Have you ever wondered why a business may receive one flat rate for a notary assignment while an individual customer receives an itemized quote?

It may look like two completely different ways of charging for the same service, but there is a reason for it.

At B. Elise Notary Services LLC, we work with both individual customers and business clients, including attorneys, title and escrow companies, estate-planning professionals, and other organizations. While both may hire us to facilitate a signing or provide notary services, the way those services are structured can be very different.

That difference is reflected in how we price them.

B2C Pricing: Transparency Through Itemization

When an individual customer contacts us, they may know they need something notarized, but they may not necessarily know everything involved in completing the appointment.

For example, a customer may call and say:

"I need a notary to come to my home to notarize a document."

Before providing a quote, we need additional information.

How many notarizations are needed? Where is the appointment located? Are witnesses required? Does the customer need us to provide witnesses? Are printing or other services involved?

Those details determine the services being requested.

That's why our individual customer pricing is generally itemized.

Instead of giving someone one unexplained number, we want customers to understand what they're paying for. Depending on the appointment, a quote may identify the notary fee, travel fee, witness services, printing, or other requested services separately.

Itemization provides transparency.

It also helps prevent an important misunderstanding: the total cost of a notary appointment is not necessarily the notary fee.

A mobile appointment, for example, involves more than performing the notarial act. The customer is also requesting the convenience of having a professional travel to a location of their choosing.

Showing those charges separately allows the customer to see exactly what services are included in the total.

B2B Pricing: Predictability Through a Flat Rate

Business-to-business assignments operate differently.

When an attorney, title company, estate-planning firm, or other organization contacts us, there is typically an established scope of work. The business already understands what the assignment requires and what is commonly expected of the professional they hire.

They may expect the notary to receive and print documents, travel to the signer, verify identification, facilitate the signing, complete the required notarizations, scan documents back after the appointment, and follow specific instructions for returning the completed package.

Those aren't unexpected additions to the assignment.

They're part of the assignment.

For that reason, B2B assignments may be quoted at an all-inclusive flat rate rather than breaking every component into a separate charge.

There is also a practical reason this pricing structure works well for businesses.

In many B2B transactions, the company hiring the notary determines or collects the applicable signing or notary service cost from its client before the appointment takes place. Having an established flat rate makes it easier for that business to incorporate the cost into the overall transaction.

Instead of trying to anticipate separate charges for travel, printing, notarizations, scanbacks, document return, and other standard requirements, the business knows the agreed cost of the assignment in advance.

For example, rather than calculating:

Notarial services + Travel + Printing + Scanning + Document return + Other agreed services

the business can account for:

Remote Notary Fee: $XXX

This also helps establish the notary's compensation before the work is performed. The business knows what it expects from us, we know what is required to complete the assignment, and both businesses know the agreed fee before the appointment begins.

That predictability makes it easier for the hiring company to budget, collect, approve, or process the expense while helping ensure the notary's professional fee is accounted for as part of the transaction.

Flat Rate Doesn't Mean the Other Services Are Free

This is an important distinction.

Suppose a business receives a flat-rate quote that includes travel, printing, notarizations, scanning, and document return.

That doesn't mean printing is free.

It doesn't mean travel is free.

And it doesn't mean the entire amount represents a notary fee.

Those services have simply been incorporated into the overall professional service rate.

The individual components still have value. They simply aren't presented to the B2B client as separate consumer charges because they are already part of the agreed scope of the assignment.

That's the purpose of an all-inclusive rate: one agreed professional fee for a defined scope of work.

So Why Not Give Everyone a Flat Rate?

For individual customers, a flat rate without explanation can create unnecessary confusion.

If we simply tell a customer that their appointment will cost a certain amount, they may understandably wonder how we arrived at that number.

Itemization answers that question.

It allows customers to see which portion of their total relates to the notarial act and which portions relate to additional services they requested.

Business clients generally don't require the same explanation because the scope and expectations have already been established as part of the professional assignment. This is why we think of the two models this way:

B2C pricing provides transparency through itemization.

B2B pricing provides predictability through bundling.

Neither model is inherently better than the other. They're designed for two different types of transactions.

Does B2B Automatically Mean a Discount?

Not necessarily.

A flat B2B rate shouldn't automatically be interpreted as a discounted consumer rate.

The rate reflects the scope of the professional assignment, the responsibilities involved, the services included, and the working relationship between the businesses.

Some assignments are straightforward. Others may require extensive printing, significant travel, multiple signers, scanbacks, document drop-offs, shipping coordination, or other requirements.

Those expectations are considered when establishing the rate.

The difference is that once the scope is understood, the business generally doesn't need every component presented as an individual consumer charge.

Two Pricing Models. The Same Commitment to Transparency.

Whether we're working with an individual who needs one document notarized or an organization that regularly needs professional signing support, our goal is the same: provide reliable service with clear expectations from the beginning.

For individual customers, that means clearly identifying the services they're paying for.

For our business clients, that means establishing an agreed professional rate that encompasses the expected requirements of the assignment.

Different clients.

Different workflows.

Different pricing structures.

But in both cases, everyone should understand what they're receiving and what they're paying before the appointment begins.

Need notary services for yourself? Explore our service options and pricing to determine the appointment type that works best for you.

Looking for a professional notary partner for your business? Contact B. Elise Notary Services LLC to discuss B2B signing and notary support for your organization.

B. Elise Notary Services LLC provides notary and related document services. Fees for additional services are separate from fees charged for the performance of notarial acts where applicable.