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Earnings & Payouts
How your earnings work
When a client's session is completed, the session fee (minus the NotariseIt service charge) is queued for payout to your registered bank account. You do not need to request withdrawals — payouts are processed automatically every day.
Fee structure:
| Component | Who pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Notarisation fee | Client | Set by you, per document type |
| Service charge | Client (retained by platform) | Platform-configured percentage, non-refundable |
| VAT (7.5%) | Client | Applied to the service charge; remitted by NotariseIt |
Your net payout = notarisation fee − platform commission (a percentage of the notarisation fee).
Registering your bank account
You do not need this to start working
A payout account is not a requirement to take sessions. You can be booked and conduct sessions today; NotariseIt holds what you earn and releases it as soon as an account exists. The two things that do gate sessions are your digital seal and your identity verification.
Before receiving your first payout, register your Nigerian bank account:
- Go to Billing → Payout Account and click Add payout account.
- Enter your account number and choose your bank.
- Click Verify Account with Paystack — your account name is fetched and shown back to you, so you confirm it rather than typing it.
Your masked account number is displayed on the settings page for confirmation. Only Nigerian bank accounts are currently supported.
The confirmation step names your bank in words — Zenith Bank, not 057. If it ever shows Bank code followed by a number, the bank list has not finished loading; reload the page before saving, so you are confirming a name rather than a code you cannot check.
WARNING
Ensure your account name matches the name on your NotariseIt account. Mismatches may cause transfer failures.
Payout schedule
Payouts are processed automatically by the platform's daily payout job. Once a session is marked as completed, your earnings are typically transferred within 1–2 business days.
Viewing your earnings
Go to Dashboard → Earnings to view:
- This month — earnings from the current calendar month
- Last month — previous month's total
- Lifetime — all-time earnings
- Payout history — a full list of past payouts with status and reference numbers
Payout statuses
These are the badges as they appear on the Earnings table.
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Awaiting payout | Queued for the next payout cycle |
| Processing | Transfer initiated with Paystack |
| Paid out | Funds transferred to your bank account |
| Payout failed | Transfer failed — see below |
| Held | Earnings held because no bank account is registered — see below |
| Forfeited | Held earnings expired after 14 days without a bank account being added |
Held earnings (no bank account registered)
If a session completes and you do not yet have a bank account registered, your net earnings are held securely for up to 14 calendar days rather than being discarded.
During the hold period:
- You will receive an email notification immediately after the session, explaining the held amount and deadline.
- A reminder email is sent when approximately 3 days remain.
- Your Earnings page shows a banner with the total held amount and a direct link to add your bank account.
- Each held payout row displays an orange Held badge.
To release held earnings: go to Billing → Payout Account, add your Nigerian bank account, and save. Held earnings are automatically released in the next available payout cycle — no manual action is required beyond adding your account.
Forfeiture — act before the deadline
If no bank account is added within 14 days of the session completion date, the held earnings are permanently forfeited and cannot be recovered. NotariseIt sends a warning email before this happens, but it is your responsibility to act in time.
To avoid this entirely, register your bank account before conducting your first session.
Notification at session start
If you begin a session without a registered bank account, the platform displays a prominent warning before you join. You may proceed, but your earnings will be held until you add your account.
Failed payouts
If a payout fails (e.g. due to incorrect bank details):
- You will receive an email notification with the failure reason.
- Update your bank details under Billing → Payout Account.
- Contact support at [email protected] to re-trigger the payout.
Cancellation compensation payouts
When a client cancels a booking within 2 hours of the session start time, you are entitled to a compensation payment — even though the session did not take place. This compensates you for the time you reserved.
Compensation amount: 20% of the notarisation fee for the cancelled appointment.
| What happens to the notarisation fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Refunded to the client | 70% |
| Paid to you as compensation | 20% |
| Retained by platform | 10% |
You will receive:
- An email notification when the client cancels, confirming the compensation amount scheduled.
- The payment appears in your Payout History with type Cancellation Compensation.
Compensation payouts are processed by the same daily payout job as session payouts — typically within 1–2 business days.
Free cancellation zone
If a client cancels more than 2 hours before the session, no compensation is paid — this is the free cancellation window and the client receives a full refund. You will still be notified of the cancellation immediately.
Organisation members (Elite)
If you are a member of an Elite organisation, payouts for sessions conducted through the organisation are routed to the organisation's bank account, not your personal account. Your personal payout account is used only for sessions booked independently outside the organisation.
Acts with several signatories
You are paid twice over on these, for two different things.
An attendance fee for each sitting you conduct. It becomes payable as that appearance is conducted, and it is yours — it is not a platform charge and it is not a share of anything. It pays for your time in the room with that person.
The notarisation fee once the act completes. Charged once for the document however many sittings the signing took, and payable on completion rather than on any one appearance.
Say it the right way round
The attendance fee is not a notarisation fee, and the guides, the receipts and the booking screen are all careful about that wording. One notarisation, one notarisation fee; the attendance fees pay for sittings.
If an act expires
The sittings you conducted are still paid — they happened. The notarisation fee is not, because the act was never completed.
If you cannot complete an act
Where the act is cancelled because you cannot conduct it, everything the parties paid is refunded, including the attendance fees for sittings that were actually held. That is the one case where a conducted sitting is refunded, and it is the deliberate asymmetry: a client who could not finish loses what they spent, a client whose notary could not finish does not.