Definition
A commercial registration (CR) is the official record that registers a business to trade in Saudi Arabia, identified by its CR number.
What is a commercial registration used for?
Commercial registration is a regional term. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce issues the CR, and customers, banks and government portals ask for the CR number when opening accounts, signing contracts and registering suppliers. In the UAE, the nearest equivalent is the trade licence.
Example (fictional): CR 7000000000 printed on a Riyadh distributor’s letterhead.
A CR isn’t a VAT number: the tax registration number comes from the tax authority, the CR from the commercial registry. Saudi invoices and letterheads often show both, along with the national address.