The fixed costs everyone pays
| Item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ABN | Free | Australian Business Register; issued in minutes if identity checks pass |
| Company registration (ASIC) | About $600 | Indexed each July; sole trader is free but offers no liability separation |
| Business name | About $45 for 1 year / $105 for 3 years | Not needed if you trade under your company or personal name |
| Domain and email | $20–$150 a year | .com.au requires an ABN; business email on your domain about $10–$15 per user per month |
| Website | $0–$10,000+ | DIY builders from about $30 a month; professionally built sites typically $3,000–$10,000 |
| Public liability insurance | $500–$2,500 a year | Depends on industry and turnover; in-home services sit at the upper end |
| Professional indemnity | $600–$3,000 a year | Essential for advice, care and education services |
| Workers’ compensation | Percentage of wages | Mandatory once you employ anyone; rates set per state and industry |
| Accounting software and bookkeeping | $30–$80 a month + bookkeeper | GST registration required above $75,000 turnover |
| Bank account and payments | $0–$30 a month + card fees (about 1.5–2%) |
Industry-specific costs
What each of the six setups adds
Regulator and screening fees are indicative; confirm the current amount at the time you apply.
- NDIS Worker Screening: roughly $80–$150 per worker for five years (state-set)
- Approved quality auditor: about $900–$2,500 (verification) or $3,000–$8,000+ (certification)
- Practice Standards documents, self-assessment, incident and complaints systems
- Software: rostering/CRM $50–$300 a month
- Time to registration decision: typically 3–6 months – the biggest ‘cost’ is runway
- Registration with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission; Category 4–6 audited against the Standards
- Police checks / worker screening per worker; clinical lead if clinical care is delivered
- Care planning and claiming software; Services Australia setup
- Insurance premiums at the higher end for personal care in homes
- ABN, insurance, worker screening, first-aid/CPR ($100–$200)
- Service agreement, invoicing and a simple website
- No audit; trade with plan-managed and self-managed participants within two weeks
- Working With Children Check per tutor (fee varies by state; five-year clearance)
- Child-safe policies, code of conduct, tutor induction
- Scheduling and parent-portal software $30–$150 a month
- Marketing: local SEO pages and Google Business Profile matter more than ads
- WWCC, insurance, ABN, a one-page site and booking link
- Trading within a week; scale later with the agency setup
- Platform subscription $50–$150 a month plus apps and payment fees (about 1.75% + 30c)
- Stock or print-on-demand samples; product photography
- Consumer law compliance: returns, refunds, shipping terms
- Marketing budget is the real variable – allow at least three months of testing
The costs people forget
- Your own unpaid time – usually three to six months of evenings. Price it; it’s the biggest line.
- Regulator decision time – you cannot invoice the market you’re waiting to enter.
- Screening lead times – a worker who can’t start for six weeks is a worker you pay for or lose.
- Superannuation, leave and payroll tax – an employee costs 15–30% more than their hourly rate.
- Software creep – six $40 subscriptions is $2,880 a year.
- Rebuilding a template – the cheapest documents are the ones you end up paying someone to rewrite before an audit.
Build your own budget
Start-up budget calculator
A year-one view. Choose the industry, then adjust.
How much runway you need
A useful rule: fixed monthly costs × (months to first revenue + 3), plus the one-off setup, plus a personal living buffer. For a registered NDIS or aged-care provider that means budgeting for six to nine months of costs, because the regulator’s decision sets the start date. For a support-worker starter, a solo tutor or an online store it can be six weeks. The fixed-price setups exist to remove the largest variable – how long it takes to build the thing properly – so that the runway you plan is the runway you need.
- ASIC – Fees for commonly lodged documents (company registration and business name fees, indexed 1 July)
- Australian Taxation Office – GST registration threshold; superannuation guarantee rate
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission – worker screening fees by state/territory; approved quality auditors
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission – provider registration
- Office of the Children’s Guardian (NSW) – Working With Children Check fees
General information only, not legal, financial or tax advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the regulator or a qualified professional.
Why Nemco
Built properly, priced once, owned by you – and who signs off every build.
Since 2013
Consulting, marketing and applications since 2013. A setup is that experience, packaged.
Fixed price
One number, three milestones. No hourly rates, no surprise invoices.
You own 100%
Entity, brand, site, documents, systems – yours outright. No royalties, ever.
Honest by design
No income claims. No guaranteed approvals. If it isn’t a fit, we say so on the call.
Christian Nehme · Founder & Principal Adviser
Lead Auditor
ISO 9001:2015 – trained to run the audits, not just pass them.
NDIS Internal Auditor
NDIS Internal Auditor Course – the Practice Standards from the assessor’s side.
Audit & risk in government
3+ years in audit and risk management roles in government.
Bachelor of Medical Science
A clinical-science grounding for health, disability and aged-care work.