ASIC Compliance can strike fear in the heart of many business owners. Company documents, annual company statements, declarations, forms, regulations, and general company housekeeping…….all of this can be mind-boggling to business owners. It can all feel overwhelming and will often be the last thing a business owner wants to deal with.  After all, as a business owner, you are already juggling a lot of balls, trying to keep them all up in the air.  There is administration, marketing, HR, bookkeeping and let’s not forgot you also need to get to your core business tasks!  It’s no wonder that you are stressed and worried that something will slide.  However, there is one thing that many small to medium business owners overlook that is vitally important – that is compliance.

However, failure to ensure your business is compliant has serious repercussions. The penalty for late lodgement begins at $82 (as of 1 July 2020), with failure to lodge documents with the Commission upwards of $1,000 or even three months imprisonment. So…..do I have your attention now?

Who is AISC and what is ASIC Compliance?

Exactly who/what is ASIC? ASIC is Australia’s integrated corporate, markets, financial services, and consumer credit regulator.

They are an independent Commonwealth Government body responsible for administering the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act) and carry out most of their work under the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act).

If your legal entity is a company, then it is ASIC that sends you your company annual statement each year.  Your company compliance obligation includes (but not limited to):

• Registering and renewing your business name
• Informing ASIC if your company details change
• Keeping the required books and records
• Lodging documents as required, including financial returns

5 Reasons you should use an ASIC Agent

Five reasons to outsource your ASIC Compliance

Outsourcing of corporate registry maintenance is an important business decision as it directly impacts the service you provide to your end clients and the allocation of resources within your business. In this blog, I am going to go through 5 reasons why working with an ASIC Agent can save you time, money and stress.

1. More familiar with the requirements companies need to meet

As an officeholder of an Australian company, you are ultimately responsible for the company’s compliance. The benefits of using a Registered Agent is that they handle a large volume of companies regularly and are more familiar with the requirements companies need to meet under the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act).

2. Registered Company Office

They can act as the Registered Office of your company. They will maintain up to date company registration records. They will receive correspondence for and on behalf of your company, forwarding to the officeholders when and as received.

3. Don’t let yourself become non-compliant when an audit occurs

Did you know you can be audited by ASIC?  If you were to be audited today, would your company binders by up to date? You wouldn’t be alone if they weren’t.  Most companies don’t create or update their required paperwork and can find themselves with a tangled mess.  In some cases, the company binders don’t exist or they haven’t been updated since the day of incorporation.  This means the company is non-compliant. The only solution, to create paperwork from scratch using records going back, sometimes, years.  This can cost you far more that it would have to outsource your compliance to an ASIC Agent from the beginning.

4. Don’t let yourself end up on the “bad debtor” register

Did you know that ASIC registers all directors who fail to keep up to date with fees on the “bad debtors” register?  This usually happens when a company has failed to pay its fees and ASIC deregisters the company.  For good measure, ASIC then places the directors onto the “bad debtor” register.

You might think “so what”.  But think about this.  Your record as a director is a public record.  This impacts your credit history.  Every loan you apply for going forward will show that you were a director of a company that was deregistered by ASIC.  This will impact your ability to successfully apply for a loan, or become a director of another company.

5. You can focus on your organisation’s core activities

By using an ASIC Agent, you can focus on your business and let them take care of all the compliance for you. Imagine your valuable time trying to meet all your ASIC compliance or using that time to improve profitability for your business.

What is an ASIC Agent

I bet you’re now asking what an ASIC Agent is…….well, let me tell you. An ASIC agent is a registered person or company that is authorised to lodge company-related documents with ASIC on behalf of a third party, your company! The agent acts as an intermediary and usually helps a company meet its lodgement obligations. In other words, your business angel!

So having an ASIC agent sounds great…right? Now you want to know where you can find an ASIC Agent. Total Eclipse Agency is an ASIC Agent.