerce. Some key aspects of trademarks include distinctiveness, purpose, and legal protection. Company123 helps clients out with both Australian and International Trademark applications. A Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) is a type of private superannuation fund that provides retirement benefits to its members. Unlike traditional superannuation funds, where the investments and management are handled by professional fund managers, an SMSF is managed by its members, who also act as trustees of the fund. Some key characteristics of SMSFs include more control and flexibility, limited membership, and retirement benefits. SMSFs can be an effective way for individuals to take control of their retirement savings and have more autonomy over their investment decisions. You can register your SMSF with Company123. Simultaneously, Fund Amendments can also be done. Please visit Company123's website for further information! As per the most recent reports by the ABS, Administrative and Support Services earnings grew 5.7% ($678m) in 2021-22, mainly due to a 81.4% ($723m) increase in Recurrent government funding excluding COVID subsidies. Administrative and support services earnings growth was primarily driven by the Administrative services subdivision (14.1%, $917m), which benefitted from increased employment, job vacancies and job mobility in 2021-22 as it included labour hire firms. Employment in the Administrative and Support Services in Australia grew by 46,000 people (4.8%), again mainly driven by the Administrative services subdivision, which contributed to 31,000 people. Need any Administrative or Support Services? Please visit Company123 to initiate your application! The importance of administrative and support services is often overlooked. People often associate those working in this sector as the place where clients/customers unleash their anger or complaints or simply refer admin and support employees as those who simply listen and do whatever they were instructed to do. The truth is way far beyond that! Here are several reasons why administrative and support services holds significant importance: Administrative and support services ensure the efficient day-to-day operations of a business. It includes managing schedules, handling correspondence, organizing meetings, and facilitating communication, all of which are vital for keeping things running smoothly. People often forget that Customer Service is one of the core aspects in business. Being the first point of contact for customers or clients, administrative and support service employees need to provide excellent customer service and managing inquiries efficiently, which eventually contributes to a positive brand image and client/customer satisfaction. Ask yourself: what happens if one day there are no administrative and support services available. Imagine how chaotic it will be! Administrative and support staff can often provide valuable insights and support to decision-makers by collecting information, preparing reports, and offering perspectives on various aspects of the business. In summary, administrative support is the backbone of a well-organized and efficient business. Their roles extend across various functions, playing a critical part in ensuring the business runs effectively, enabling other team members to focus on their core responsibilities, and contributing to the overall success and growth of the organization. Need any Administrative or Support Services? Please visit Company123 to initiate your application! Technology advancements have significantly transformed administrative and support services in numerous ways, reshaping the roles, processes, and efficiency of these functions. Here are several impacts of technology on administrative and support services: Advancements in technology, such as AI and machine learning, have enabled the automation of routine administrative and support tasks like data entry, scheduling, and document processing. This automation frees up time for administrative professionals to focus on more complex and strategic activities. Technology tools like email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and collaboration platforms have revolutionized communication within administrative and support teams and between different departments. This facilitates faster decision-making, improves teamwork, and enables remote work possibilities. Cloud-based solutions have revolutionized data storage and management for administrative and support services. They allow for secure access to information from anywhere, promoting flexibility and ease of use while ensuring data security and reducing reliance on physical storage. Technology streamlines processes, reduces manual errors, and speeds up administrative and support tasks. This leads to increased productivity, allowing administrative staff to accomplish more in less time, ultimately benefiting the organization as a whole. Probably the major and most obvious advantage that technology has brought not only to the administration and support services industry, but the entire industry. Since the Pandemic, advanced technology tools have facilitated remote work options for administrative and support staff, allowing them to work from anywhere. This flexibility has become especially crucial in recent times, enabling businesses to maintain operations during disruptions (with an exception of network disruptions, of course)! The million-dollar question. As per Goldman Sachs, Technology (or AI, more specifically), could replace 300 million full-time jobs. However, rest assured, or at least I can confidently assert that the answer is no. AI/Technology is integrated into administrative and support services to automate repetitive, mundane tasks while intending to make things easier for everyone. This is especially beneficial for the industry, considering it was named as one of the world’s most stressful jobs (with a turnover rate of 45% each year)! However, the reason why AI/Technology was introduced to the workforce in the first place, is also the reason why it isn’t capable of replacing human employees. AIs/Technologies (apologies if I sound like your Computer Science teacher), run on an algorithm, which is defined as a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, which is designed to take in certain inputs and produce certain outputs. In simpler terms, algorithms are designed to take in A as an input, and process it as B as an output. They are not flexible enough (as of now, at least) to produce outputs or responses tailored to satisfy different preferences or needs. Another caveat is it lacks “human touch”. Humans runs on emotions, and while some would often deem this as a weakness, it can be a strength on quite a few occasions, especially in this context. Imagine this scenario: You require assistance on a certain problem you are experiencing. Would you rather: (a) talk to an emotionless, rigid robot who will provide you with more or less the same set of responses, or (b) speak with an actual human who can provide you with different solutions or responses? