What does diversity have to do with income?
It should be noted, first, that we are talking about diversity in revenue streams that come into our business. But, why should we strive for diversity in revenue streams when trying to make money as a mobile notary?
We have an idea on what a notary makes in the current market. But, diversity of income helps you make more money with more consistency.
Read MoreA lot of people looking to get into becoming a notary, are obviously interested in if the opportunity is right for them and their family. And the biggest, and best question is: How much does a notary make?
It all starts there.
Well, the first thing you must understand is that there are a lot of ways to be a notary. You are obviously looking for the most profitable way, so it is important to understand how the system works.
If you are an employee of a business, you may be required to become a notary and perform signings for the company, even if that is not your main responsibility.
For example, you may work for a company that notarizes a lot of documents in house and that is what you do. Or, many bank managers are also required to be notaries to notarize documents for bank customers. That practice seems to be fading a bit, but you can see that the main role of a bank manager is not to be a notary.
How much does a notary make as an employee?
In these roles, they get paid by their employer, and if there is a notary fee, the employer collects it. Since it falls under part of their job responsibilities, the notary gets paid whatever the agreed amount between them and their employer is.
These are places you see that have notary signs in the window. They can be a range of things like mail solutions places, tax offices or even convenience stores.
At Sunshine, we also do a storefront notary business. Like most businesses that offer this service, we do it mainly to get more foot traffic in the office. People we can easily serve, and at the same time are exposed to our brand and the other services we offer.
When you offer a service like this, for individuals looking to get documents notarized, the amounts that can be charged are heavily regulated by each state most states (updated due to a couple of changes to laws in specific states), and are usually not high enough to earn a consistent income.
How much does a notary make with a storefront?
This is best left for businesses that offer it as an additional service. Depending on state law, the conditions to attempt it are more favorable than others in certain locations. But, you would need a consistent line out the door in many states to make a good living being a storefront notary. That is just not realistic in most cases.
There is no easy answer to this question.
But, we will say, the potential to make a good living is much higher as a mobile notary. The potential of this being a career instead of a side thing is real. The chance to become your own boss and own your own business is tangible and achievable.
But, it is not easy. Don’t let someone tell you that. It will take a lot of hard work, and it will be rewarding when it pays off.
There are different kinds of signings that pay more than the ones above. The most talked about are mortgages, as they tend to pay the most, but there are a lot of others. At Sunshine, we do many types of signings outside of mortgages, even outside of real estate. For a business, even a home one, diversity of income is consistency in income. Look at the wide variety Sunsine offers for both mobile and online notary services.
Businesses need these signings done on a strict time line and at specific places. For these businesses it is more beneficial to have a notary go on site for them than to try and use an in house employee. It is even becoming more popular for individuals, as the convenience is worth the cost for many.
We don’t know if this is a question we can really answer yet, but our early numbers are saying they will pay less, as the fees per notarization are higher than for mobile notaries.
This ends up coming out of the clients’ or notaries’ budget, and who do you really think that will fall on?
But, the truth is we just don’t know yet.
Let’s be realistic here. A successful, established mobile notary has a mix of private clients and signing services. A good diversity of income streams.
A signing through a signing service pays anywhere between $45 and $100. Some signings may pay twice that if the notary acquires their own private clients. We established in the past, that the small jobs end up paying about as much per hour as the larger number signings.
In the current market, as a realistic number, new notaries are making about $50 an hour, travel time included, before business expenses. This is a conservative number, and more experienced notaries who have built their business make more than that.
This is heavily dependent on market conditions. When real estate is booming and there are a lot of higher paying signings, the amount a notary can make increases. And the opposite also holds true. So, income potential is higher than the $50 an hour mentioned above, but I think it is reasonable to start with a more realistic outlook so you can plan your growth.
And if you are ahead of the curve, that is just icing on the cake.
You must account for the fact that you most likely won’t be on the move eight hours a day. Don’t fall for projections that have you doing 8-10 private signings every day. While that is an awesome goal, it is not realistic. Especially when you are building your business and learning to set yourself apart from the crowd.
First off, every business has administrative time. It’s rarely fun, but it must be done. You also have to account for marketing, which helps you earn more money. Then you have to decide if you are going to do the online thing, and how much effort you are going to put in if you do. All of this is time you are not signing.
