Last updated on October 31, 2024
Breaking Down Virtual Assistant Rates and Understanding What You Can Afford
What we discuss in this article:
- Virtual Assistant Rates in the U.S.
- 5 Influencing Factors on the Cost of a Virtual Assistant
- How to Pay a Virtual Assistant (4 Options)
- Can You Actually Afford a Virtual Assistant?
- 4 Methods to Keep Your Virtual Assistant Costs Low
- Are VAs a Luxury or a Necessity?
Having the support of a virtual assistant by your side is a great way to save time and increase productivity. Not only do SMBs want to hire them but big organizations are also turning to virtual assistants to help manage their daily tasks. But there are some things that make business owners think twice about actually hiring one and the virtual assistant cost is certainly one of them.
- What are the going virtual assistant rates?
- Is hiring a virtual assistant going to cost much?
- Is it going to upset my budget?
- What if I pay but don’t get a quality service?
If you are a business owner and your mind has been raided with similar thoughts, our value-packed guide is just what you need.
In this article, we’ll delve deeper into the virtual assistant cost and take a look at the different factors that can affect it. By the time you are finished reading, you will have a better understanding of how much you should be paying to a VA and how you can keep the costs down.
Virtual Assistant Rates In The US
So let’s talk money. Generally, a virtual assistant’s salary ranges somewhere between $5-$100 per hour. However, a virtual assistant’s hourly rate is around $25.
While a lot of factors pitch in, mainly it depends on the skill set you are hiring for.
For your ease, here is a general breakdown of virtual assistant rates in the US based on their service type. Since the majority of virtual assistants work on a per-hour basis, we will also provide hourly charges.
| Service Type | Hourly Rate In USD |
| Administrative Tasks | $15-$20+ per hour |
| Legal Task Management | $15-$26+ per hour |
| Social Media Management | $10-$12 per hour |
| Accounting and bookkeeping | $15-$25 per hour |
| Customer Relationship Management | $15-$18 per hour |
| Advanced Consultant VA (related to IT) | $38-$50+ per hour |
Let’s now examine the elements that affect a virtual assistant’s cost.
What Influences the Cost of a Virtual Assistant? 5 Factors
As we mentioned before, there are scads of factors that influence the cost of a virtual assistant. Let’s get the inner scoop on these:
1. The Niche You Are Hiring For
This is the top factor that influences the virtual assistant cost. Do you think web design virtual assistants cost the same as administrative virtual assistants? No. We don’t think so either.
It is not fair to assume that all services should be paid equally when you know some require much more brains than others. Manual work like data entry and general phone call handling will cost less than accounting or website management tasks.
2. The Experience Level
Experience does cost more. The experience level of a virtual assistant directly resonates with the efficiency of the work. That means more tasks are done in lesser time than the one who is less experienced and might take a lot of time to figure out stuff.
When you hire a less experienced virtual assistant, remember that if it’s not a constraint on your pocket, it will be on your time. An inexperienced VA may need training and that will automatically bring up the costs.
Experienced VAs can handle complex projects more efficiently. The best way to go about the whole process is to do the maths. Ask yourself, how much in-depth work you need for a particular task.
Let’s take an example of a social media virtual assistant. If you need someone for only putting up posts, you may hire someone with little to no experience. But if you need someone to run campaigns, create content, or do collaborations, you require a VA who is already familiar with these tasks.
3. The Geographics
The virtual assistant cost will vary by location, and the dynamics will change depending on where your VA is based. There are particular elements linked to the location that may raise or lower the costs. It starts from the cost of living and the cost of expenses in a certain country.
You will find virtual assistants with lower rates from countries like India and the Philippines as compared to the ones living in the US. Another thing to keep in mind is that different locations mean different time zones. If they don’t offer flexible work schedules, the costs will automatically go down.
Then there is the language difference, which affects how much a virtual assistant will cost you to hire. If you are hiring a VA for a language-based task like content writing or proofreading certain documents in Latin or Portuguese, the virtual assistant rates will be lower as compared to the one who is providing similar services in English.
4. The Project Duration
How complex is your project and what time frame will it be finished in? Do the complete analysis. Calculate all the if and buts. The longer the project, the more it will cost you. At the same time, if you keep coming back to your virtual assistant for new work regularly, you can pay them on monthly basis. Monthly plans always prove to be best for the client’s budget.
5. A College Degree
Yes, a college degree does influence the cost of a virtual assistant. This especially stands true when a virtual assistant is required for tech support. A good degree is almost a guarantee that your virtual assistant is knowledgeable in the skill set they claim to have.
