JotaryNotary journal for signing agents · iPhone
A notary journal that fills itself from the ID scan.
Mileage and invoices in the same app. Built for signing agents. $9.99 a month or $89 a year, 14-day trial, no card. In development for iPhone.
- Entry filled from the licence barcode in about 20 seconds
- Fees tagged notarial or other for Schedule SE
- Audit-ready PDF export, search and state presets
I'm building this on my own. Not a notary myself, so the waitlist is also where I ask what your journal gets wrong.
prototype Demo data, fictional signer
- ID number never stored
- Backed up the moment you save
- Audit-ready PDF export
- Fields set by your state
What I'm building
The journal, the mileage log and the invoice in one place
Prototype screens. Every name, address, ID and fee is fictional.
Scan the ID, the entry writes itself
Name, address, ID type, state and expiry come off the licence barcode. You pick the act and the fee. About 20 seconds a signing. The ID number is never stored.
Mileage and invoices from the same entry
Each day's route gives the miles. Each entry tags its fee as notarial or other, so year end is one number for Schedule SE. Export the day as an invoice.
Audit-ready export
Backed up the moment you save. Search by signer, date, act or file number. Export any date range as a PDF that reads like a journal. Pick your state once and the form shows the fields it asks for.
How it works
One entry per signing. Everything else follows from it.
Scan the licence
Point the phone at the barcode on the back. Name, address, ID type, state and expiry fill in.
Pick the act and the fee
Tag the fee as notarial or other. The signer signs on the phone.
Export when you need it
A journal PDF for an audit, an invoice for the day, the miles and the Schedule SE total at year end.
Pricing
One price. No per-entry fees.
14-day trial, no card up front. The waitlist gets the founding-member rate.
Monthly
$9.99 / month
Billed monthly. Cancel any time.
- Journal filled from the ID scan
- Mileage and invoices
- Audit-ready PDF export
Yearly
$89 / year
Billed once a year.
- Everything in monthly
- Fee tags for Schedule SE
- State presets
iPhone first. Android if enough people ask.
Two quick questions (optional)
What would you pay for this?
Are you a notary?
Hear when it's ready
In development for iPhone. $9.99 a month or $89 a year, 14-day trial, no card. The waitlist gets the founding-member rate and a say in what ships first.
FAQ
Questions
Notarial fees and self-employment tax
The IRS instructions for Schedule SE say fees received for services performed as a notary public are not subject to self-employment tax. Income tax still applies, and travel, printing and loan-signing fees are not notarial fees. Jotary tags each fee as you enter it. Sources: 2025 Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040), the paragraph "Fees received for services performed as a notary public" (write "Exempt—Notary" on the dotted line left of Schedule SE line 3, or on Schedule 2 line 4 if you have no other self-employment income), and Publication 334, "Notary public" under Guidelines for Selected Occupations.
Which states require a journal
Checked 13 Oct 2026 against each state's statute or Secretary of State page: 22 states and the District of Columbia require a journal for every notarization, 3 more require it for some acts (Georgia, Tennessee, Utah), and the other 25 recommend one or require it only for electronic and remote notarizations. 6 of the required states (Arizona, California, Missouri, Nevada, Utah, Washington) want a bound paper book, so there Jotary is the searchable copy beside the book. California and Arizona take a thumbprint for deeds and powers of attorney. Rules change; check your own state's statute, linked below.
| State | Journal | Detail | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Not required | Not required. | Ala. Code §§36-20-70 to -75 |
| Alaska | Not required | Not required for paper acts (journal only for electronic and remote acts). | AS 44.50.078 |
| Arizona | Required, every act · bound paper book | Required for every act. Paper journal for paper acts. Since 12 Sep 2026 the signer's right thumbprint goes in the journal for deeds, quitclaim deeds, deeds of trust, other real-property documents and powers of attorney (§41-254(C), added by SB 1479). Exempt: foreclosure trustee's deeds, reconveyances, and remote acts where the journal holds the ID credential number and the recording is kept 7 years. | A.R.S. §41-319; §41-254(C) (Laws 2026 ch. 31) |
| Arkansas | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic record for online acts only). | A.C.A. §21-14-310 |
| California | Required, every act · bound paper book | Required for every act. One active sequential bound journal. Right thumbprint for deeds, quitclaim deeds, deeds of trust, other real-property documents and powers of attorney. ID serial number required. | Gov. Code §8206 |
| Colorado | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Tangible or electronic. | C.R.S. §24-21-519 |
| Connecticut | Not required | Not required; the state manual strongly recommends one. | CGS ch. 33 (no journal section) |
| Delaware | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act since 1 Aug 2023. Tangible or electronic. ID number recorded; SSN and card numbers banned. | 29 Del. C. §4332 |
| District of Columbia | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Tangible or electronic. | D.C. Code §1-1231.18 |
| Florida | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic journal for online notaries only). | F.S. §117.245 |
| Georgia | Required, some acts · electronic allowed | Required since 1 Jan 2025 only for acts requested by a self-filer on deeds, mortgages, liens, plats and tax executions. Written or electronic. | O.C.G.A. §45-17-8(g)(2) |
| Hawaii | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Tangible or electronic. ID number and expiry recorded. | HRS §456-15; HAR §5-11-9 |
| Idaho | Not required | Not required; strongly recommended. | Idaho Code title 51 (no journal section) |
| Illinois | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act (exceptions: nominating petitions; notaries employed by a law firm that keeps copies). Paper or electronic. ID numbers and thumbprints may not be recorded in the journal. | 5 ILCS 312/3-107; 14 Ill. Adm. Code 176.900 |
