Here is how I teach it to new notary signing agents. I refuse to tell anyone what to charge or what they should not go $$ under. If someone will learn how to do this, they will be able to stay in business or decide to leave with a clear mine. This will show someone how to start without going into the red but remaining competitive. It is not perfect, but it's a starting place of how to think it through. A notary who "gets it" will put their own finishing touches on it.
It is probably better when I have my spreadsheet up and covering it with them on Zoom, but here's a text version.
STEP 1 - EXPENSES - Make a list of all the expenses you anticipate except paper/toner.
STEP 2 - SIGNINGS - What are your anticipated number of signings in your first year?
Maybe when you start, you can use a number like 5 per week (5 * 52 = 260 per year).
STEP 3 - Divide EXPENSES by SIGNINGS TO GET EXPENSES PER SIGNING (EPS)
So, if you anticipate your expenses are going to be $8,000 for your first year just to start up, each assignment is going to cost you at least $31. ($8000 / 260 = $30.76 is EPS--round it up to $31.)
STEP 4 - MILEAGE COST (MC) - So now, you need to have a chart for your mileage and what that costs you for an assignment 10 miles away, 15 miles, 20, etc.
Let's say you can cover your vehicle expense on $1 per mile or whatever you want to use ($1, $1.50, $2.00--up to you).
10 miles - round trip is $20. (10 mi. x 2 = 20 x $1 per mile) So that's your "MC" for 10 miles $20)
Figure your MC out for each number of miles away like 5 miles, 10 miles, 15 miles, 20 miles, etc. Keep that chart handy if you don't calculate numbers in your head quickly.
STEP 5 - Let's total it up to see where we are. So, now you you have
EPS + MC = $31 + $20 = $51 EPS (Expenses per signing)
STEP 6 - PRINTING COSTS (PC) - You need to know how much your printing costs are. Make another chart.
You should know how many pages various types of assignments take. (Perhaps a small chart would help?)
Let's say it costs $.03 per sheet. If you have a seller's package, that's going to be 45 pages x .03 = $1.35. Round it up to $2.00. That will cover price fluctuations.
STEP 7 - Get your total again. Now you have EPS + MC + PC = $31 + $20 + $2 = $53
STEP 8 - GROSS FEE Chart = GF- Let's project gross fees you will be offered for assignment. (Yep, I recommend another chart for EACH type of assignment.) Make a list of possible fees you might be offered for each type of assignment and do projections based on EPS + MC + PC.
Let's use Seller Package GF projections here (and do this for all types of packages you handle). GF $150 $125 $100 $75 $50
STEP 9 - Let's get our total again to get our Net Profit BEFORE taxes. GROSS FEES [GF] LESS (EXPENSES PER SIGNING [EPS] + MILEAGE COST [MC] + PRINT COST [PC]) EQUALS NET PROFIT [NP]
Let's neaten that up:
GF - (EPS + MC + PC) = NP
Your projected NP before taxes on a seller package 10 miles away.
If paid what is in the first column, your NP will be in the last column. $150 - ($53) = $97 is your NP $125 - ($53) = $72 is your NP $100 - ($53) = $47 is your NP $75 - ($53) = $22 is your NP $50 - ($53) = -$3 is your NP
STEP 10 - TAXES - This step is to remind you there will be taxes. What do you need to put back for that? I don't care if you make another chart or not!
I think that's probably enough to answer the question at hand. I have more calculations that I use, but by this time, there's likely a nice glaze over the eyes of anyone who stayed with me this far.
It is eye-opening, isn't it?
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