ASIC Registered Agent: How Accountants Register

To become an ASIC registered agent, apply using Form RA01, then register for online access once ASIC issues your agent number. Each company must separately appoint your practice before you receive its correspondence as agent.

What an ASIC Registered Agent Does

Registered agents are people or businesses registered with ASIC to lodge documents and receive correspondence for companies that appoint them. Your tax agent registration and ASIC agent registration are separate.

Agent work includes authorised company registrations, changes to company details and notices of resolutions. You can handle annual statements, lodge solvency statements where required and arrange fee payments through supported channels. The available transaction determines the lodgement channel.

Your practice must collect annual statements and invoices from ASIC, then pass them to the company officeholders promptly. ASIC’s registered agent terms require retrieval of annual statements within 14 days of the review date. Retrieve invoice statements within seven days of their delivery notice. Give officeholders enough time to review details and pay.

How to Register as an ASIC Registered Agent

ASIC agent registration starts with Form RA01 sent by email, followed by online account registration. It is not completed entirely inside the portal.

1. Identify the applicant. It must be an Australian registered company, a business name holder or an eligible individual trading under their own name. An ABN is required.
2. Nominate the responsible person. For a company applicant, this person must be a current officeholder. For a non-company business name holder, nominate the holder or an authorised representative.
3. Confirm eligibility and attach the identity-related evidence. The responsible person must live in Australia and be over 18. Attach a National Police Check issued within the preceding 12 months. Disqualification from managing corporations prevents eligibility. ASIC’s recent-cancellation restriction also applies.
4. Complete and sign Form RA01. The responsible person signs it. Send the form and supporting documents to agent.registration@asic.gov.au. ASIC can request further information to verify eligibility.
5. Keep the agent number ASIC emails after acceptance. Use it to sign up through ASIC’s registered agent portal access guidance. Agree to the Electronic Lodgement Protocol, create the account credentials and complete the security question. Sign and email the participation agreement, then wait for activation.

ASIC charges no Form RA01 application fee. A police-check provider can charge for its check. Neither cost is the client’s company incorporation fee. Use the incorporation steps for incorporation costs and ASIC fee handling for annual invoices or late fees.

You can use ASIC’s portal for supported transactions or company secretarial software that connects to ASIC. Software can suit a larger company list when its document preparation and tracking reduce repeated work. Confirm that it supports the transactions your practice actually lodges. Company registration uses the appropriate registration service, which is separate from ordinary company-detail changes.

Using the ASIC Registered Agent Portal

Use your registered agent account to see linked companies and make supported lodgements. You can retrieve annual statements and request review-date lists or company debt reports. These reports help you identify upcoming reviews and unpaid amounts. Download past lodgements into your own records because portal copies are available for only 90 days.

Put the account under a named practice custodian. Record which staff have authority to prepare and lodge documents, who approves them and how access is removed when someone leaves. Where company secretarial software provides individual users, set permissions for each role. A responsible person or contact person on RA01 is not automatically a separate portal login.

ASIC is changing its online services. Follow the task instructions linked from its portal guidance when the interface changes. Keep the agent number, company ACN and lodgement acknowledgement together so a staff handover does not depend on remembering a screen.

If account activation is incomplete, check that the signed participation agreement was sent. If a lodgement fails, retain the error and reference number. Use ASIC’s documented exception process where it permits an alternative channel.

Adding a New Company Client to Your Agent Listing

Link a company by lodging its authorised Form 362 and checking the resulting company listing. Possession of a corporate key alone does not establish the appointment.

1. Match the company name and ACN to the client’s records. Obtain the corporate key and resolve any mismatch before lodging.
2. Obtain Form 362 signed by a company officeholder. Form 362 appoints or ceases a registered agent with company authorisation. Keep the signed authority before transmitting its details.
3. Lodge the appointment through the supported portal or software channel. Keep the acknowledgement and confirm the company appears under your agent number after processing.
4. Check the review date and unpaid amounts. Compare the registered office, officeholders and other register details with the client’s form. Resolve differences through the appropriate ASIC Form 484 guidance.

When a client changes practices, confirm the new appointment and the previous agent’s cessation. Tell the outgoing practice when the handover takes effect and reconcile any correspondence already received. Confirm future ASIC correspondence is directed to the new agent.

Ceasing to Act for a Company

Your practice can cease without the company’s authorisation using Form 361. With company authorisation, use Form 362. Ending the engagement letter alone does not remove the ASIC appointment.

1. Identify every company by ACN and check outstanding correspondence. Allocate any unfinished action in the handover record.
2. Resolve the registered office first if the practice’s premises are used. Obtain authority to lodge the address change, or notify ASIC in writing that you withdraw occupier consent.
3. Lodge the appropriate cessation through ASIC’s supported registered-agent channel. Keep the confirmation and check that the company is removed from your listing.
4. Record where remaining correspondence goes. Confirm the address position separately because agent appointment and permission to use premises are different matters.

Keep signed Form 362 records for at least seven years from signing under the Electronic Lodgement Protocol.

After the Client’s Company is Registered

ASIC agent registration gives your practice access to authorised lodgement services. The client’s company exists only after ASIC accepts its separate company registration application.

At the handover, match the issued ACN and certificate to the company file. Confirm the practice’s appointment and who now collects ASIC correspondence. Record the registered office arrangement and review date before closing the registration job. ASIC sends the corporate key to the registered office.

Keep the officers’ director ID requirements separate from the agent number. The company’s ABN and GST registration are separate jobs too. The incorporation steps covers the incorporation checklist and required consents.

Acting as a Client’s Registered Office

A registered office is the company’s physical address in Australia for official communications and service of legal documents. It can differ from the place where the business trades. A PO Box cannot be the registered office.

If the company does not occupy your premises, obtain the occupier’s written consent and keep it in the company’s records. Confirm the occupier has consented when lodging the address. The agent’s contact address and the company’s registered office have distinct purposes, even when both use the practice’s address.

A proprietary company does not have to open its registered office to the public. Its obligations to make documents available for inspection still apply. A public company must open during standard hours, or for at least three hours between 9 am and 5 pm each business day. Chosen hours must be notified to ASIC. These rules appear in the Corporations Act’s registered office provisions.

Compare your practice’s address service with a paid company registered address service on written occupier consent and mail-forwarding arrangements. Agree who receives urgent documents, how quickly each item reaches the company and the ongoing service fee. Ask what happens during office closures and after the service ends.

To change the registered office, obtain company authority and consent for the new premises. Lodge the address change and retain the acknowledgement. ASIC requires notification within 28 days of an address change. The registered office change takes effect seven days after lodgement, or a later date specified in the notice. Follow ASIC’s address-change guidance.

Legal documents can be served at the practice’s address. Log the company, receipt time and recipient for every item, then record when you pass it on. Before accepting the address role, assign a staff member and a backup to handle urgent mail while the usual contact is absent.