Private company due diligence in Australia
Australian private deals are decided on what ASIC, the PPSR and the bank feed show, not on the management deck.
We read ASIC (the company regulator), ABN Lookup (the business number register), the PPSR (where lenders register security over assets), insolvency notices, court lists and, with consent, the company's bank and ledger data.
Where Kubr stands in Australia
Stage: Scoping. The launch plan covers registry, security-interest (claims lenders register over assets), insolvency and lodged-accounts work. Consented bank, ledger and tax-agent routes are being scoped and are not live.
Clients here: wholesale clients.
Services are for wholesale clients only. Kubr does not hold an Australian financial services licence and does not give financial product advice.
Australian private deals are structured around PPSR-registered security, ASIC records and the ATO's tax position, and Kubr reads all three, with the company's consent where it must.
Registers and records we read in Australia
| Source | What it holds | How we get it |
|---|---|---|
| ASIC company and organisation registers | Company name, ACN (company number), type, status, registration date, registered office, officeholders, share structure and lodged documents. Extracts and document copies are paid items. | Read by Kubr |
| ABN Lookup (Australian Business Register) | ABN status, entity type, business and trading names, main business location, and GST registration status with its effective date. | Read by Kubr |
| Personal Property Securities Register (AFSA) | Security interests registered against the party that gave the security, such as general security agreements, equipment and vehicle finance, and retention-of-title claims (a seller keeping ownership until paid). Searchable by ACN. | Read by Kubr |
| ASIC published notices | Insolvency and deregistration notices lodged by liquidators and administrators, from 1 July 2012. | Read by Kubr |
| AFSA National Personal Insolvency Index | Bankruptcies, debt agreements and personal insolvency agreements of individuals, relevant to directors and guarantors. | Read by Kubr |
| Federal, state and territory court records | Case names, parties, and hearing lists from the Federal Court and state Supreme and District or County Courts. Depth varies by court. Judgments are on public law-report sites. | Read by Kubr |
| ASX company announcements and ASIC financial reports | For listed companies, continuous disclosure (ongoing market announcements) and half-year and annual reports. For large proprietary and public unlisted companies, audited annual financial reports lodged with ASIC. | Read by Kubr |
| ATO corporate tax transparency report | Total income, taxable income and tax payable for corporate entities with total income of A$100 million or more. Latest report on file covers 2023-24. | Read by Kubr |
| ATO tax debt reported to credit bureaus | An ABN-level tax debt of A$100,000 or more, overdue more than 90 days, where the entity is not engaging with the ATO. Visible only through a licensed credit-reporting body. | Supplied by the company |
| ASIC professional registers (AFS licensees, registered auditors and liquidators, credit licensees) | Licence status, conditions and banning or disqualification actions, for regulated targets and for the advisers and auditors they use. | Read by Kubr |
| DFAT Consolidated List | Persons and entities subject to Australian sanctions. | Read by Kubr |
| IP Australia trade mark and patent databases | Registered marks and patents by owner, with status and dates. | Read by Kubr |
| Company data room | Management accounts, Business Activity Statement (BAS) lodgments, bank statements, contracts, leases, employment records and the cap table (who owns what). | Supplied by the company |
Rules that shape the work
- Company law and registry
- The Corporations Act 2001 governs companies, and ASIC keeps the company registers. Basic company details are free to search, and extracts and lodged documents are paid items. Officeholder residential addresses no longer appear in ASIC extracts. The Australian Business Register holds ABN and GST registration status.
- Data protection
- The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles apply to personal information, which includes information about directors and owners. The statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy has applied since 10 June 2025. Automated-decision transparency duties start on 10 December 2026. A second tranche of reforms is in draft. The small business exemption for turnover under A$3 million is still in place.
- Financial data
- The Consumer Data Right is Australia's scheme for sharing bank data with consent. It has covered banking since 2020 and is extending to non-bank lenders in stages from July 2026. A business shares data through a nominated representative, an adult individual it appoints. How much business banking data is reachable in practice is to be confirmed with local counsel. Company-supplied statements are the fallback.
- Securities regulator
- ASIC. Financial product advice and dealing need an Australian financial services licence. Kubr does not hold one and gives no advice.
- Speed
- Register work targets about 2 hours once payment clears. Work that needs the company's accounts, bank data or ledger starts when it gives consent or uploads.
- Reliability
- Company, director and security-interest records are strong. There is no sales feed we can pull. GST is reported to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on Business Activity Statements, and we can only see those through the company or its tax agent. Small proprietary companies generally lodge no accounts, so checking revenue depends on bank and ledger data.