Of course, you could do this after hours or have a spouse or someone else help, but that must be accounted for, and if you are going to pay that person, that must be accounted for. This is still a great opportunity for spouses, as long as both spouses understand and agree to their responsibilities in the business.
Don’t forget about general business expenses, state or local fees and taxes, the structure of your business and how that affects your personal and business taxes. Costs of any services used and vehicular expenses (depending on how you calculate them for taxes).
As we said before, there is not a set amount. It depends on a lot of factors. If a notary can gross $50 an hour or more, and can work 25 to 30 hours a week, then this is an opportunity that can work for many of us.
It can be a profitable and fulfilling venture for the right person.
A person who wants the personal freedom, who wants the challenge and who wants to take a more direct role in their career future.
Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.
Talk about walking into a whirlwind.
When we brought word of the accusations against a Texas notary last week, we had no idea we were walking into the largest story surrounding the notarial profession in years. If you’d like to catch up on that, check out the Trump and Stormy Notary Conflict.
Read MoreUpdate: The notary and their attorney have responded to the allegations. Check out their side of the story.
New Notary Rule #1: Don’t get yourself stuck in a feud between a porn star and a president. That is what happened to a notary in Texas, who is now under investigation by the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
As always, we will give the notary the benefit of the doubt, assume they made a terrible mistake, and will not post their name here. This story is more about the lesson learned than anything else. – – And the whole story around it is both sad and hilarious.
Stormy Daniels, you may have heard the name lately, allegedly had an affair with President Trump. In 2016, during the run up to the presidential election, Stormy signed a Non Disclosure Agreement with one of the President’s attorneys, Michael Cohen. The price is a relatively tame $130,000, considering that Stormy had a book deal on the horizon, and she could have probably sold her story for more than what she agreed to.
So, what is all the fuss about, for the notary?
In Texas, notaries are bound to sign and date agreements, but to also provide a certificate verifying those that sign the documents. This certificate is where the problem is emanating.
“Attaching your seal to a document without a notarial certificate constitutes good cause for the secretary of state to take action against your notary commission,” a Texas official said in a letter to Jackson, sent last week. – – The Hill
To further murky the waters, all parties to the NDA used pseudonyms, or fake names. Of note, we have found out that President Trump is likely to use the name David Dennison. This is quite noteworthy for notaries, as Trump allegedly has another NDA with a different porn star, Jessica Drake, where the same issues that are unfolding in Texas, could do the same thing to another notary. We do not know where the alleged second NDA was notarized at this time.
This is just another reminder that we all need to make sure we dot our i’s and cross our t’s. Not only has this notary been dragged into a national news story, they have also been dragged into national politics, a double whammy for the vast majority of us.
If you add the potential charges from the Texas State Attorney’s office, and the possible loss of commission, it is a lethal trifecta for the notary.
The vast majority of the rules and laws surrounding our profession are there to protect those who are executing documents, but also us as the notary. They give us an “out” if we ever run into a hinky signing, or are requested to do a signing we do not feel comfortable with. They allow us to be firm in enforcing the guidelines of our trade, regardless of who the client is.
Because the more noteworthy the client you are doing a favor for, the bigger the newspaper and television coverage that will haunt you.
And we all like our sleep at night.
Credit: Stormy Daniels Photo Provided by Toglenn – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
When we think of notaries, we often think of our daily tasks, or just of the job in general.
Lately, we’ve been pointing out the more human side of notaries, like the Biggest Blunderers and some of the Bizarre, among other things. And don’t forget about notarizing in your own blood.
But, notaries do more in their lives than make mistakes and do weird things. Notaries make a positive impact! So, in that spirit, let’s take a look at some of the Notaries that changed the course of history as we know it.
This notary was so instrumental in the founding of our nation, that he deserves an article of his own. Thomas McKean, the notary of South Delaware, the man who came to Washington’s defense as a nation was born.
He was the President before our first President, the man who challenged another to a duel on the Senate floor.
In short, he was all that and a bag of toast. Thomas McKean was really the Notary that helped found a nation.
John McQuhin, a resident and notary in Paisley, Scotland became the first to record one of the earliest team sports. Those in and around the sport call it the “Roarin’ Game”, but you probably better know it as the Olympic sport of Curling. Not the bicep type, the flinging granite rocks across the ice type.
