If you supply goods on credit, lease equipment, or leave machinery on someone else's premises without registering a security interest on the Personal Property Securities Register, you risk losing legal ownership of that property the moment the other business becomes insolvent. It happens more often than most suppliers expect, and by the time it does, the registration window has already closed.
You delivered the stock. They haven't paid. Now it's sitting in their warehouse, and legally, it might as well be theirs. That is what an unregistered security interest looks like in practice: the goods are still, in every physical sense, yours, but without the right paperwork lodged in the right window, a liquidator is under no obligation to treat them that way.
Supplying goods on credit or leaving equipment on someone else's site? Get in touch and we'll check your PPSR position is actually registered the way it needs to be.
Book a Free Consultation →What Does the PPSR Actually Protect?
The Personal Property Securities Register records who has a security interest in goods that aren't in their owner's hands yet. It exists because possession and ownership can be two different things: a business can be holding goods it doesn't legally own, and unless that fact is recorded on the register, everyone else dealing with that business, including a liquidator, is entitled to assume the goods belong to whoever has them.
Supply stock on credit, lease out equipment, or leave machinery on a job site, and without registration you are just an unsecured creditor if things go wrong. That is a materially worse position than being a secured creditor. Secured creditors get paid from specific assets before unsecured creditors get anything at all.
When Do You Need to Register on the PPSR?
Registration is not a one-size-fits-all deadline, and getting the timing wrong is the single most common way suppliers lose their priority.
- Supplying inventory on an ongoing basis? Register before your customer takes possession. Once the goods are physically with them, you are already behind.
- Leasing out equipment or machinery instead? You get 15 business days after they take possession, not before, to register, or you lose priority against other secured creditors who registered earlier.
Both windows are narrower than most businesses assume, and both are unforgiving. There is no grace period for "we meant to register it."
What Happens If You Don't Register in Time?
The business you supplied goes into administration. Your registration is late, or missing entirely. The liquidator treats your stock or equipment as a general asset of the company, sells it as part of the wind-up, and unsecured creditors, which now includes you, get cents in the dollar, if anything at all. The goods you can see sitting in a photo of the warehouse floor are, for legal purposes, gone.
Where This Shows Up
This is not a niche problem confined to one industry. It shows up anywhere goods or equipment leave your hands before you have been paid in full:
- Hire equipment left on a construction site
- Stock on consignment to a retailer
- Vehicles leased to another business
- Materials supplied on 30-day trading terms
Different goods, different industries, same exposure. If your business supplies anything without receiving full payment on delivery, this is worth checking now, not after a customer's insolvency notice arrives.
How Phan Campbell & Associates Can Help
At Phan Campbell & Associates in Footscray, our commercial law team reviews and registers PPSR interests for suppliers, equipment hire businesses, and trade creditors across Melbourne and Victoria. We check that existing registrations are accurate, correctly classified, and lodged within the right window for your type of arrangement.
Because we are a combined legal and accounting firm, we can also help you build PPSR registration into your standard trading terms and invoicing process, so it happens automatically rather than depending on someone remembering.
A PPSR search matters just as much on the other side of a transaction: buying a business means checking whether the equipment you think you're acquiring is actually free of someone else's security interest. See our due-diligence checklist for buying a business in Victoria.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What does the PPSR actually protect?
The Personal Property Securities Register records who has a security interest in goods that are not in their owner's hands yet. If you supply stock on credit, lease equipment, or leave machinery on a job site, registering on the PPSR is what preserves your legal claim to that property if the business holding it becomes insolvent.
2. When do I need to register on the PPSR?
It depends on the arrangement. If you're supplying inventory on an ongoing basis, you need to register before your customer takes possession. If you're leasing out equipment or machinery, you get 15 business days after they take possession, not before, to register, or you lose priority.
3. What happens if I don't register in time?
If the business you supplied goes into administration and your registration is late or missing, the liquidator treats your stock or equipment as a general asset of the company. Unsecured creditors like an unregistered supplier get cents in the dollar, if anything.
4. Does this only apply to large suppliers?
No. It applies to hire equipment left on a construction site, stock on consignment to a retailer, vehicles leased to another business, and materials supplied on 30-day terms. Any business that supplies goods without immediate full payment should check its PPSR position.