As a business providing consulting or professional services, it’s important that you meet all the legal requirements. This includes complying with the relevant laws and having the right documents in place. Our legal team can help you with your legal needs, from contracts to intellectual property protection and privacy. Get in touch today!
If you want to start your own consulting business, it's essential that you do not neglect the legal side of things. To get things started, you'll need to register your business.
If you're under a company structure, you'll need to register with ASIC. You'll also need to register your business or company name, which should not be identical to any existing ones.
The documents you'll need will often depend on your business structure. For example, if you're under a partnership structure, you'll need a Partnership Agreement. If you're under a company structure, you'll need to have a Company Constitution in line with the Corporations Act 2001.
Generally speaking, a consulting business will not require a licence. However, this also depends on the industry you're working in.
Often, professional services will require a licence. For instance, if you're providing legal consulting services, you will need to be a qualified lawyer to provide legal advice.
Apart from the standard registration documents, consulting businesses also need to prepare other key documents to protect their business.
- Privacy Policy: in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988, businesses with an annual turnover of $3 million or more are legally required to have a Privacy Policy that discloses how they intend to collect, store and distribute the personal information of their users.
- Terms & Conditions (T&Cs): these are the terms that users must agree to before they can further engage with your business. It can help you monitor activity on your website, limit your liability for key matters and ensure all parties are aware of their rights and responsibilities.
- Disclaimers: when engaging customers, many matters can be discussed but it's important to clarify things you won't be legally responsible for. Disclaimers are a useful way that businesses can inform customers and users of matters they won't be held liable for or key warnings about the management of data generally.
- Consultancy Agreement: this agreement should set out the key services you're providing, payment terms, limitation of liability and termination provisions.
