How to close a business the tidy way around 30 June

The end of June is a natural point to wind up a business. The books are being finalised anyway, and stopping close to 30 June can mean one less part-year to report on.

Stopping work is not the same as closing, though. Registrations, renewals and subscriptions keep ticking over until someone deals with them, and an ABN or a company left open can generate paperwork and fees long after you have moved on.

This is general information. The tax and legal side depends on your structure, and your accountant is the right person to steer it. What follows is an overview of the things that usually need closing, so nothing gets left running:

1. Your final tax returns and BAS, which your accountant will handle.
2. Your ABN and GST registration. These are cancelled with the ATO, and both have time limits once you stop trading. Your accountant or tax agent can do this for you.
3. Your business names.
4. Your company, if there is one.
5. Your domain names, website and email.
6. Your business records, which need to be kept for at least five years, and longer for some records, such as a company's financial records.

A registered business name stays on the public register until it is cancelled or its registration runs out. Letting it lapse at the next renewal date works. Cancelling is tidier, because the name comes off the register now and customers searching for you are not left wondering whether you still trade.

Think twice before letting go of a name you might use again. Once it is gone someone else may register it.

Closing a company

A company does not close because it stops trading. It keeps receiving annual review notices and fees until it is deregistered.

A company that has stopped trading and has no debts can apply to ASIC to be deregistered voluntarily, but there are conditions, including that all the members agree and that ASIC fees are paid. If there are still assets of any size, or money owed, the company may need to be wound up by a liquidator instead. That is one for your accountant or lawyer before you start.

Leaving the company to lapse is no shortcut. Unpaid review fees can lead ASIC to deregister it anyway, but that is the messy way to end things, and directors can still be asked about the company's affairs afterwards.

Domains are the thing most often forgotten. If yours are with us, they are in your Registry dashboard, where you can turn off auto renew on any you are not keeping so you are not charged for another term. If you might use a domain again, or you are selling the business and the name goes with it, keep it renewed, or move it to whoever will look after it.

Before the hosting ends, download a copy of the website files and any emails you want to keep. Once a hosting account is closed, the files and mailboxes on it are generally gone for good. Half an hour copying them to your own computer or cloud storage is cheap insurance. If you can, set an automatic reply on the business email first, so customers and suppliers know you have closed and how to reach you.

Closing now does not lock you out later, and this is where we can pick things up again. If you go back into business, a cancelled ABN can often be reactivated as long as you are operating as the same type of entity, and we can reactivate it for you. A different structure next time means a new ABN, which we can apply for through our ABN registration page. We can also register a business name for the new venture, provided the name is available, and set up its domain and hosting. If you are not sure what you still have registered with us, our team can check on 1300 070 000, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm Melbourne time.