Why all this fuss about two business addresses?
- August 2, 2023
- 5 min read
Two business addresses – why do you need them?
Overview
You’re almost at the end of business incorporation. A-mazing!
And good for you. With a little help and guidance from Sleek, you’ve got this.
The next step is to register two physical business addresses to ASIC. The first is the address of where your company will conduct business from and the second is a registered office for important correspondence.
Let’s explore the business addresses requirements a bit more closely so you can fully understand them:
A principal place of business
This is the physical place your company will mainly conduct its business from. It can be in any state or territory, even if this is a different address from your registered business address.
So, if your business has a retail outlet, shop front, warehouse, office, this will become your principal place of business. If you have several offices or shops for example, use the main office/shop as the address on your application.
Working from home? Yes, you can use your home address. Many great entrepreneurs started at home – Melanie Perkins of Canva began in her mum’s living room and Bill Gates in his garage.
Providing a home address is a good option, and will no doubt save you some big bucks in renting premises, especially when you are starting out.
However, there is a downside to this – your home address will become public.
We can understand some entrepreneurs don’t want to provide their home address, namely for privacy and security reasons.
So, what are your options other than registering your home address if you are starting your business from home?
Coworking Spaces
Coworking spaces allow you to share the workspace with other businesses and their owners in the same building.
Coworking is cool and works well for start-ups, as the idea behind them is the community spirit. You work alongside like-minded founders and entrepreneurs who are working on their own businesses and projects.
Serviced Offices
Another option is a serviced office, where you have a fully equipped office to work from, that is managed by a facility management company.
They offer short-term, flexible rental options on a month to month, six- or twelve-monthly lease. They are a great choice as you can easily and quickly upscale your office as your business grows, without changing the address for your business!
Set up a virtual office
Virtual offices will provide you with a physical address with which to register your business address.
They can also give you a local business telephone number, mail and courier management and virtual assistance. So, you can work from home and use a virtual office for a fee!
A registered business address
The second address required is the registered office. This is the address where all your business communications and official company notices will be sent.
This address can be the same as your principal place of business (above), or you can use your accountant’s or lawyer’s address.
If you do use your accountant or lawyer’s address, you will need to get written consent from them, and keep these on hand.
Choosing your accountant is a popular choice for entrepreneurs.
Your accountant understands and can help you act on any correspondence your business receives. For busy entrepreneurs, this relieves some of the pressure to remain compliant.
Did you know, Sleek provides a registered office address for your official mail from ASIC, ATO and others?
It’s so easy with Sleek – for a small monthly fee, we will receive and scan your official mail, then email the scanned correspondence to you. Too easy!
Want to learn more?
OK, we think these examples may help you work out which addresses to use –
Your Pty Ltd company can:
Register your business in Sydney, NSW
Use Sleek address as the registered business address in Sydney
Provide a coworking space address in Melbourne, VIC as your principal place of business.
Another example could be:
Register your business in Sydney, NSW
Your registered business address is your principal place of business in Newcastle, NSW.
See, you have lots of options when choosing business addresses for your incorporation.
Oh, and just one more thing before we go:
You can change your business address at any time.
So, if your business grows or your circumstances change and you need to move premises, you must notify ASIC within 28 days of the change of address.
There is no cost to update your address BUT there are fines if you notify them after 28 days.
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