Virtual Assistant 101: Setting Your Virtual Assistant Rates

Deciding whether or not to charge by the hour or a monthly package rate for your Virtual Assistant business can be a daunting task. You need to make sure you have all the necessary information before you begin to save yourself from a lot of time and frustration. Consider each item below before you decide on hourly rates or packages for your virtual assistant business.

What Will Your Expenses Be As A Virtual Assistant

Let’s face it...you’re going to have expenses. Yes, there are a lot of free tools out there you can use as a virtual assistant that are free. I have a whole blog post about it, but sooner or later...you will have expenses. Whether it’s paying for blog hosting, using the pro version of Canva for your graphics, or Tailwind to schedule your posts to Pinterest, you will have monthly or yearly expenses. These expenses need to be calculated before you decide if you want to charge hourly or package rates. 

What Does Being A Booked Out Virtual Assistant Mean To You

This is the main question you need to ask yourself. How much money do you want to bring in every month? Are you looking to bring in a little money to help your family every month? Are you trying to replace your 9-5 salary? This is going to look different for everyone. When I started my virtual assistant business, booked out meant bringing in $500 a month. 

That’s it. 

For real.

I wasn’t trying to replace my 9-5 salary. I know a lot of people begin a virtual assistant business because they have a soul-sucking job. That wasn’t me. I have a day-job that I absolutely love and I’m not trying to leave it any time soon. What I did have were personal reasons I needed my virtual assistant business.  I had just separated from my ex-husband and I needed the extra money and this is what I calculated I needed. This may not be the case for you so you need to decide what booked out means to you! 

Do You Want To Be Paid For Your Time or For Your Expertise

Don’t make the mistake and think your workload is based on the number of clients you have because it’s not. 

What you charge as a virtual assistant should be based on one of three things: 

  1. The number of billable hours you work each month

  2. The number of packages you need each month

  3. The number of projects you want to have each month

So let’s talk about each one…

Should You Charge A Billable Hourly Rate For Your Virtual Assistant Business

If you are a general virtual assistant, you may want to consider charging by the hour. A general virtual assistant's tasks can include email management, answering the phone, customer service, data entry, research, scheduling travel, etc. For these types of tasks you may want to charge by the hour. 

Let’s break that down with an actual number.

To bring in $2000 per month at $25 per hour you need to work 80 hours per month. Now, what does that mean when it comes to clients? You need either two clients to pay you to work 40 hours a month or 4 clients to pay you to work 20 hours per month. It’s a simple calculation. But think about it this way…you’re only working  20 hours per week versus what a person with a 9-5 making 40. You also get to set your own hours and you have more time to spend with your family. But know that you’re going to have to be very strategic with your time and use a program like Toggl to track your time each month so you can present it to your clients at the end of the month when it’s time to bill them. 

Should You Create Monthly Packages For Your Virtual Assistant Business

Maybe you don’t want to track your time. If you don’t, then consider packages instead of charging hourly. Or, maybe you have a specialized skill-set you want to bundle together.  For example, a Pinterest Virtual Assistant can package monthly services by offering to create 20 Pinterest graphics per month, Pinterest strategy, Tailwind management, scheduling 5-30 pins per day, email support, a monthly report, and one 30-minute update phone call per month for $550 per month. This type of rate is also good for social media VAs, email marketing VAs, copywriting VAs, etc. You won’t have to track your time and as long as you complete all of your promised package deliverables, your client will be happy. Breaking these packages down means this Pinterest VA needs 4 clients per month to make $2000. 

Do You Have A Specialized Virtual Assistant Service That Requires Project Based Rates

Projects are based on scope. Scope means what you’re creating and delivering to the client is unique. The difference between a project and a package is during the discovery call you and the client will determine the scope of the project. This is what a client pays for - the uniqueness of the project because it is specific to them.  It’s not based on hours. By being paid for your expertise you have the ability to earn more money and the ability to free up your time because you’ll know exactly how much time it will take you to complete the project. An example of a project is a Wordpress site or a Squarespace site. Or, maybe someone who sets up your onboarding process in Dubsado. Projects require a start and finish; a one and done type of structure. So, make sure you receive 50% up front before you begin a project of this type.  

So, if we break this down with the same $2000 above and you charge $750 per project, you need to complete 3 projects per month to make the amount you need. 

Whatever decision you make: hourly, packages or project-based, decide what your rate will be and stick to it. As a new virtual assistant starting out you may be tempted to take whatever client comes your way and accept whatever they want to pay you. Don’t do that. You are a professional and you are worth the rate you set. 

Are you ready to begin your VA business? Get my helpful free resource for supporting you on your own VA journey. Download the Step by Step Action Plan To Set Up Your VA Business.

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