A tech company hiring a virtual assistant for web designing tasks would prefer one having the same educational background. This gives the VA grounds to ask for a higher hourly rate as they are aware of their worth.
How to Pay Your Virtual Assistant (4 Payment Options)
You do have the facility to go by different payment methods when paying a virtual assistant. This is one of the highlighted perks of hiring virtual help. It is super convenient. Just pick one model that suits your budget best and get the whole thing rolling. Let’s take a detailed look at each model.
1. Pay Per Hour
The most preferred and commonly used method to pay a virtual assistant is an hourly wage, although this can get a little tricky. You will be assuming more if you think that every second of the hour you paid for was spent working on your task.
But yes there is one way out to tackle this problem as well – time-tracking software. This software can be installed on the device on which your VA will be working. They show you how much time is spent working on a specific tab or browser.
You can view the automated screenshots on your dashboard that this software takes at random intervals which will help you analyze the overall productivity. VA outsourcing companies usually provide you with one for better reliability.
2. Pay Per Task
One of the main benefits of working with VAs on a task basis is the flexibility it offers. With this option, you can hire someone to take care of a specific task, and then let them go once it’s complete. This allows you to scale up or down as needed, depending on the workload you have at any given time.
To make the most of this payment structure, having accurate estimations of task durations is essential. If you don’t have a clue about it, search the web or even ask your VA. This calculation will help you set a fixed rate for each task and pay accordingly.
3. Pay Per Project
This is somewhat similar to the above-mentioned payment model. The cost of a virtual assistant for a specific project involving a series of complex tasks should be a flat rate fee.
With project-based hiring, you can tailor your virtual assistant needs to specific projects, rather than committing to a set number of hours or a monthly rate. This allows you to get exactly what you need without overpaying.
4. Monthly Retainer
Hiring on monthly basis will allow you to have a virtual assistant available on a consistent schedule. This allows you to plan ahead and know that you have dedicated support when you need it. It also allows for the development of an established working relationship. This can lead to better communication and a deeper understanding of the business’s needs, resulting in more efficient and effective work.
It also allows you to have better management of your projects as you have a dedicated team member available for a set number of hours, who can work on multiple projects and help in managing their progress, which is not possible with a task-based or an hourly-based contract.
Can You Actually Afford A Virtual Assistant?
So we finally come down to the million-dollar question here. The answer is that you are the better judge here. We’ll just pinpoint some facts and you can take it from there.
A. Investment or Indulgence?
We want you to have some vision about where you want to take your business this year. We are sure that one goal has to do something with your business making more money.
Using a VA who can take over the tasks which can free you up to work on meaningful things for your business is an investment. A long-term maybe. But you need to think of it that way.
No hurries. Just take your time and answer these questions.
- Do you really need help?
- Do you think saving money is a good trade-off than expansion?
- Does your calendar management take priority over developing new client relationships?
- Is not having a VA going to let you reply to that mail that has been waiting in your inbox for a long time now?
Still got doubts? Think of what you are going to pay when you hire a full-time employee.
You can thank us later.
B. Do The Math
Do all the calculations before you jump to any conclusion of not affording a VA. Don’t just add hourly or monthly wages to your budget. When figuring out the cost of a virtual assistant, the equation requires the cost of benefits added to it as well.
What benefits you may ask? Well, to begin with, your health, inventory, internet service, and software.
So what you are paying them out of your budget is helping you reduce other costs. And then the bottom line is to calculate the value your virtual assistant is bringing to your business by getting you off the hook.
C. Negotiate If You Can
You always have the right to negotiate the proposed virtual assistant rates. But have the heart to accept a no if it comes your way. While we are at it, just make sure you don’t cross the boundaries when negotiating.
For a better scoop on how much you should negotiate, do market research and come to some mutual terms based on the market rate.
Before you jump to any conclusions and make a decision, remember the best part about potentially working with a VA is the “no strings attached” scenario. If you are not comfortable, you can end the deal.
This is one breakup that is not going to cause any heartbreak. It is completely unlike hiring a full-time employee where you are bound by time-based contracts.
Do you feel your shoulders relaxing and your forehead softening after reading this? Well, that’s your cue to hire an executive assistant immediately.
How to Keep Your Virtual Assistant Costs Low: 4 Proven Methods
We tried looking into some ways to keep your virtual assistant costs low and here’s what we got.
