There has been a recent update to the guidelines for notaries that became effective in March 2026 that receipts for services need to be itemized of your charges.. My question is outside of the $5.00 the initial stamp and $3.00 for any additional on the document and mileage what else should be included on the receipt for General Notary work including estate planning documents? Trying to understand how notaries in PA are charging $50.00 + for general notary work and 75.00 for one estate planning document without providing witness for estate planning within these guidelines???
You can charge for travel fees, convenience/administrative fees, copying fees, etc. There’s a lot of ways to make money and it needs to be itemized in PA so that people understand that these fees are separate from the notarization fee. You also should have a list of fees to show customers and make sure they understand fees before seeing them. I have a home office where my fees are posted, they are on my website, and I have a print out that I bring with me while doing mobile signings. I also explain everything at the time they schedule the appointment either on the phone or it’s typed out if they schedule online. You can charge whatever you want except for the posted fees for notarizations which are $2-5. A lot of times I won’t even bother charging for the notarization itself in order to give a discount and only charge for travel or admin fee (mine is really a convenience fee because I am available whenever needed at my home office as long as it’s scheduled ahead of time.) Doing this will allow you to make a profit.