· Reviewed by Issabela Masters
What does a remote personal assistant do?
An AssistBPO personal assistant works a standing brief of 9 duties, and anything on it can be added or dropped in the weekly review.
- Manage personal and family calendars alongside your work diary
- Book medical, dental, school and household appointments and confirm them
- Plan trips end to end: flights, hotels, transfers, restaurants, itineraries
- Research and buy gifts, household items and services within a budget you set
- Track renewals: insurance, subscriptions, memberships, passports, vehicle documents
- Coordinate tradespeople, cleaners and deliveries and confirm access windows
- Handle personal correspondence, RSVPs and thank-you notes in your voice
- Keep a household and personal contacts directory current
- Maintain a running 'done and pending' list you can see at any time
What skills and tools does a remote personal assistant need?
The 7 skills below are the ones AssistBPO screens for, and the personal assistant works them inside 8 platforms you already run.
- Warm, discreet written and phone manner
- Reliable follow-through on small tasks that are easy to drop
- Travel planning across airlines, loyalty programs and time zones
- Comparison shopping and budget tracking
- Calendar management for a family, not just one person
- Good judgment about what to decide and what to ask
- Absolute confidentiality about your home, family and finances
Tools this role works in
A sample day, in your time zone
- 8:00Shift starts in your time zone: overnight messages sorted, today's personal and work appointments cross-checked
- 9:00Dentist appointment moved, school trip form completed and returned, plumber confirmed for Thursday 2 to 4pm
- 10:30Anniversary weekend researched: three hotel options with prices and cancellation terms sent
- 12:00Flights for next month's trip booked with seat selection, itinerary added to your calendar
- 14:00Car insurance renewal compared against two quotes, recommendation and deadline noted
- 15:30Gift ordered and gift-wrapped for Friday, delivery tracking added to the pending list
- 17:00Done and pending list updated and sent: 11 done, 3 awaiting your choice
Times are illustrative. Your shift is fixed to your opening hours during onboarding.
Hours and models
Models
- Dedicated personal assistant, 80 hours a month, the most common choice
- Dedicated personal assistant, 160 hours a month for families and executives with heavy logistics
- Combined executive and personal assistant on one 160-hour plan
Coverage
US, UK and Canadian daytime hours from the group's two offices, with early or late shifts to fit your household. AEST shifts and bilingual Spanish or French support on request.
What are the terms for a remote personal assistant?
The card, the contract terms and this role's own schedule and screening, in one place.
| Specification | What you get |
|---|---|
| Focus, 20 hours a week | $800 a month, 80 hours |
| Dedicated, 40 hours a week | $1,600 a month, 160 hours |
| Standard schedule | Dedicated personal assistant, 80 hours a month, the most common choice |
| Coverage | US, UK and Canadian daytime hours from the group's two offices, with early or late shifts to fit your household. |
| Screening | 5 gates, named candidate within 72 hours |
| Setup fee | None |
| Minimum term | Month to month, no lock-in |
| Notice | 30 days, to stop or to change hours |
| If the fit is wrong | