Once you have considered all the different ways in which a partnership can enhance or hinder your business success, and have decided that this is the most suitable structure for your commercial enterprise, you will need to prepare for establishment and registration.

Firstly, you will need to determine how many partners your partnership will comprise of, and obtain agreement from all partners in relation to the internal governance structure, and control over the day to day affairs of the partnership. Some of the main issues will be any limits to liability of each of the partners, proportionate to each partners' investment, how much authority each partner is to have, whether the partnership wishes to elect a representative who makes agreements on behalf of the partnership, and the distribution of profits and assets.

Once these essential decisions have been discussed, and consent obtained, you are advised to draw up a Partnership Agreement which sets out and formalises these decisions. A lawyer will be able to assist you in drawing up a suitable Partnership Agreement.

Your partnership should have a separate bank account, with all partnership income and expenditure passing through that account, rather than the individual accounts of the partners.

The partnership will also need to decide on a business name, in the event that you are not trading under your personal names. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is responsible for the National Business Names Register, and your business name can be registered online via their website.

Registrations for a Tax File Number (TFN) for the partnership itself and an Australian Business Number (ABN) for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) can also be obtained online in a short amount of time.

Depending on the complexity of your partnership, it may be advisable to engage a lawyer to assist you with this registration process, in particular the drafting of any Partnership Agreements.