Managing your Notary business involves a lot of administrative details — from finding clients and scheduling appointments, to creating invoices and tracking expenses — all of which takes time away from actually completing assignments and making money. This is what inspired Steve Bjorkman to develop NotaryGadget, a fully integrated Notary management software system designed to simplify the administrative challenges.
Now Bjorkman wants to hear from the NNA Notary community. To that end, he is offering a free trial of the software, good for your first 15 assignments, assuring you ample time to “test-drive” all the features. Once you finish your trial, post your comments to rate the product and explain what you liked, what you didn’t, and what changes or improvements you would make.
Bjorkman, a former robotics engineer who had developed customized software customized for other industries, got the idea for the management software while having a drink with a Notary friend who was frustrated at how administrative tasks were slowing down his business.
NotaryGadget is designed to give independent Notaries the ability to manage all of their business activities with one, easy-to-use Internet-based application.
After a year of development, NotaryGadget was first released in early 2012. At the time, Bjorkman put out a call to Notaries to test and critique the software.
“We got a ton of initial user feedback, which drove all future development,” said Bjorkman. He discovered, for example, that many Notaries used Google Calendars to track assignments; therefore, his team worked to seamlessly integrate the Google Calendar platform into NotaryGadget.
As a result of user feedback, the application evolved into a comprehensive signing management system wherein signing agents can easily manage and track every assignment, from initial contact to final invoicing.
Some of NotaryGadget's most popular features:
- Easy Invoicing: The system is created to automatically create your invoices as soon as you enter assignment information. Sending an invoice PDF takes 10-15 seconds, and each one is saved into your customized accounting log for easy tracking and record-keeping.
- Calendar Integration: The software automatically adds your assignments to the calendar on your smartphone or Google Calendar.
- Easy Tax Preparation: By year’s end, the software has gathered all necessary information to easily create and print your tax information in exactly the format preferred by Certified Public Accountants and tax preparers.
Users also can take advantage of an integrated mileage log and other expense-tracking tools, various ways to customize your invoices with your logo or brand message, instant driving directions, and even an “e-card” capability to send thank-you notes to clients.