How to set up a New Zealand company

By On Your Terms co-founder Natalie Fennell
April 2025

The 4 steps to set up your New Zealand company:

1. Set up a RealMe account & Companies Office account

• Visit the Companies Office Website. In the top right corner, click the ‘Realme’ button to set up your account.
• Login to your RealMe Account and choose your ‘Online Services Account’ type. If you are the director or shareholder of the company you’re incorporating, you’ll need an ‘individual account’

2. Reserve a Company Name

• Login to your RealMe Account on the Companies Office website, select ‘Reserve A Company Name here’ and answer the questions.
• Pay $10 (plus GST) to the Companies Office. You will receive an email from the Companies Office notifying you if your name reservation has been approved.

Tip: The Companies Office will reject your proposed name if it’s already in use (or too similar to one already in use). We recommend checking your proposed name(s) first at ONECheck. A ONECheck search will tell you if your name (or a similar one) is already a company name, domain name, trade mark or social media username.

3. Incorporate your company

To complete and submit your application, select ‘Incorporate a Company’ on the Companies Office website. To see the information you’ll need to complete this, check out our checklist in our Guide to Incorporating a Company in New Zealand.

4. Fill out and submit consent forms

• You will be emailed consent forms for each director and shareholder of your company. These forms are prefilled with all the necessary information and must be signed and returned to the Companies Office within 20 days.
• The consent forms can be signed electronically either by uploading a signed copy as a pdf on your phone (see here) or by using software that complies with the Companies Office standards (see further details here).
• You’ll receive an email from the Companies Office accepting or rejecting the consent forms. If accepted, you’ll also receive a Certificate of Incorporation confirming your company has been incorporated.
• If the consent forms are rejected you’ll be told why, generally due to poor image quality or the details on the form not matching those supplied in your application.
• Once your company is incorporated, it will be listed on the New Zealand Companies Register which is maintained by the Companies Office. This means certain information about your company is available to the public. You can change your company details at any time through your Companies Office Account.

Tip: If the forms aren’t returned within 20 days all the information you’ve provided about your company registration (including shareholder and director details) will be deleted from the Companies Register and you will have to start the incorporation process again (including paying the fees).

On Your Terms is here to help you kick off your business. Check out our starting a business page for more information on the legal items you need to tick off to get underway.