How we check sales and cash here
Australia has no sales-tax return we can pull. GST appears on Business Activity Statements lodged with the ATO, and we can see them only through the company or its registered tax agent. Small proprietary companies generally lodge no accounts. So we cross-check. No single layer proves revenue. Agreement across several does.
Where your data is held
As a pre-launch design commitment, data for Australian engagements is sourced from providers licensed in Australia and handled inside Australia. We will state this again in the engagement terms and confirm it with local counsel before launch.
Sourced from: Australian government registries and their licensed information brokers, accredited data recipients under the Consumer Data Right, licensed credit-reporting bodies, and the accounting-software and payroll providers the company chooses to connect.
Stored and processed in Australian cloud regions. By design nothing crosses the border. Any offshore step would need the company's written consent and a review against Australian Privacy Principle 8, the rule on sending personal data overseas.
Reports available in Australia
- Verified SnapshotFull
ASIC and ABN Lookup identity and history, officeholders, PPSR security interests, ASIC insolvency notices, court name searches, sanctions screen and adverse media. Limits: Officeholder residential addresses are hidden by ASIC. Court coverage differs by state and court. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Financial diligencePartial
Lodged reports for public and large proprietary companies, plus the company's bank, ledger and BAS material where it consents. We test sales, receivables and cash against each other. Limits: Small proprietary companies lodge no accounts. Bank and ATO routes are not live at launch. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Legal diligence supportPartial
Security interests, court and insolvency records, licence status and IP registrations, then a review of contracts and leases the company uploads. Limits: A register search does not replace a legal opinion. Title, employment and regulatory matters go to a lawyer. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Promoter profilesPartial
ASIC officeholder history, other directorships, disqualification and banning records, personal insolvency index and sanctions screen for directors and principal owners. Limits: No director home addresses. Beneficial ownership of unlisted companies is not on a public register yet. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - IC noteFull
A note for an investment committee that sets out the register findings, the flagged items with their sources, and what we could not see. Limits: Not a recommendation, rating or opinion. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Portfolio monitorPartial
Alerts on changes to ASIC records, new PPSR registrations, insolvency notices, court filings and ABN status for a list of companies. Limits: Bank and ledger movement needs consent and is not live at launch. Typical turnaround: Baseline in 2 to 5 working days, then each update in 2 to 5. - Model checkFull
We test the company's model for arithmetic, internal consistency and stated assumptions against lodged accounts and, where consented, bank and ledger actuals. Limits: Without bank or ledger access the check uses only the accounts and management figures supplied. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Valuation contextPartial
Listed-peer multiples from ASX disclosures, takeover bidder and target statements, and ASIC filings. Limits: Private company financials are mostly not public. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set.
Not yet available here: Rating history (planned); Borrower monitor (planned); Proceeds tracer (planned). See all eleven reports or read the sample report.
Work that needs a licensed professional
- Financial product advice and dealing: An Australian financial services licence holder.
- Statutory audit and assurance: A registered company auditor.
- Legal opinions, title and contract advice: An Australian legal practitioner.
- Insolvency appointments and formal investigations: A registered liquidator.
- Credit reporting and commercial credit files: A licensed credit-reporting body.
Kubr does not hold an Australian financial services licence, is not a registered company auditor, and does not practise law. Under the Corporations Act 2001, carrying on a financial services business in Australia generally requires a licence from ASIC. Kubr provides sourced information and comparisons and does not give financial product advice, credit ratings or opinions. Whether any part of the launch service would need a licence or an exemption is to be confirmed with local counsel.
Information about directors and owners is personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. We plan to collect only what a diligence purpose needs, to state that purpose, and to keep data in Australia. Notifiable data breach rules and the statutory tort for serious privacy invasions also apply, and the second tranche of reforms is still in draft.
Read next
- Checking an Australian Company: ASIC & PPSR
- Private Company Due Diligence: A Records-Based Guide
- Lender’s Checklist: Verifying a Borrower Company
- Kubr casebook: 483 sourced corporate-failure cases, with its methodology and summary counts
Request a quote for a Australia company, or browse the services.
Other markets
Kubr is a technology platform, not an adviser, law firm, auditor, rating agency or credit bureau. Reports are for the named client only and are not investment advice, an audit or a legal opinion. Full disclosures. Source data for this page: the Kubr market pack for Australia, reviewed 3 November 2026.