As a sole trader, you and the business are the same legal entity — there's no ASIC deregistration step. But "just stop invoicing people" still leaves loose ends that can cost you later. Here's the order that avoids that.
1. Settle your obligations before you cancel anything
Before cancelling your ABN, make sure you're up to date on lodgements, reporting and payments — activity statements, PAYG withholding reports, taxable payments annual reports, and any outstanding tax debt. Cancelling first and sorting this out later just adds friction.
2. Lodge a final BAS and cancel GST registration
If you're registered for GST, lodge a final Business Activity Statement covering your last reporting period, then cancel the GST registration. If you had employees, finalise PAYG withholding and Single Touch Payroll reporting too.
3. Cancel your ABN
You can cancel your ABN online through the Australian Business Register — there's no fee. Do this within 28 days of ceasing to trade; leaving an inactive ABN registered can create confusion (and occasional compliance letters) down the track.
4. Cancel your business name (if you have one)
If you registered a business name separately from your own name, cancel that registration with ASIC too — it doesn't lapse automatically just because the ABN is cancelled.
5. Report your final figures
Your last year of sole trader income and expenses gets reported in your individual tax return as usual — there's no separate "closing" tax return the way there is for a company.
6. Close accounts and cancel subscriptions
Business bank accounts, payment processors, invoicing and accounting software, domain and hosting renewals, business insurance — anything ticking over on autopay is worth listing out and cancelling deliberately, rather than discovering it on a card statement in six months.
7. Keep your records
Cancelling everything doesn't mean you can shred everything — see our guide on how long to keep business records after closing for the specifics.