Availability & Fees

Setting your availability

Your availability determines which slots clients can book. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Availability.

You are not bookable until you set availability

If you have no active availability rules, you will not appear as bookable and clients cannot schedule a session with you — even when your profile is approved and accepting new bookings. We'll email you a reminder every few days until you set it. The reminders stop automatically as soon as you save your first availability rule (or if you pause new bookings while you're away).

The page has three sections: Slot Duration, Weekly Schedule and Date Overrides.

Slot duration

One setting for your whole practice: how long each bookable appointment is. Choose it first — it decides the length of every slot a client sees, so changing it later reshapes your whole schedule.

Weekly schedule

Each day of the week has a toggle and, once switched on, one or more time blocks.

1. Switch on the day you want to work.
2. Click the + on that day to add a time block.
3. Set the start and end time for the block.
4. Repeat for each day, adding more than one block to a day where you want a break in the middle — a morning window and an afternoon window, say.
5. Click Save Schedule.

Until you save, the page shows the schedule as unsaved and the button stays active; once saved it reads Schedule up to date. There is no separate "rule" to create and no wizard — the days are always there, and switching one on is what makes it bookable.

Save each rule

Each availability rule is saved on its own — click Save after adding or editing every rule (including any change to the session duration). A rule you add but don't save is not stored, so double-check it appears in your list before leaving the page.

TIP

Only slots that fall within your availability rules appear on your public calendar. Clients cannot book outside these windows.

Cannot remove a rule with active bookings

If a client has a pending or confirmed booking that falls within an availability window, the platform will prevent you from removing or deactivating that rule until the booking is resolved (completed or cancelled). This protects clients from losing confirmed sessions.

To remove the rule, first cancel the affected appointment(s) from Dashboard → Appointments — the reassignment flow will find another notary for the client automatically.

Pausing new bookings

If you are going on leave or need a break without deactivating your profile:

1. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Availability.
2. Toggle Accept New Bookings to Off.

You will be hidden from search results immediately. Existing confirmed bookings are not affected. Toggle it back on when you are ready.

Automatic session reassignment

When a notary cancels a confirmed session at short notice, NotariseIt automatically searches for the next best available notary to reassign the session to — ensuring the client's booking goes ahead without disruption.

By default, all notaries are eligible to receive these automatically reassigned sessions. If you are matched, you will receive an email explaining the context and giving you the option to cancel if you are unable to attend.

To opt out of automatic reassignment:

1. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Availability.
2. Under Automatic Session Reassignment, toggle to Off.

When opted out, you will never receive a session through automatic reassignment. You will only receive bookings that clients make directly with you through the platform.

WARNING

Opting out reduces your earning opportunities. Automatically reassigned sessions are paid at the full session fee and are a direct benefit of being on the platform.

Who can book you

Every client who books you holds a current verified identity check. It is a condition of booking on NotariseIt, not a setting you turn on: a client cannot book a session or pay for one without it.

You still make your own decision on camera under s.6(3)(c) of the Notaries Public Act 2023 — the platform's check is evidence, not a substitute for your judgement. What it prevents is discovering a problem after an hour of your diary has been reserved.

The Who Can Book You setting that used to live here has been removed. It let you require verified clients while other notaries took anyone; with verification required of everyone it described a choice that no longer exists.

Full detail, including what "current" means for a client whose verification has lapsed, is in Identity Verification.

TIP

If you receive an automatically reassigned session and cannot attend, cancel it promptly from your dashboard so another notary can be found in time for the client.

Setting your fees

Fees are set per document type. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Document Types & Fees to manage them.

The platform enforces a minimum fee of ₦5,000 per document. This reflects the lowest statutory rate in the Second Schedule to the Notaries Public Act 2023 (s.10) — the fee for attestation to any other document and each additional document in a session. You cannot set a fee below ₦5,000.

Fee structure

Pricing model	How it works
Flat fee	A fixed amount per document, regardless of length
Per page	A fee multiplied by the number of pages (client enters page count at booking)

You choose the pricing model when configuring each document type.

Setting booking terms

If you require clients to agree to specific terms before booking (e.g. document preparation requirements, cancellation terms, or a confidentiality notice):

1. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Booking Terms.
2. Enter your terms in the text field.
3. Click Save.

Clients will be required to accept these terms before completing a booking with you.

Service charge and VAT

The platform adds a service charge (configured by NotariseIt) and 7.5% VAT on top of your fee. These are charged to the client — your payout is based on your notarisation fee minus the platform service charge only.

The full fee breakdown is shown to the client on the booking screen and in the confirmation email.