Notary Invoice Template: Mobile Notary and Loan Signing Fees

Quick answer: A notary invoice template shows your name, commission number and state, the client, a unique invoice number, the appointment date and location, each notarial act with signatures and the fee per signature, then travel, printing or loan signing fees on separate lines, the total and payment terms. Keep notarial fees within your state's legal maximum and list them apart from service fees.

Notary work looks simple to bill: count the signatures, multiply by the fee. In practice, mobile notaries and loan signing agents mix capped statutory fees with uncapped service fees, deal with title companies that pay in batches, and face tax rules that treat the two kinds of income differently. A clear notary invoice template keeps all of that straight. You can make one in a few minutes with our free invoice generator.

This guide covers what to put on a notary invoice, state fee caps with examples, how to bill mobile notary travel and loan signings, a worked example, the self-employment tax point every notary should know, and common mistakes. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Always check your own state's notary rules.

What a notary invoice template should include

A notary invoice needs to show the client what they paid for and show you, at tax time, which income came from notarial acts and which came from other services. Include:

• Your details: name or business name, commission number, commissioning state and commission expiry date, phone and email.
• Client details: the person or company that hired you, and for loan signings the signing service or title company and their file number.
• Invoice number and date: a unique number such as NOT-2026-0311 that you can also write in your notary journal. The invoice number generator can help.
• Appointment details: date, time and location of the signing.
• Notarial acts: each type, such as acknowledgment or jurat, with the number of signatures and the fee per signature.
• Non-notarial fees: travel, waiting time, after-hours, printing, scan-backs and courier, each on its own line.
• Total and terms: amount due, due date and accepted payment methods.

Do not include personal details from the documents themselves, such as account numbers or the content of the papers you notarised. The invoice should describe the service, not the transaction.

Notary fees by state: examples of legal maximums

Every state sets its own maximum fees for notarial acts, and many have not changed them in years. You may charge less than the maximum, but never more. The table shows two well-documented examples.

State	Act	Maximum fee as of 2026	Source
California	Acknowledgment	$15 per signature	Government Code section 8211
California	Jurat (oath or affirmation)	$15 per person	Government Code section 8211
California	Notarising vote-by-mail materials or a veteran's benefit claim	No fee	Government Code section 8211
Texas	Acknowledgment or proof of a deed	$10 first signature, $1 each additional	Government Code section 406.024, as amended by Texas H.B. 255 (2023)

Other states range widely, and some cap fees at only a few dollars per act. Check the current figure on your Secretary of State's notary page before you set prices or print a fee list. Many states also require notaries to post their fees or record them in a journal.

Mobile notary invoices: travel and service fees

A mobile notary earns most of their income from the service around the notarisation: driving to a hospital, a home or an office, waiting while the signer reads, coming out at night. The per-signature fee is capped; the travel fee often is not, but the rules depend on your state. Some states set a travel fee or mileage rate in law, others leave it to agreement between notary and client.

Good practice for travel fees:

1. Quote before you go. Agree the travel fee by phone, text or email and keep a record.
2. Separate it on the invoice. Never fold travel into the per-signature fee, because that can look like overcharging for the notarial act.
3. Name it clearly. "Travel fee, 18 miles round trip" is better than "Service charge".
4. Add other agreed extras separately. After-hours, waiting time beyond an agreed limit, or printing documents the client emailed you.
5. Log your mileage. Even if you charge a flat travel fee, keep a mileage log for your own tax deductions.

Your business vehicle costs can be deducted on your tax return. Our guides to the IRS mileage rate for 2026 and standard mileage vs actual expenses explain the options.

Loan signing agent invoices

Loan signing agents are notaries who handle mortgage closing packages for signing services, title companies and lenders. The fee is negotiated per signing rather than set by statute. Published 2026 guides commonly put loan signing fees at roughly $75 to $200 per signing, with refinances toward the lower end and purchase or larger packages toward the top. Printing, scan-backs and courier drop-offs may be included in the flat fee or billed separately, depending on what you agreed.

A loan signing invoice should include:

• The signing service or title company name and their order or file number.
• The borrower's surname and property city, if the company asks for it to match its file, but no loan details beyond that.
• The signing date and type, such as refinance, purchase or HELOC.
• The agreed flat fee and any agreed extras, each on its own line.
• Your payment terms. Many signing companies pay in batches, often 30 days or more after the signing, so invoice the same day.

