The commission comes first
Each state commissions its own notaries, through an office of its own. That office’s application is the only list that counts: who may apply, what you have to show or pass, and what it costs. Start there, and read its handbook before you pay anyone for a course.
A commission ends, unless your state commissions you for life. Of the rule sets for the fifty states and D.C., 30 give a commission four years; the others run from two years to ten, and Louisiana commissions its notaries for life. (Hand & Seal’s rule sets, drafted from each state’s law: checked against the statute’s text on October 4, 2026; not yet reviewed by an attorney.) Put the day yours ends in your calendar the day it arrives, with a reminder months ahead: a renewal takes time, and an expired commission is no commission.
The bond, and the insurance
Your state may ask for a surety bond before it issues the commission; the companies you work for will ask for errors-and-omissions insurance. They are not the same thing, and only one of them protects you. Bond and E&O insurance explains both.
The kit
- The seal. Your state describes its seal, so order yours from that description, and keep it yours alone — California’s handbook has it “kept in a locked and secured area, under the direct and exclusive control of the notary public”.
- A journal. Your record of every act, whether your state asks for one or not. The notary journal shows how far three states differ on what goes in it.
- Certificates in your state’s wording, for the document that arrives without one. The signer or the office that wants the document says which kind — in the words of Texas’s Secretary of State, “A notary cannot select the type of notarial certificate used for any document unless they are also an attorney.”
- A printer and a way to scan, if you will take loan signings: a package is printed as the company’s instructions say, and many companies want the signed pages scanned back before the originals arrive.
- A phone that is charged, for the map, the call when you are running late, and the record of the drive.
The business
You do not have to form anything to begin. The Small Business Administration: “You’re automatically considered to be a sole proprietorship if you do business activities but don’t register as any other kind of business.” It says what that means, too: “your business assets and liabilities are not separate from your personal assets and liabilities.” Whether a company of some kind would serve you better is a question for an accountant or an attorney.
- A name. Working under a name that is not your own may mean registering it where you live. The SBA’s line on it: “Doing business as (DBA) doesn’t give legal protection, but it might be legally required”. Your state may also have rules for how a notary advertises; its handbook says.
- A tax number. An employer identification number is free — the IRS: “You never have to pay a fee for an EIN.” What it is for, and the form companies will ask you to fill in, are in getting paid by companies.
- A bank account. The SBA again: “As soon as you start accepting or spending money as your business, you should open a business bank account.” One account for the work makes the year’s books a matter of reading one statement.
- A licence, perhaps. Ask your city or county whether a business run from your home needs one there.
What to charge
Two prices, kept apart. The fee for the notarial act is the state’s to limit. Of the rule sets for the fifty states and D.C., 41 give a maximum for at least one notarial act and 10 give none. As for a travel fee, 11 say the state limits it, and 19 — six of them among those 11 — that it has to be agreed with the person paying it, or told to them: before the trip in seven states; before the notarial act in four states; in advance in seven states; and in one state, with nothing said of when. In two states the charges are to be told, not agreed. For one state it is our reading of a rule its law sets for the notarial fee. (Hand & Seal’s rule sets, drafted from each state’s law: checked against the statute’s text on October 4, 2026; not yet reviewed by an attorney.) Read your own state’s rule before you print a price list. The rest — the drive, the wait, the printing, an evening or a hospital visit — is priced by you, wherever your state leaves it to you.
Say the whole price before you drive, with the notarial fee as a line of its own. A client who agreed to a figure on the phone pays it at the door without a word; a client who hears it for the first time there does not.
The first clients
- People who need one document notarized search, and call from what they find. Getting found covers the Google profile, the reviews and the page.
- Companies that send loan signings check a notary before the first order. How to get loan signing work has what they check, and loan signing basics has the job itself.
Records, from the first job
- The journal, written at the table, as your state requires.
- A mileage log, made as you drive — the mileage guide says what it has to show.
- An invoice or a receipt for every job, with the notarial fee apart from the rest: the IRS treats the two differently (notary income and taxes).
- Receipts for what starting cost you: the commission’s fees, the bond, the insurance, the seal and the journal.
How Hand & Seal helps
It is the office around the commission: a page of your own with your fees, your hours and your free times; your state’s fee limits, as the rule sets have them, applied when you price a job; invoices that keep the notarial fee on a line of its own; a mileage log the phone writes as you drive; and the dates on your commission, bond and insurance, with a reminder ahead of each. See how it works.
This guide describes common practice and quotes the offices named under Sources; your own state’s law decides, and its commissioning office has the last word. It is not legal or tax advice.