McQuhin recorded protocol and oversaw a medieval grudge match between John Sclater and Gavin Hamilton. It was the battle of the Monk vs. the town representative. And it was 1540 on a frozen lake where competitors flung granite rocks across the pond.
With that McQuhin added himself to the origins of a now mighty sport we all watch once every four years. He will forever be enshrined in the History of Curling.
We’re not going to claim that Piero da Vinci was always the greatest man, but he sure contributed to one. The child he had outside of wedlock has fascinated the world for centuries on end.
Perhaps the greatest artist and genius of all time, Leonardo da Vinci’s fame still burns bright today. His paintings go for hundreds of million of dollars, and he is still part of pop culture with all of the mysteries surrounding his life.
But, Piero was an insistent father. Historical Accounts show Piero remained involved in Leonardo’s life.
Only one President in United States history has been sworn into office by a notary.
It probably helped that the notary was his father, but history is history. Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States in 1923 after the sudden death of Warren G. Harding.
And this is where Calvin Coolidge Senior steps in to make his mark on history. Away with his son in Vermont at their traditional family home, which had no power or water, Coolidge had to be informed of the president’s demise by a messenger.
And since the change of power must be quick, Calvin Coolidge Senior stepped in to swear in his son as president at 2:47 in the morning on August 3rd, 1923.
Afterwards, the new president, went back to sleep before embarking for Washinton, DC the following day.
And if you really want to follow the importance of notaries throughout thousands of years, check out the world’s first notaries. Not to be confused with the world’s oldest notary.
Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.
What is tax reform and how will it affect you and your business?
If you have been watching tv and radio you may have heard a lot of different things about tax reform, which is both confusing, and some of it incorrect.. So, let’s instead try to focus on what the tax reform will mean to notaries and their businesses.
** Disclaimer: Just to make clear, we are not tax professionals, we are notaries at heart that run an online and mobile notary service. The goal of this article is to inform you on some things upcoming, and to give you ideas for questions you may want to ask your tax professional. So please proceed understanding this is not tax advice, this is for informational use only.**
A big part of tax reform was cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. And you’ve seen companies racing for tv time giving out Christmas bonuses and pay raises. (Not to detract from their actions, but free publicity is the best publicity)
But does this affect the average notary?
The first thing you must take into account is that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and even more ways to structure a business. And how your business is structured will have an effect on what tax reform means to you personally.
Most mobile notaries that we do business with are set up as sole proprietors or as a single member LLC.
In most cases, the sole proprietor carries income almost exactly like a sub-contractor or a freelancer. You have to save extra payroll taxes to pay at the end of the year (depending on income, some sole proprietors are required to pay quarterly). Here is what CBS has said about that income.
Gig economy workers like Uber drivers and freelancers will benefit under the tax plan’s treatment of pass-through income. The tax bill provides a 20 percent deduction to pass-through businesses, many of which are small businesses like landscapers and Uber drivers.
Under previous law, that income was taxed at the personal income rate. But with Republicans lowering the corporate tax rate to 21 percent, that left a big gap between what big businesses would pay versus independent contractors or small business, given the top individual tax bracket will be 37 percent.
CBS News
LLCs are a more complicated beast, because there are so many ways to set up an LLC. But, single member LLCs are also pass through entities, so any breaks that those entities receive, will also pass on to single member LLCs.
** Again, this is an area you will want to scrutinize with your tax professional, simply because there are so many ways to set up your business, and small differences between them may affect your final tax bill. **
Of note, we focus on being mobile notaries, not tax professionals. But, there may be ways that you can restructure your business to provide further tax relief, or at the very least simplify the process by which you have to do your accounting and pay taxes.
For example, did you know that if you are set up as an LLC, you can actually operate yourself as a larger company? Why might that be a good thing for you?
If you did this, you could pay yourself through payroll like at a normal employer. The benefit of this is that all of the payroll taxes you pay the business foots through your payroll is now tax deductible (Yay!). It also allows you to offer yourself a SIMPLE IRA, of which the business matches, which is also tax deductible for the business.
On top of that, there is a tax credit for businesses that offer SIMPLE IRAs that lasts for three tax years. We have been able to find no information that that tax credit has been removed under the new tax bill.
We talk a lot about how to be a notary and the rules and regulations surrounding it, but we plan to write some articles in the future that will show you some different ways to set up your business, plus some of the positives and negatives of those setups.
