How much does it cost to register a company in Australia?

Every company registered in Australia in the 2025-26 financial year pays the same statutory fee of $611 to ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) for a standard proprietary limited company. That fee is non-negotiable, indexed annually by ASIC, and goes directly to the regulator. It buys you a company name reservation, an Australian Company Number (ACN), a certificate of registration, and your legal existence as a separate entity.

What the $611 does not buy you is anything else. It doesn't include an Australian Business Number (ABN), a business name, a constitution, share certificates, a registered office address, a Director ID, GST (Goods and Services Tax) registration, or any ongoing compliance. Those are separate items, some free and some not, and they're where most price-shopping founders get caught out.

The $611 also doesn't change depending on who lodges the application. DIY through ASIC's online portal, an accountant, a registered agent like Structly — same fee to ASIC. What changes is the service fee charged on top, and that's where the market spans from $0 (full DIY) to north of $500 (a city-firm accountant).

Service fees in the Australian company registration market sit roughly in three bands. At the cheapest end, online registered agents charge between $50 and $150 in service fees on top of the ASIC fee, total $661-$761 for the company alone. Mid-market online services and bookkeeping firms charge $200-$400, so $811-$1,011. Traditional accountants and law firms charge $400-$1,500-plus, putting the all-in cost at $1,011-$2,111 or more for a Pty Ltd registration.

The price differences aren't arbitrary. At the cheap end you typically get the bare lodgement — ASIC application, ACN, certificate of registration, and replaceable rules in place of a constitution. Mid-market often adds a standard constitution, share certificates, and a register of members. Premium service usually includes structuring advice, a tailored constitution, shareholder agreements drafted separately, and ongoing tax planning.

Structly sits in the lower-mid band. Company Registration is $699 all-in — that's the $611 ASIC fee plus $88 service fee — and includes a standard constitution, share certificates, and the company register. Most founders don't need a city-firm price tag for a standard founder-and-spouse or solo-director Pty Ltd.

The biggest pricing trap isn't what you pay for the company itself — it's the surrounding setup. Most first-time founders need at least three other things: an ABN, a business name (if trading under anything other than the exact company name), and a Director ID. Each has its own cost and process.

An ABN is free if you apply directly through the ABR (Australian Business Register), but it takes around 30-60 minutes of paperwork and the application can be referred for manual review if any of your details flag the system. A business name is $44 for one year or $102 for three years, paid to ASIC. Director IDs are free through ABRS (Australian Business Registry Services) but require myGovID verification, which can take 15 minutes to a few days depending on how your ID verifies.

Beyond setup, year-one ongoing costs add up. The ASIC annual review fee is $329 for a standard company in 2025-26, due on your registration anniversary. Miss the deadline and ASIC charges $98 in late fees if you're 1-28 days late, or $411 if you're more than 28 days late. A registered office address — required by ASIC and made public on the register — costs $0 if you use your home address, or $150-$400 a year if you use a service provider to keep your home address private.

Structly's pricing is structured to remove the guesswork. There are three core packages and an optional ongoing support subscription. The cash costs and what they include are below.

Company Registration is $699 — $611 to ASIC for the statutory fee, $88 to Structly as the service fee. It includes the company name reservation, ACN, certificate of registration, standard constitution, share certificates for each shareholder, and the initial company register. ABN Package is $99 and handles ABN registration through the ABR, including GST registration if you need it from day one. Business Name registration is $89 for one year or $159 for three years — the longer term saves you money and reduces the chance of an unintentional lapse.

Company Essential is the bundle most founders end up with: Company Registration + ABN Package + Business Name (3-year). The all-in price is $887, which is $134 cheaper than buying the three separately. Structly Assist is an optional ongoing subscription at $39.90 a month or $399 a year, with a 30-day free trial. It covers ASIC change lodgements, annual review reminders and lodgement, and access to Structly's support team.

The DIY path is genuinely the cheapest if your time is plentiful and you're comfortable working through ASIC's documentation. The accountant path makes sense if your structure is complex — multiple shareholders, share classes, family trust involvement, or an SMSF (Self-Managed Super Fund) trustee company sitting underneath a fund — because the structuring advice is what you're paying for. Structly sits in between: faster than DIY, cheaper than an accountant, and right for the standard single-director or founder-pair Pty Ltd.

Once the company is registered, the ongoing cost profile is mostly ASIC's annual review fee plus any compliance work you outsource. For a standard Pty Ltd in 2025-26, ASIC's annual review fee is $329. For a special-purpose company — most commonly a corporate trustee that only acts as trustee for an SMSF or family trust and earns no income — the fee is $67. The reduction is significant if your structure qualifies, but the rules on what counts as special-purpose are specific and your accountant should confirm before you tick that box.

Late payment of the annual review fee triggers a $98 late fee if you pay within 28 days of the due date, or $411 if you pay later than that. The fees apply on top of the original $329 (or $67), so a late standard review can run to $732 if you let it slide. Two missed years in a row puts the company at risk of ASIC deregistration, which removes its legal existence and is expensive and slow to reverse.

Beyond the annual review, you'll have changes to lodge through the year — change of registered office, change of director, share transfers, new share issues. Each ASIC change has a free window if lodged within 28 days of the event, and a late fee after that. Structly Assist at $39.90 a month handles these lodgements, tracks deadlines, and is generally cheaper than calling an accountant for each change.

Tax and accounting are separate. Your company will need to lodge an annual company tax return with the ATO, plus quarterly BAS if it's GST-registered. That work sits with your accountant — Structly doesn't do bookkeeping or tax returns. Budget $1,500-$3,000 a year for a simple Pty Ltd's tax and accounting, more if the structure is complex.

For the standard founder using Company Essential, the cash flow looks like this. At sign-up, you pay $887 — that covers the $611 ASIC fee, the $88 Structly service fee, the $99 ABN Package, and the $159 3-year business name. Nothing else falls due until your company's first anniversary, when ASIC sends the annual review notice for $329.

If you opt into Structly Assist (and many founders do, partly for the annual review reminder service), the first 30 days are free. After the trial, it's $39.90 a month billed monthly, or $399 a year if you prefer annual billing — a $79.80 discount versus paying monthly. You can cancel any time and the company stays yours regardless.

Stanley, our wizard and chat assistant, can walk you through the right package for your situation in about 60 seconds if you're unsure whether you need Company Essential, a trustee company, or just an ABN. Otherwise the pricing page lays out every item and what it does, with no add-ons added at checkout.