Renewing a business name for one year or three

When a business name comes up for renewal you can renew it for one year or for three. Either way the name stays registered to you with ASIC. What changes is how much you pay on the day and how long until the next renewal notice turns up.

Three years usually works out cheaper per year. You pay more up front because you are covering three years at once, but less over the full period than you would renewing for one year, three times over.

That saving only counts if you use the years. If there is a real chance you will stop using the name in the next year or two, the shorter term is often the better buy.

Who one year suits

One year is for a name that is not settled yet. Maybe you are thinking about a rebrand, or you have a new name in mind but have not committed to it. Maybe the name belongs to a side project you are testing before you put more into it. You might be planning to sell the business or close it, and do not want money sitting in a registration you will hand over or cancel. Or the name is one of several the business holds and you are not sure you still need them all.

Picture a tradie who registered a second name for a small sideline selling refurbished tools. While that sideline is finding its feet, a one year renewal keeps the name alive without much commitment. If it is going well by the next renewal, they can move to three years then.

The cost of flexibility is the paperwork. In twelve months you are back here, with another notice that has to reach you and another payment that has to go through on time.

Who three years suits

If the name is your brand, three years is usually the easy call. It is on the signage, the website and the invoices, and customers know you by it. You are not going to drop it, so the lower cost per year is money you were going to spend anyway. A business that has traded under the same name for years, with regulars who find it by searching that name, is the obvious case.

There is a quieter benefit too. Every renewal is a chance for a name to lapse by accident: an email address changes, the person who handled it leaves, the notice lands in a busy month and gets buried. Renewing every three years means a third as many of those chances.

The flip side is that three years is long enough to forget who looks after it. Write the renewal date down somewhere the whole business can see, not just in one person's head.

Whichever term you pick, look at the contact email on the registration. Renewal notices go there. If that address belongs to a former employee, to whoever first set the business up for you, or to an old account nobody opens, the next notice may never reach you.

A name that lapses because nobody saw the reminder can be cancelled by ASIC. There is only a limited window to ask for it back, and after that someone else may be able to register it. Losing a name you have built a business around, over an out-of-date email address, is a hard thing to explain to anyone.

You do not have to wait for the deadline, either. Once ASIC has sent the renewal notice you can renew straight away, which is handy if you know a busy stretch or a holiday is coming.

Renewing with us is short. On our business names page, search for your name in the renewal box, choose one year or three, and pay. The ASIC renewal fee is included in our price, so there is nothing separate to pay ASIC, and we take care of the renewal from there. If you are not sure when your name is due, or which term makes sense for a name you hold, our support team can check the dates and talk it through on 1300 070 000, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm Melbourne time.