The biggest change in business deductions likely to affect the mobile notary is that home offices will no longer be deductible. Most mobile notaries we deal with have a home office, so this is likely to affect a lot of us. (This ended up not being true. though a simplified method was added.)
To give a quick explanation and to keep numbers simple, let’s say I have a 1,000 square foot house, of which I have a 100 square foot office, or 10% of the total area of the home. Under the current bill, I can deduct 10% of things like my mortgage, utilities and capital improvements to the home. (Up to a certain percentage of my Adjusted Gross Income)
As of 2018, those deductions will go away.
I can’t argue the fact that that does not sound good. But, it is important to note that the standard deduction doubles under tax reform, and for most of us, that will more than offset any deductions we make for our home office.
Currently, employee business expenses, including the home-office deduction for employees who work out of their own homes, are deductible as miscellaneous itemized deductions, but these deductions are limited to those expenses that exceed 2% of AGI. Under the Trump plan, this deduction would be eliminated.
Weinlander Fitzhugh CPAs
The second major change in deductions is the entertainment deduction. You may not even use this in your business.
This deduction is mainly for people who take clients on outings like golf trips or sporting events. Those will no longer be tax deductible. The more likely deduction that a mobile notary might take, meals, is not affected by the change.
So, in short, business related lunch or dinner are still the same. But, taking a client and family to Disney World, you are going to have to cough up the taxes for that one.
The act disallows a deduction for an activity generally considered to be entertainment, amusement, or recreation. Under the act, taxpayers are still generally able to deduct 50% of the food and beverage expenses associated with operating their trade or business (e.g., meals consumed by employees on work travel).
– Journal of Accountancy
As accountants continue to pour through the almost 500 page bill and really nail down the changes important to you, we will do our best to keep you updated.
Also, if you’d like to read more about the bill here is an excellent article by The Hill, A Gift for the Self Employed
** Disclaimer: Once again, we want to remind you that we are notaries at heart, who also happen to operate an online and mobile notary service. We are not tax professionals. The goal of this article is to inform you on some things upcoming, and to give you ideas for questions you may want to ask your tax professional. So please treat this as informational use only **
Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.
So where does the line get drawn on what is a legal document? Or better yet, when does it turn to just plain bizarre?
Recent news reports show a man in Miami had a tattoo on his chest that said “Do Not Resuscitate”. That man ended up in the hospital and left the doctors with an ethical dilemma. Do they follow the wishes on the tattoo or do they ignore them until they receive proper legal documentation.
Read MoreOnce again it is that time of year when we stuff ourselves with turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole and more. Then follow it up with pumpkin pie, apple pie, sweet potato pie and any other dessert we can get our hands on. Then, once fully satiated, we eat some more and pass out!
But, Thanksgiving is also a time when we recognize those things that we are thankful for, both in our lives and in the lives of our friends and family. So, we are going to talk about some of the things that a mobile notary can or should be thankful for.
We can also be thankful for our online notaries. Those that work on their own will remain the backbone of the business. Much more so that the ones who work in factories
Nothing beats being your own boss. It’s the American Dream. While no one will deny that being an entrepreneur is easy, it is definitely fulfilling. It is those tough times that we go through which make us that much more thankful when our business is successful.
Being your own boss means flexibility that you just don’t have in normal employment. You get to choose your hours and make life easier on yourself. You only have to answer to yourself, and therefore are more involved in the success of your business.
Without notary services our entire system would collapse. Notaries provide legitimacy to so many things in our lives. The homes we own, other debts we incur, the business relationships we are involved in, even getting married. So many things need the validity that only you can offer.flexibility
Yes, the normal person may not think of notaries on a regular basis, but when it comes to the key moments in life, more often than not, a notary is there to ensure those moments are properly enshrined.
The mobile notary performs a service that has greatly expanded the flexibility for those needing notary services. Mobile Notaries go the extra mile to provide a crucial service at the time and place that is most convenient for the client. They save their clients’ time, frustration, and in many cases, money. And they let their clients focus on things they find more important to their personal lives or business.
And I can guarantee the clients are thankful for that!
Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.
If Notary Publix sounds foreign to you, you are not alone. And no, it does not mean you can get documents notarized at your local Publix grocery store. If you are looking for a notary near you, you have hit the wrong page.
