Ask for every quote in two columns: government fees and service fees. The government column has published amounts you can check, starting with SAR 1,200 to establish an LLC and SAR 500 to publish it, plus 15% VAT. The one government line no firm can price in advance is the MISA registration fee, which is set by the ministry on approval. Everything else is service, and service is fair to pay for when it is named.
Start from the government total
Before you read a proposal, know what the Ministry of Commerce side of your company should cost. For an LLC it is SAR 2,155 with an Arabic trade name and SAR 2,455 with an English one, VAT included. The home page calculator gives the figure for other company types, and the commercial registration guide explains each line.
Why advertised prices look lower
A Saudi setup consultancy advertises company formation from SAR 1,200, and totals the official fees at SAR 1,700 before VAT. Both are defensible: the first is the ministry's LLC establishment fee, and the second adds publication before VAT. What the headline leaves out is the trade name and the tax, which is how an accurate figure still ends up a few hundred riyals below what you will pay.
Show the numbers
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Consultancy headline price, from | SAR 1,200 |
| Consultancy total of official fees, before VAT | SAR 1,700 |
| Published fees, LLC, Arabic name, with VAT | SAR 2,155 |
| Published fees, LLC, English name, with VAT | SAR 2,455 |
The questions that sort a quote out
You do not need to know Saudi procedure to test a proposal. You need the quote to separate what it hands to a ministry from what it keeps.
- Which lines are government fees and which are your fee? Ask for them in two columns.
- What is your MISA registration fee figure, and which page is it from? The ministry's own guide says the amount is set by the ministry on approval.
- Is VAT shown separately? The ministry lists 15% VAT with the establishment and publication fees.
- Does the price include the annual confirmation and the MISA update next year, or only setup?
- How are staff costs shown? The work licence is SAR 100 a year per foreign worker and the levy is SAR 700 a month or SAR 800 a month, and none of that is service.
- What is excluded? Translation, embassy attestation, the national address and bank account opening are the usual four.
Signs a quote has been put together carefully
A careful one names the entity type before pricing it, because a joint stock company costs SAR 1,600 and a partnership SAR 1,000, not the LLC figure. It tells you the trade name costs more in English. It flags the annual confirmation of SAR 1,200 for next year instead of letting you discover it. It treats the MISA fee as open until approval rather than printing a confident number. And it shows staff charges per head, because they grow with your team and the company fees do not.
Signs to slow down for
A single all-inclusive figure with no breakdown. A fixed annual investment licence fee quoted without a source. A capital requirement asserted for an activity without reference to the ministry's activity table, when only trading carries one, starting at SAR 26,666,667. A levy figure that does not match either of the labour ministry's two rates. Any of these can be an oversight rather than sharp practice, and all of them are reasonable things to query before signing.
What a consultant is worth paying for
The fee schedule is public; the sequencing is where money is lost. Getting documents attested in the right order, keeping the investment certificate valid when you incorporate, paying within the window after approval, and getting the general manager's work permit issued before the residence permit is attempted. That is the work. A firm that explains it in writing, with dates, has earned its margin.
Use the calculator to fix the government side of the number before your first call, so the conversation is about service rather than arithmetic.
If you run a setup firm and want your own prices laid out in those two columns, we build and look after websites for business setup consultants.
A two-column template to send with your request
Ask each firm to fill in the same table, so the proposals can be read side by side.
A firm that will not separate the columns is telling you something about how the rest of the engagement will be invoiced. A firm that fills them in, and flags the MISA line as open, has already done part of the work you are paying for.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a setup quote is fair?
Split it into government and service columns. Check the government column against the published fees; judge the service column on what is included and how clearly it is explained.
Should a quote include the MISA fee?
Only as an open item. The ministry's guide says the amount is set by the ministry on approval, so a fixed figure needs a source.
Why is my quote higher than the government fees?
Because it includes service, translation, attestation and often staff processes. That is normal; the question is whether each part is named.
Every figure on this page is taken from the issuing body’s own page, with the date that page was opened. How the figures are checked