Aqid ERPWhat changed on 3 April 2025
- One registration for the whole Kingdom. Branch (subsidiary) registrations are no longer issued; a business holds a single register covering all its activities and places. Branch registrations that existed before have five years to be folded in.
- No expiry date and no renewal. Instead the business confirms its register data electronically every twelve months from the issue date.
- A register left unconfirmed for three months is suspended; a register suspended for a year is struck off.
- No city on the register: the national address is the address.
- A new Trade Names Law applies alongside it, with wider freedom in choosing a name, including non-Arabic words.
Who can register
- A Saudi or GCC national aged eighteen or over, registering a sole establishment (مؤسسة) in their own name, or founding a company.
- A foreign investor, after an investment licence from the Ministry of Investment; the registration follows the licence.
- Public-sector employees are restricted from trading in their own name; check the civil service rules before registering an establishment.
- A company (LLC, simplified joint-stock and the rest) registers through the Saudi Business Center with its articles of association; an establishment registers directly on the Ministry's portal.
The steps for a sole establishment
- Sign in to the Ministry of Commerce portal through the national single sign-on.
- Choose the trade name. The portal checks it against the Trade Names Law and the register; a name already taken or misleading is refused.
- Choose the activities from the Ministry's list (ISIC codes). Some need a licence from another authority first; the portal says which.
- State the capital and confirm the national address; the address is what the register carries.
- Pay the fee through SADAD. The registration is issued electronically, usually at once, with its ten-digit number.
- The chamber of commerce subscription is raised with the registration; it is a separate yearly fee set by the chamber's category table.
What it costs
The Ministry's own fee has long been SAR 200 a year for an establishment's main register; the SAR 100 fee for a subsidiary register fell away with subsidiary registers. The chamber subscription is set by each chamber in categories; Riyadh Chamber's table runs from SAR 200 to SAR 5,000 a year by legal form, capital and headcount, and a new small business normally falls in the lowest categories. VAT applies to the chamber fee. A company's registration fee differs from an establishment's; the Saudi Business Center quotes it at the time of registration.
| Ministry of Commerce, establishment main register, per year | SAR 200 |
|---|---|
| Riyadh Chamber subscription, smallest categories, per year | SAR 200 to 500 |
| Riyadh Chamber subscription, largest category, per year | SAR 5,000 |
| Typical first-year cost for a small establishment | SAR 500 to 1,000 |
After the registration
- The unified national number (الرقم الموحد) is issued with the registration; it is not the CR number and not the VAT number.
- Open a business bank account; the bank asks for the registration and the national address.
- Register for VAT with ZATCA once taxable supplies pass SAR 375,000 in twelve months, or voluntarily above SAR 187,500. E-invoicing applies from registration.
- Register with GOSI before the first hire, and with Qiwa and Mudad to issue contracts and pay wages through the Wage Protection System.
- Put the registration number on every invoice; it is one of the fields ZATCA requires on a tax invoice.
- Set a reminder for the annual confirmation. The register no longer expires, so nothing else will remind you.