Identity and authority
Legal name, ABN, ACN or incorporation number, registered address, directors or committee, delegations and authorised signatories.
Step 1 — legal vehicle
Build a business that can carry the promise.
Choose the structure for the work, ownership, risk and governance you actually intend. Then make the records clean enough for a buyer, insurer, bank and delivery partner to verify.
Choose the vehicle.
A company is often the practical base for ongoing staff, assets and larger contracts. It is not automatically the best answer for a short test, community not-for-profit or First Nations-controlled enterprise.
| Vehicle | Use it when | Main test | Start here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole trader | One person is testing lower-risk services and genuinely controls the work. | You personally carry the debts and liabilities. | Compare structures |
| Company | You are building an ongoing delivery business with staff, assets, partners or larger risk. | Directors must govern a separate legal entity properly. | Register a company |
| Queensland incorporated association | At least seven members are forming a genuine not-for-profit community organisation. | The rules, committee authority and not-for-profit purpose must fit the contract. | Set up an association |
| Indigenous corporation | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members are building an appropriately owned and governed corporation. | Ownership, control, governance and policy eligibility must be real. | Start with ORIC |
| Existing prime or consortium | The new team has a valuable delivery lane but not the balance sheet, systems, history or prequalification to lead. | The written deal must protect role, price, evidence, IP, authority and payment. | Choose the partner model |
Set it up in seven moves.
- Write the intended services, ownership, directors or committee, decision rights and first twelve months of work.
- Choose and register the structure. A company receives an ACN; it then needs its own ABN and tax registrations.
- Register the business name if the trading name differs from the legal name. Secure the domain and official email accounts.
- Open a dedicated bank account and accounting system. Set delegations for spending, signing and tender lodgement.
- Register GST when required or chosen, PAYG withholding when employing, and WorkCover when the entity employs workers in Queensland.
- Check every licence, permit and professional registration through ABLIS and the relevant regulator. Keep an expiry register.
- Buy contract-matched insurance and assemble the baseline evidence pack before the first serious bid.
Baseline evidence pack
Have this ready before an opportunity lands.
Money
Banking, accounting, GST status, tax records, cost model, cashflow forecast and financial-capacity material.
People
Employment and contractor records, awards check, super, WorkCover, qualifications, licences, CVs and role descriptions.
Delivery systems
Quality, WHS, environmental, risk, privacy, cyber, records, incident, complaints and subcontractor controls sized to the work.
Proof
Comparable projects, outcomes, photographs with permission, client references, equipment, methods and honest capability limits.
Contract cover
Certificates of currency and a repeatable review of liability, indemnity, IP, payment, security, variation and termination clauses.
Build one real operating company before a pile of shells.
Create another entity when ownership, project finance, regulated work, liability separation or a true joint venture demands it. Until then, one well-run vehicle with clean project accounts and written partner agreements is stronger than five empty companies.