1. Hire From The Right Source
Now read this carefully, as this may be the most useful information you will ever get – selecting a VA from the right source makes all the difference when it comes to cutting costs. Well here’s how.
When you hire a VA from vetted and
When you work with virtual assistant companies like Zirtual, you are getting the best out of the lot.
Firstly, you can blatantly minus the hiring overheads. The VA that we’ll provide you will be highly trained, professional, and supervised. If somehow things don’t work out with the first one, you get a replacement who is experienced and highly skilled.
Zirtual is best known for providing highly skilled college grads who have a full grasp of what they do. What’s best is that our VAs are rigorously trained so that they get right down to business on their very first day.
Another cost-effective option is to hire a freelancer. However, freelance virtual assistants have a reputation for lacking skills, producing low-quality work, and being unreliable in delivering projects on time.
2. Be Clear About The Assigned Tasks
Revisions and corrections may extend the time taken and cause frustration. In such scenarios, be prepared for the virtual assistant’s hourly wage to go up.
However, you can slash the cost by being precise about your requirements before you reach out to a virtual assistant for a certain task or project. Good management and communication can lead to the timely completion of tasks and eventually bring down costs.
3. Leverage The Right Tools
When you hire remote assistance, productivity heavily relies on technology. Since you are already crystal clear about the task that you assigned, the next step is what online tools will improve the process.
You can use project management tools like Asana. For email marketing, you can leverage Mailchimp. For customer service, you can use Zoho Chat.
Implementation of these tools will reduce the need for manual labor, leading to reduced virtual assistant costs and increased efficiency in VA operations.
4. Monitor Their Performance
If you hire from a reputed source, you may not need to follow this step. But in other cases, it is best to have monitoring software installed like TimeDoctor or BambooHR so that you and your VA know the work time is being monitored.
This brings in reliability and quality which means more tasks are done in the designated time and hence, bringing cost savviness to the house.
Virtual Assistants – a Luxury or a Necessity?
With every passing year, the business world dynamics are constantly evolving. If we look at things, let’s say a decade back, things were done differently. The thought of hiring virtual assistants for your business was not even alive let alone considered.
The idea started becoming common around 2017. And when the pandemic hit, boom – the tables were turned. Virtual hiring became a force majeure that led to revealing how profitable it was for business owners, especially small to medium entrepreneurs.
When we start a business, most of us go through the superhero syndrome. But that feeling gets invalidated when the business starts expanding and you find your schedule in a mess. Even then, some business owners are reluctant to hire virtual assistants for various reasons, like:
- Financial reasons
- Fear of poor work quality
- Apprehensions of losing control
- Uncomfortable with the virtual scenario
While these all may be valid reasons, they cannot balance out the stress and burnout you go through. Running a business is teamwork, not a one-man show. Sooner or later, you will have to start building a team to get things running to reach your business goals.
Now from large corporations to startups, everyone wants to hire virtual assistants. And why not? When you do, this is what you will get:
A. Valuable Time
Time is money when you are running a business. When getting free from daily recurring tasks, you get to focus on what your business needs more–your core competencies and creativity. After all, that is what is going to bring in potential clients.
B. Cost Saving
Did you know that the cost of virtual assistants can be less than hiring an in-person employee? No fringe benefits, no office space, and no inventory cost. And hiring help can free you up to get better ROI.
Fact: Bringing on a VA instead of a permanent resource can slash up to 78% of the running cost of your business per year.
C. Diverse Set Of Skills
Virtual assistants are highly skilled professionals. You name the niche and you will find yourself tons of skilled virtual assistants for that. And realistically speaking, a virtual assistant can fill in the skill gaps for your business that you are struggling with or are unable to do.
Now you are the better judge. Is working with a virtual assistant a luxury or a necessity?
Know the Cost of Virtual Assistants Before You Move Forward with One
Who in the business world ever said that managing a business on your own can be termed heroic? Remember when we preached that managing and running a successful business is teamwork? We did it before and we do it now.
It might seem like a difficult time to take out a budget for hiring assistance. But trust us when we say that the cost of a virtual assistant is an investment that you will not regret.
The benefits of outsourcing to virtual assistants far outweigh the costs. The key is to find affordable virtual assistant rates for your specific needs that can help you unlock the full potential of your business and take it to the next level.
For this exact reason, we at Zirtual outsource vetted virtual assistants with no long-term contracts. We understand where you are coming from and we want to help you take those tiny steps toward growing your business.
Explore our virtual assistant services for a better idea of how they can help your specific industry, or check out our affordable virtual assistant pricing plans!