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather speak with a human representative, as I wouldn’t find it pleasant to be given the same answers all the time! Wouldn’t it be better to talk to someone who can relate to you or empathize to your emotions or thoughts? Need any Administrative or Support Services? Please visit Company123 to initiate your application! Just like others, the trend of outsourcing has become increasingly popular in the Australian Administrative and Support Services industry. Outsourcing is unsurprisingly needed here, considering the number of inquiries a company (especially those big ones) can receive in a day! Apart from this, there are quite a few reason why some companies may decide to outsource: Outsourcing can often be more cost-effective. Companies can benefit from lower labor costs in other countries where wages might be lower, reducing operational expenses. Outsourcing allows a company to focus on its core competencies. By delegating non-core tasks like customer support, IT services, or manufacturing, a company can concentrate on its primary business objectives. Outsourcing provides access to specialized skills and expertise that might not be available in-house. For instance, a company might outsource software development to a firm with specific programming skills or outsource marketing to an agency with a strong track record in that area. It offers flexibility in scaling operations. Companies can quickly ramp up or downsize their operations based on demand fluctuations without bearing the burden of hiring or laying off staff. Outsourcing can help a company establish a wider presence by tapping into wider audiences or markets, leveraging diverse perspectives, and accessing a wider talent pool. On the contrary, others may decide against outsourcing due to a few valid reasons: Companies that prioritize strict quality standards might prefer to keep processes in-house. Maintaining direct control over production or services can ensure adherence to specific quality measures. Some industries deal with sensitive data or proprietary information. Concerns about data security breaches or intellectual property theft can discourage outsourcing certain functions. Language barriers, time zone differences, and cultural nuances can create communication challenges when working with outsourced teams. For some companies, maintaining clear and direct communication is crucial, and they might find it easier to do so within their own organization. Relying heavily on external partners for critical functions can create dependency risks. If an outsourced vendor faces issues or goes out of business, it could significantly disrupt the company's operations. While it was previously outlined that cost cutting is one of the key reasons why companies decide to outsource, there are actually some risks associated with costs in terms of outsourcing. In certain contexts, the cost benefits might not outweigh the expenses associated with managing and coordinating outsourced processes. All in all, companies should consider thoroughly before jumping on the decision to or not to outsource their operations. Need any Administrative or Support Services? Please visit Company123 to initiate your application! Administrative and Support Services strongly correlates with customer satisfaction. As a result, it is worth noting that a satisfactory, effective administrative and support service is crucial to foster loyalty, satisfaction, and an overall positive brand perception. Here are some tips to improve your business’ administrative and support services: The core essential. Before actually going ahead to provide support, you’ll need to have a good understanding on what customers want to ensure everyone is on the same page. This involves understanding their needs, preferences, and pain points. While at times this can be difficult (especially when faced with “difficult” clients; been there, done that), it is important to maintain professionalism and actively listen to them. A good piece of advice (which I can attest to) is to listen to everything that was spoken, and then dissect them, word by word, to help you better understand what the customer(s) want. As a result, good listening skills will be needed. In addition, you may need to think and act fast. I am, however, not suggesting you to jump the gun and say or do anything that comes through your mind; Take your time (but not too long) to process everything, and once you understand what is being asked, provide a response in a timely manner. I understand that these may take some time to get used to, which leads us to the next tip. By providing comprehensive training to your team, further customer satisfaction can be achieved. Equip them with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to address customer inquiries effectively. Also empower them to make decisions to solve problems promptly. Aim for prompt responses to customer queries, whether through phone, email, social media, or live chat. However, as previously outlined, there shouldn’t be any trade-offs between responsiveness and quality of response. Take your time to process everything (and take a deep breath in intense situations; trust me, it works), and once you have a complete understanding of what’s going on, provide a response in a timely manner. Another important thing to consider is that being responsive doesn’t translate to being able to provide a response or action as fast as possible. A simple acknowledgment (something as simple as “One sec please”) indicates that you are actually working on helping the customer, and this will make a significant difference in customer satisfaction. If necessary, put the customer on hold (assuming the customer is calling) and take your time to process his/her/their request(s). In this industry, sometimes people forget that we are actually interacting with humans, as humans ourselves. As a result, conversations may sound dull, and customers may not feel satisfied with the manner in which responses were provided, albeit how effective the responses are/were in resolving their issues. Please avoid this at all costs. To personalize (or should we say “humanize”) interactions, you should tailor responses based on customer’s history and preferences to make them feel valued and understood. A good practice is to address customers by their names and asking questions like how they are doing, the weather, etc. But please avoid sensitive or too personal questions! Anticipate potential issues and address them before they become significant problems. Be proactive in identifying and rectifying issues to prevent customer dissatisfaction. Also make sure to follow up with customers should you have any concerns, and keep them updated as you progress. Providing additional value to customers beyond your core products or services will make a difference. For instance, upon resolving a customer enquiry, offer them useful, relevant resources, guides, or tips. Also remember to provide customers with a contact detail should they have any further or similar questions in the future. You may also provide them with a reference number for the enquiry and your name, which may be handy for both you and your customer. Maintain consistency across all touchpoints. Ensure a seamless experience from pre-purchase inquiries to post-purchase support, regardless of the channel or team member the customer interacts with. Ensure clear and effective communication. Use simple language, actively listen, and offer explanations or guidance in a friendly and empathetic manner. Regularly gather feedback and act on it. Use customer input to improve processes, products, or services. Let customers know their feedback is valued and implemented. And please don’t forget to provide a closing remark once an enquiry has been attended to. Failure to do so will generate an impression of unprofessionalism, which again will affect customer satisfaction. Remember to thank the customer for reaching out and let them know that you/your team will be available and willing to help out should the customer need any further or other assistance in the future. Include the contact details, if necessary, in which the customer can contact should they need assistance again. Another pro tip is to try your best to remember the client’s name and the issue you have resolved with them. Doing so will not only plausibly improve your relationship with the customer (since you seem to remember them and everything you’ve worked with them on), but also plausibly eases the problem-solving process, especially if the issue is an existing one, as you will know where you’ve left off and the plausible actions to take. Need any Administrative or Support Services? Please visit Company123 to initiate your application!