Company Housekeeping

Company Housekeeping: Other records and registers

All company officers must make sure that the company attends to some basic ‘housekeeping’ matters. The directors remain ultimately responsible for the company’s compliance with the Corporations Act.

When a company is set up, you must:

• register your company name with ASIC and obtain an ACN

• have a registered office. (If your company doesn’t occupy the same address as the registered office, then you must have written consent from the person who occupies the registered office.)

Make sure that you:

• display the company name at every place at which your company carries on business and that is open to the public. Also, a public company must display its name and the words ‘registered office’ prominently at its registered office.

• display the company name, the words ‘Australian Company Number’ (or ‘ACN’) or ‘Australian Business Number’ (or ‘ABN’) and the relevant number on:

• the common seal (if the company has one)

• every public document of the company

• every negotiable instrument (e.g. cheque, promissory note ) of the company, and

• all documents lodged with ASIC.

• Your company must keep:

• registers of members (shareholders)

• registers of option holders (if you have them)

• minutes of general meetings

• minutes of meetings of directors

• registers of charges created by the company over company property (s271 of the Corporations Act was removed from registration under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009. You are required to have this register and make entries up until this point in time), and

• financial records that enable an assessment of the company’s financial position and performance and are sufficient for financial statements to be prepared (and audited if necessary) for at least seven years after the transactions are completed.