And no, this article is not about whether or not the grocery chain publix does notarizations. (cough, google, cough)
Notary Publix is a comedic web series from 2015 featuring former Saturday Night Live actress Kate McKinnon, as well as her real life sister Emily Lynne. They play Gina and Theresa Fra Diavolo, a pair of notaries that take their job very seriously, but sometimes it ends in an epic fail.
They have a notary nemesis, Erin Oatmeal, who is always trying to stir up trouble. Be it convincing them to break rules or make mistakes, or sending in people to give the sisters trouble, she is a thorn in their side.
It is a six episode series of short episodes, all just under five minutes. Which means you can catch one quickly, and give yourself a nice smile and a couple of laughs.
If you have not seen it, you need to, even just to laugh at these notaries’ antics. It is a great quick escape, and we’ve found it enjoyable even after watching a couple of times.
The shorts originally aired on IFC, the Independent Film Channel, but all of the episodes are also available on Youtube.
So, if you want to watch it for the first time, or maybe just see the shenanigans again, here is where you can find all six episodes of Notary Publix.
And then you can rejoice that the day to day of your business is superior to theirs. We hope you enjoy Notary Publix as much as we have, and that you have learned to set yourself apart in a better way than they do in the video shorts.
Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.
Most notaries mainly worry about their job and making sure everything is accurate and professionally done, while minimizing mistakes.
Unfortunately, some notaries don’t seem to realize that they hold a public position, and when they do something stupid, it tends to hit the news. Remember that, because your reputation is on the line, both on the job, and even when you aren’t doing a signing.
#5 – We have a tie here, and they are both from Louisiana. And both were notaries who owned title companies, and both were arrested for selling fake drivers licenses.
A Metarie man allegedly sold over 400 fake drivers licenses through two branches of his title and notary business. He was able to actually access the DMV and print out what appeared to be real licenses. He was charged with 420 counts of computer fraud and falsifying records.
A Denham Springs woman was arrested for selling fake driver’s licenses through her business. Police found her after they pulled someone over who had one of her fake licenses. When police raided her business, they found all the machinery and materials to create hundreds more drivers licenses.
#4 – In September, a notary in San Diego was charged with wire and mail fraud conspiracy and identity theft charges. In a massive real estate scam that bilked an estimated 50 million dollars from investors, she and her partner sold the same properties over and over again to fake buyers. They then created false paperwork showing that the loans and been paid off. Then they created new fake buyers and went through the whole process again.
She was also accused of destroying evidence regarding the practice. The only silver lining here? It was her partner who took most of the flack and his photo was the main one circulating on the news.
#3 – In July, in Newport, Kentucky, a notary was charged with forging signatures on a public petition regarding a murder trial. When she could not get the number of signatures required, it is alleged that she forged the remaining names needed. And she is not blamed at all for her notarial duties, but she is charged with 28 counts of felony forgery. Of 156 signatures acquired, only 38 were deemed to be authentic.
Worst part? She was doing it for her employer and now she gets to be the one getting drug through the mud.
#2 -Our number two blundering notary holds the distinction of being the only one who made national headlines, for all the wrong reasons. A notary from the Bronx, who was allegedly under the influence of K2 (a synthetic form of marijuana) careened down a sidewalk in Times Square in May. His mistake was fatal, as 1 person died and 22 were injured. Police reported he looked intoxicated after the crash.
Witnesses said he went the wrong way on the 7th avenue sidewalk for three blocks.
#1 – It is bad enough when you bring yourself down. But, when you carry law enforcement with you, we are taking it to a whole new level. An Orlando, FL notary, who happened to be the notary for the Florida Highway Patrol, came under suspicion because of one document, related to schools, and not even her duties for the Florida Highway Patrol. Not only was she charged with a third degree felony, but every document she ever signed for the Florida Highway Patrol came under suspicion.
So what grand prize did she win for her notary blunder? A free haircut for her son. Three to five years in jail for a free haircut!
Definitely not worth it.
How about a bonus blunder, with a little bit of Vatican scandal mixed in?
A South Dakota notary, who is also a Reverend and connected to the Vatican, was accused of sexual harassment in August. And get this, he is serving as the notary for an Archbishop under trial for sexual abuse of a minor. The official story of the alleged harassment was not released, however the church said they investigated it fully and found no wrongdoing.
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Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.
