Resident director services
A resident director service your firm can stand behind
We partner exclusively with accounting and legal firms to provide resident directors for their foreign-owned clients. Not a name on a form. A genuine compliance layer that protects your client and reflects well on your practice.
Where informal resident director arrangements go wrong
The Corporations Act requires every Australian proprietary company to have at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia. For foreign-owned subsidiaries, this usually means appointing a nominee. But the way most firms handle this in 2026 creates more risk than it solves.
The partner or staff member approach
An accounting firm partner or senior staff member agrees to act as resident director for a client. It starts as a favour, then multiplies. Suddenly they’re director of twelve entities with personal liability for each one, no monitoring infrastructure, and no time to actually review board papers. When something goes wrong, it’s their name on the ASIC register.
The cheap online nominee
A $500/year nominee director from an online provider. No relationship with the company, no understanding of the business, no monitoring of compliance obligations. They meet the technical requirement and nothing else. When ASIC or the ATO comes asking questions, there’s no one who actually knows what the company does.
The friend-of-a-friend
Someone in Australia agrees to be named as director because the overseas parent needed it done quickly. They don’t understand their legal duties, they don’t have appropriate insurance, and they have no infrastructure to track obligations. A single insolvent trading event could bankrupt them personally.
The set-and-forget
A resident director was appointed three years ago and nobody has reviewed the arrangement since. The company’s activities have changed, new compliance obligations have arisen, ASIC annual reviews haven’t been actioned, and the director isn’t even aware of half the entities they’re named on.
Our approach
Built for firms who take foreign-owned clients seriously
We don't offer resident director services to the public, only through the firm advising the client. We read the structure first, take the appointment on terms we can actually stand behind, and stay across the entity's filings afterwards. Not just a name on an ASIC form.
A genuine second layer of compliance monitoring
Every entity under our resident directorship receives ongoing compliance monitoring. We track ASIC deadlines, review annual statements, flag overdue obligations, and maintain a compliance calendar. If something falls through the cracks at the parent or the accounting firm, we catch it. That’s not a feature of the service, it’s the point of the service.
We understand the realities of foreign-owned subsidiaries
Transfer pricing documentation obligations. Thin capitalisation rules. Withholding tax on cross-border payments. Country-by-country reporting thresholds. We understand the regulatory environment your client operates in, which means our resident directors can actually engage meaningfully with board papers and compliance requirements, not just sign what’s put in front of them.
Infrastructure that casual providers don’t have
DIN management, insurance coverage, annual consent confirmations, conflict checks, structured onboarding, documented authority matrices. When you place a resident director through us, the arrangement is professionally structured with clear boundaries, documented authorities, and appropriate safeguards. The kind of infrastructure a partner doing it as a side arrangement simply cannot maintain across a growing portfolio.
An arrangement you can explain to your client
When your foreign client asks who will be their resident director, you can point to a dedicated corporate governance professional with appropriate insurance, compliance monitoring infrastructure, and a working knowledge of the regulatory environment. The risk has been considered, a specialist provider chosen, and the arrangement structured properly.
Risk mitigation your clients actually need
A resident director has personal liability under the Corporations Act. We carry appropriate professional indemnity and directors’ & officers’ insurance. We have documented protocols for insolvent trading risk identification, conflict of interest management, and related party transaction review. We know when to raise a flag and when to escalate. That infrastructure exists because this is our profession, not an add-on to another service.
Your choice: through your firm or direct
If you prefer, we engage through your firm, your client sees your advisory relationship with a specialist provider behind it. If you’d rather we manage the client directly, we do that too. Either way, we never poach clients and we never compete with your practice. You choose the model that works for you.
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Every resident director engagement includes
✓Qualified Australian-resident director with current DIN
✓Professional indemnity and D&O insurance coverage
✓Structured onboarding with authority matrix documentation
✓Ongoing ASIC compliance monitoring for the entity
✓Annual consent to act confirmation and conflict review
✓Escalation protocols for insolvent trading indicators
✓Board paper review capability (not rubber-stamping)
✓Direct line to your firm for governance queries
✓Compatibility with our ASIC outsourced models
✓Registered office service available as add-on
How it works
Getting started is straightforward
1
You brief us on the client
Tell us about the entity, its activities, the parent company structure, and what the resident director role involves. We’ll assess suitability and confirm we can act.
2
We onboard and document the arrangement
Structured engagement letter, authority matrix, consent to act, DIN verification, insurance confirmation. Everything documented properly from day one.
3
Ongoing monitoring begins immediately
We set up the entity in our compliance tracking system. ASIC deadlines, annual statement obligations and registered office requirements are all monitored proactively.
4
Your client gets a professional director, your firm gets the risk off its books
Board papers reviewed meaningfully. Compliance flags raised early. Governance questions routed through your firm. A resident director service that actually adds value to your advisory relationship.
Pricing
An annual fee, quoted per entity based on the complexity of the company's activities, reporting obligations, and board involvement required. Volume arrangements available for firms placing multiple resident directorships. Tell us about the entity and we'll come back with an indicative quote, with no obligation.