Company Registry & Identifier Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms you meet on official company registers — from ABN and CRN to LEI, VAT numbers, legal forms and filings.
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Company Intelligence
Company Registry
A government-maintained database of officially registered businesses. Registries vary by country: Companies House (UK), SEC (US), Handelsregister (DE). They contain legal entity data.
Due Diligence
The investigation or research performed before entering into a business agreement. B2B due diligence includes verifying company registration, financial health, and legal status.
Funding Round
A stage of capital investment in a company. Rounds typically progress from Seed to Series A, B, C, and beyond. Recent funding is a strong buying signal for B2B sellers.
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
The total revenue opportunity available for a product or service if 100% market share were achieved. TAM helps size market opportunities and prioritize segments.
Hiring Velocity
The rate at which a company is posting new job openings. High hiring velocity in specific departments (engineering, sales) signals growth and can indicate technology procurement needs.
Growth Signals
Observable indicators that a company is growing, including hiring velocity, funding events, office expansions, and social media follower growth. Growth signals predict technology purchases.
Company Identifiers
ABN (Australian Business Number)
An 11-digit identifier issued by the Australian Business Register to any entity carrying on business in Australia. The first two digits are a checksum, and the ABN is required on tax invoices and for GST registration. Look one up free on the ABR, which publishes entity name, status, GST registration dates, trading names and state.
ACN (Australian Company Number)
A 9-digit identifier issued by ASIC to every company incorporated in Australia — as distinct from an ABN, which any business entity can hold. A company's ABN normally contains its ACN as the last nine digits. The ACN appears on the company's public ASIC record alongside status, registration date and registered office.
KBO / BCE Number (Belgium)
The 10-digit Belgian enterprise number issued by the Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen (Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises). It doubles as the Belgian VAT number when prefixed with BE, and identifies the entity across every Belgian public register. The KBO public search publishes legal name, status, legal form, address, activities and establishment units.
KVK Number (Netherlands)
The 8-digit registration number issued by the Kamer van Koophandel, the Dutch business register. Every Dutch company, branch and sole trader receives one on registration, and it must appear on invoices and contracts. The KVK record shows trade names, legal form, registered address, branches and the registration date.
RCS Number (Luxembourg)
The identifier issued by the Registre de Commerce et des Sociétés, Luxembourg's trade and companies register, formatted as a letter prefix and digits (for example B123456). It identifies the legal entity across filings, annual accounts and published notices, and is the key used when requesting official extracts.
LEI (Legal Entity Identifier)
A 20-character alphanumeric code issued under the global LEI system and maintained by GLEIF, used to identify legal entities in financial transactions. It encodes the issuing Local Operating Unit, an entity-specific block and two check digits, and must be renewed annually. LEI records are free, global and include the entity's legal name, address and direct parent.
VAT Number
A tax identifier issued to businesses registered for value-added tax, formatted as a two-letter country prefix followed by a country-specific block of digits or characters. EU VAT numbers can be validated for free through VIES, which confirms whether the number is currently valid and, where the member state allows it, returns the registered name and address.
DUNS Number
A 9-digit identifier assigned by Dun & Bradstreet to individual business locations, widely required by US federal contracting, procurement systems and credit checks. Unlike a registry number it is issued by a private company rather than a government register, so it is not evidence of legal incorporation and can exist for an unregistered branch.
EIN (Employer Identification Number)
A 9-digit federal tax identifier issued by the IRS to US businesses, formatted NN-NNNNNNN. It is separate from a state entity or file number: the EIN identifies the taxpayer federally, while the state register identifies the legal entity. EINs are not published in a free public directory, so they normally come from the company or from IRS exempt-organization data.
Company Registration Number
The permanent identifier a national business register assigns to a legal entity when it is incorporated — a Companies House number in the UK, an SIREN in France, a CVR in Denmark, an organisasjonsnummer in Norway. It never changes when the company is renamed, which makes it the safest key for storing, matching or monitoring a company record.
SIREN (France)
A 9-digit identifier INSEE assigns to a French legal entity. It identifies the company itself and remains the core identifier used across French company and tax records. A SIREN is different from a SIRET, which identifies a specific establishment of that company.
SIRET (France)
A 14-digit identifier for a particular French establishment. Its first nine digits are the company’s SIREN and its final five digits identify the individual location, so one company can have several SIRETs.
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