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Government accreditations and credentials

Honcho is an Australian business registration service operated by Business Switch Pty Ltd (ABN 83 134 235 304; ACN 134 235 304). Founded in 2008, we have helped more than 1 million Australians start and manage their businesses.

This page sets out the government registrations, listings and accreditations held by Business Switch Pty Ltd, what each one means for you, and the obligations each one places on us under Australian law, including how we meet them.

01 · ABR

Australian Business Register

Business Switch Pty Ltd can be independently checked using the Australian Business Register’s ABN Lookup service, including its registered business names.

What this means for you: you can confirm exactly who you are dealing with. Our legal name, ABN, ACN and GST status are public.

02 · IP Australia

Trade mark

Honcho is a registered trade mark of Business Switch Pty Ltd (Australian trade mark number 1678512, classes 9, 35, 36, 38, 41, 42 and 45).

What this means for you: the Honcho name and brand are legally protected and owned by the company that operates the service.

03 · ASIC

ASIC software lodgement provider

ASIC publishes a list of software providers that lodge documents on the companies and business names registers. Business Switch Pty Ltd is listed for company registration and business name registration, lodging through ASIC’s EDGE and ECR systems.

What this means for you: when you register a company or business name with Honcho, your application is lodged directly on ASIC’s registers.

04 · ATO

ATO Software Developers Product Register

The ATO maintains a register of software products authorised to use its digital services. Honcho is listed there under Business Switch Pty Ltd as ABN business registration software, authorised for ABN registration.

What this means for you: Honcho’s ABN application software is on the ATO’s own register of authorised software products.

Inclusion on the register is not ATO approval or endorsement of all Honcho services.

05 · ATO connection

A live connection to the ATO through SBR

Standard Business Reporting (SBR) is the Australian Government’s channel for business software to exchange information directly with government systems. Introduced in 2010 and run by the Australian Business Register program, it is the primary channel for ATO digital transactions.

Honcho connects to the ATO through SBR. When you apply for an ABN with us, your application and the tax registrations you need with it, such as GST and PAYG withholding, go from our system straight to the ATO’s, live. No paper forms and no re-keying. The ATO’s response comes straight back into our system, so we can act on it for you.

Step 1You apply with HonchoABN plus the tax registrations you need.
Step 2Sent live via SBRSystem to system, over a secure connection.
Step 3The ATO respondsStraight back into our system for us to action.

Every provider with this access must meet the ATO’s Digital Service Provider (DSP) Operational Framework, which sets security requirements for how taxpayer data is accessed, stored and transmitted. Business Switch Pty Ltd has been assessed against the framework.

What this means for you: your ABN and tax registrations are lodged directly with the ATO on your behalf, through a live, secure connection that meets the ATO’s own security requirements for software providers.

The ATO and the Registrar decide every application. Some are referred for manual review.

06 · TPB

Registered tax agent

Business Switch Pty Ltd is registered with the Tax Practitioners Board as a tax agent (registration number 03631006).

What this means for you: tax-related services are provided under a registered tax agent, bound by the TPB Code of Professional Conduct.

07 · AUSTRAC

Anti-money laundering (AML/CTF)

Business Switch Pty Ltd is enrolled with AUSTRAC as a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. Under our AML/CTF program, we verify the identity of the people involved, including beneficial owners, before providing services AUSTRAC regulates, such as company registration and registered office address services. We also apply these checks to other services where AUSTRAC requires it, or where we judge it is in the interests of everyone involved.

What this means for you: the companies and services set up through us are backed by verified identities, which protects you and the integrity of Australia’s business registers.

08 · GLEIF

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

Business Switch Pty Ltd holds a Legal Entity Identifier, LEI 984500599F98FF0AB622, listed in the Global LEI Index maintained by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF). The LEI is the international standard (ISO 17442) for identifying legal entities.

What this means for you: our legal identity is verified and recorded in the global register used by banks, regulators and financial institutions worldwide.

09 · Security

Information security: ISO/IEC 27001:2022

Business Switch Pty Ltd holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for its information security management system, issued by QAS International (certificate AIT1019, scope: comprehensive business start-up services that help the customer to start, manage and grow their business).

What this means for you: the identity documents and business details you give us are handled under an independently audited security management system.

How we meet our obligations

Each registration above comes with legal, security and ethical obligations. This is what they require of us and how we meet them.

As an ASIC digital service provider and registered agent

  • We lodge with ASIC only with your written authority, and we keep that authority on file.
  • We keep signed lodgement records for at least 7 years, as ASIC’s Electronic Lodgement Protocol requires, and produce them to ASIC on request.
  • Our ASIC access credentials and company keys are restricted to authorised staff and kept secure.
  • We notify ASIC immediately of any suspected security compromise or privacy breach involving its systems.
  • We obtain your consent before submitting your personal information to ASIC, and handle it under the Australian Privacy Principles.

Sources: ASIC Digital Services Terms; ASIC Electronic Lodgement Protocol; ASIC registered agent terms and conditions.

As an ATO digital service provider connected through SBR

The ATO’s DSP Operational Framework (see above) sets the security controls for any software that handles tax or business registry data connected to ATO systems. Under it, we:

  • encrypt your data in transit to the ATO’s approved standard (minimum TLS 1.3) and encrypt it at rest;
  • require multi-factor authentication for staff who access tax and business registry information;
  • keep audit logs of user access and actions for at least 12 months;
  • host all your data in Australia;
  • monitor security at the network, application and transaction layers;
  • run personnel security procedures for hiring, managing and exiting staff and contractors, and give the ATO an overview of our supply chain;
  • hold independent ISO/IEC 27001 certification (see above).

Source: ATO requirements for digital service providers.

As a registered tax agent

Registered tax agents are bound by the Code of Professional Conduct in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, regulated by the Tax Practitioners Board. The Code requires us to:

  • act honestly and with integrity, and never make false or misleading statements;
  • act independently and manage conflicts of interest;
  • keep your information confidential;
  • provide services competently and keep proper client records;
  • run a quality management system and keep you informed of matters that affect you.

We hold professional indemnity insurance and complete continuing professional education, as the TPB requires.

Source: TPB Code of Professional Conduct obligations.

As an AUSTRAC reporting entity

The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 applies to services such as company registration and registered office address services. Under it, we:

  • maintain a written AML/CTF program, built on a money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment that we review at least every three years;
  • have a nominated AML/CTF compliance officer;
  • verify the identity of the people involved, including beneficial owners (anyone with 25% or more ownership or effective control), before providing a regulated service;
  • apply the same checks to other services where AUSTRAC requires it, or where we judge it is in the interests of everyone involved;
  • keep customer information current and rescreen against updated sanctions lists;
  • report suspicious matters to AUSTRAC within the required timeframes;
  • keep AML/CTF records for at least 7 years, and train our staff on their obligations.

Source: AUSTRAC AML/CTF reform.

Privacy and your tax file number

  • We handle personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.
  • Where an application includes your tax file number, we collect, store and use it only as the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 allows.
  • If a data breach is likely to cause you serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.

Read our privacy policy

Under our ISO/IEC 27001 certification

Certification is not a one-off. To keep it, we:

  • assess and treat information security risks on an ongoing basis;
  • run internal audits and management reviews of our security management system;
  • pass annual surveillance audits by our certification body, QAS International;
  • go through full recertification every three years.

Complaints

If something isn’t right, tell us first. Our team will work with you to resolve it.

Make a complaint

Independence statement

Honcho is an independent commercial service provider and is not part of ASIC, the ATO or the Australian Government. Links to official registers are provided for transparency and verification and do not imply government endorsement.

Records on this page last checked 31 October 2026.