Company seal maker for Australia

Australian companies have not needed a common seal since the Corporations Act 2001, which allows execution by two directors or a director and secretary, though many keep one for share certificates.

Open the stamp maker

Section 127 of the Corporations Act 2001 settled this: a company may execute a document with or without a common seal, and a counterparty can rely on either. Most Australian companies formed since have never owned one. Where seals survive it is on share certificates and formal instruments, and on paperwork heading to jurisdictions that still expect them.

What a company stamp in Australia usually carries

Why make it digitally

Questions

Does an Australian company need a common seal?

No. Section 127 of the Corporations Act 2001 permits execution with or without one, by two directors, by a director and the company secretary, or by the sole director of a single-director company. Check the constitution though, since it may still provide for a seal.

Does the ACN have to be on it?

Company documents must show the ACN, and putting it on the stamp is a straightforward way of satisfying that on forms without a letterhead. The seal itself is not what the requirement attaches to.

ACN or ABN?

The ACN identifies the company and is the one that belongs on a company seal. The ABN is the tax identifier and is more usually on an invoicing stamp.

This describes common commercial practice rather than giving legal advice, and practice changes. Where a specific document matters, check the requirement with the body receiving it.

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