Treat loan signing work like any other independent contractor invoice. Companies that pay you will usually ask for a Form W-9, and may send you a 1099-NEC at year end depending on the 1099-NEC reporting threshold.

Sample notary invoice: mobile notary appointment

Here is an illustrative example. A California mobile notary visits a client's home in the evening. Two signers acknowledge a grant deed, and one signer swears to an affidavit. The notary agreed a $50 travel fee and a $25 after-hours fee by text before the appointment.

Description	Qty	Rate	Amount
Acknowledgment, grant deed (per signature)	2	$15.00	$30.00
Jurat, affidavit (per signer)	1	$15.00	$15.00
Travel fee, agreed in advance (non-notarial)	1	$50.00	$50.00
After-hours appointment, after 7 pm (non-notarial)	1	$25.00	$25.00
Total due			$120.00

The arithmetic: notarial fees are $30 + $15 = $45, within the California maximum of $15 per signature. Non-notarial fees are $50 + $25 = $75. Together they total $120. Splitting the two groups on the invoice makes it obvious that the statutory cap was respected, and it gives you the figures you need at tax time.

Loan signing example

A signing agent completes a refinance for a title company at an agreed flat fee of $125, plus $25 for printing two copies of a large package, as agreed in the order. The invoice shows two lines, $125 and $25, for a total of $150, with the title company's file number in the reference field.

How to build it in the generator

1. Open the US invoice generator.
2. Enter your name, commission number and state in the business details.
3. Add the client or title company, the invoice number, the appointment date and the due date.
4. Add each notarial act with the number of signatures as the quantity, then travel and other fees as separate lines.
5. Leave the tax rate at zero; notary services are generally not subject to sales tax, but check your state.
6. Add a note such as "Notarial fees charged per Cal. Gov. Code 8211. Travel fee agreed in advance." and download the PDF.

A clean, formal look suits notary work. The minimal invoice template or the mono invoice template both read well when printed.

Self-employment tax and notary income

This is the tax point many notaries miss. The IRS instructions for Schedule SE list fees for services as a notary public as income that is not included in net earnings from self-employment. You still report the income on Schedule C, but you may not owe self-employment tax on the notary fees themselves. If notary fees are your only self-employment income, the instructions say to enter "Exempt-Notary" on Schedule 2 instead of filing Schedule SE. See the IRS instructions for Schedule SE for the exact steps.

The exemption covers notary services, not everything a notary does. Travel fees, printing, courier work and loan signing services beyond the notarial act may be subject to self-employment tax. That is why the split on your invoice matters: it gives you and your tax preparer a clear record of which income is which. You may also need to make quarterly estimated tax payments on the taxable portion. This is general information, not tax advice.

Running a notary business: records and setup

Many notaries start as a side business under their own name. If you want to trade under a brand such as "Bay Mobile Notary", you may need to register it; our guide on what a DBA is explains how. Some cities also require a general business licence for mobile notaries, so check our guide on how to get a business license.

Keep three records in step for every appointment: the journal entry your state requires, the invoice, and the payment record. Writing the invoice number in your journal makes it easy to match them if a client, title company or auditor ever asks.

Pricing your notary services

Because the statutory fee for a notarial act is capped, a mobile notary's profit depends on the non-notarial fees and on how many appointments fit into a day. Work out your real cost per appointment: driving time, fuel and vehicle wear, printing, supplies, your journal and stamp, errors and omissions insurance, and any background check or certification costs your signing clients require. Divide your monthly fixed costs by the number of appointments you expect, add your travel cost per trip, and check that your typical invoice covers both with room for profit. If it does not, raise your travel or after-hours fees rather than trying to squeeze more from capped notarial fees, which you cannot legally do.

Common notary invoice mistakes

• Charging above the state maximum. Combining notary and travel fees into one line can make a lawful total look like an unlawful per-signature fee.
• Unagreed travel fees. Always agree travel and extras before the appointment.
• Missing file numbers. Title companies cannot pay an invoice they cannot match to a file.
• Sensitive details on the invoice. Leave loan amounts, account numbers and document contents off.
• Not separating income for tax. Without the split, you may pay self-employment tax on notary fees that are exempt.
• Slow invoicing for signings. Send the invoice the same day; batch payment cycles are long enough already.

Create your notary invoice

A good notary invoice template keeps statutory notarial fees, priced within your state's maximum, apart from travel, printing and loan signing fees, and records the details a title company or tax preparer needs. Agree extras in advance, number every invoice and match it to your journal. Create your next notary invoice in the free invoice generator and send a professional PDF the same day.