| Indiana | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic journal for remote acts only). ID numbers and biometrics may not be recorded in any notary journal. | IC 33-42-17-8; 75 IAC 7-6-1 |
| Iowa | Not required | Not required; strongly recommended. | Iowa Code ch. 9B (no journal section) |
| Kansas | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act since 1 Jan 2022. Tangible or electronic. | K.S.A. 53-5a20 |
| Kentucky | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic journal for online acts only). | KRS 423.380 |
| Louisiana | Not required | Not required for paper acts (record-keeping for remote acts only). | La. R.S. 35:629 |
| Maine | Not required | Not required for paper acts (journal for electronic and remote acts only). | 4 M.R.S. §1920 |
| Maryland | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Tangible or electronic. ID number recorded. | Md. Code, State Gov't §18-219; COMAR 01.02.08.08 |
| Massachusetts | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act except oral oaths and summonses. Attorneys and their employees are exempt. Tangible or electronic. ID number recorded; SSN banned. | M.G.L. c.222 §22 |
| Michigan | Not required | Not required for paper acts (journal for remote acts only). | MCL 55.286b |
| Minnesota | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic journal for remote acts only). | Minn. Stat. §358.645 |
| Mississippi | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act since 1 Jul 2021. Tangible or electronic. Full ID numbers may not be recorded (last four digits allowed). | Miss. Code §25-34-37; 1 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 5 ch. 4 |
| Missouri | Required, every act · bound paper book | Required for every act. Permanently bound book for paper acts. ID number recorded; SSN banned. | RSMo 486.700, 486.705 |
| Montana | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Tangible or electronic. Driver's licence, SSN and passport numbers may not be recorded. | MCA 1-5-618 |
| Nebraska | Not required | Not required for paper acts; the Secretary of State says journals are optional. | Neb. Rev. Stat. §64-409 |
| Nevada | Required, every act · bound paper book | Required for every act. Bound volume with preprinted page numbers; electronic journals only for registered electronic notaries. | NRS 240.120 |
| New Hampshire | Not required | Not required for paper acts (journal for remote acts only). | RSA 456-B:8-c |
| New Jersey | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Attorneys, their staff and title companies may keep the record in their regular files. Tangible or electronic. | N.J.S.A. 52:7-10.18; N.J.A.C. 17:50-1.11 |
| New Mexico | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Tangible or electronic. | NMSA 1978 §14-14A-18 |
| New York | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act since 25 Jan 2023, including ink-only notaries. No format prescribed. Keep 10 years. The 2024 bill to limit it to electronic acts was vetoed; the 2025–26 version (A7683) passed the Assembly but died in the Senate when the session ended on 5 Jun 2026. | 19 NYCRR 182.9 |
| North Carolina | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic and remote acts only); strongly recommended. | 18 NCAC 07I .0101, .0202 |
| North Dakota | Not required | Not required for paper acts (journal for remote acts only). | N.D.C.C. 44-06.1-16.1 |
| Ohio | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic journal for online notaries only). | ORC 147.65 |
| Oklahoma | Not required | Not required; the Secretary of State recommends one. | 49 O.S. §206 (remote acts only) |
| Oregon | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for acknowledgments and signature witnessing; optional for oaths, affidavits, copy certifications and protests. Bound tangible or tamper-evident electronic. | ORS 194.300 |
| Pennsylvania | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. Tangible or electronic. | 57 Pa.C.S. §319 |
| Rhode Island | Not required | Not required for paper acts (remote acts: electronic journal and recording). | R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 42-30.1 |
| South Carolina | Not required | Not required for paper acts (electronic journal for electronic notaries only). | S.C. Code §26-2-90 |
| South Dakota | Not required | Not required. | SDCL ch. 18-1 (no journal section) |
| Tennessee | Required, some acts · electronic allowed | Required for every act for which a fee is charged, so in practice for every paid signing. Electronic or bound book. | T.C.A. §8-21-1201 |
| Texas | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act. May be kept electronically. ID numbers may not be recorded; expiry date may. | Tex. Gov't Code §406.014; 1 TAC §87.40 |
| Utah | Required, some acts · bound paper book | Required for every in-person act for notaries commissioned or renewed on or after 6 May 2026 (optional for earlier commissions; law-firm and title-agency employees exempt). Physical bound journal; last four digits of the ID number recorded. | Utah Code 46-1-13, 46-1-14.1 |
| Vermont | Not required | Not required. | 26 V.S.A. ch. 103 (no journal section) |
| Virginia | Required, every act · medium not specified | Required for every act performed on or after 1 Jul 2026. Keep 5 years. The statute says "record" and names no medium for paper notaries. | Va. Code §47.1-14(C), (D) |
| Washington | Required, every act · bound paper book | Required for every act (attorneys exempt within their practice). One permanent bound register; an electronic journal only in addition. | RCW 42.45.180; WAC 308-30-200 |
| West Virginia | Not required | Not required. | W. Va. Code art. 39-4 (no journal section) |
| Wisconsin | Not required | Not required. | Wis. Stat. ch. 140 (no journal section) |
| Wyoming | Required, every act · electronic allowed | Required for every act since 1 Jul 2021. Tangible or electronic. | W.S. 32-3-118(d), (e) |
Is this legal advice?
No. I'm a developer, not a lawyer or a tax preparer. The facts on this page link to their sources so you can check them, and your state's rules and your preparer's advice come first.
Not legal or tax advice. Every screen shows demo data.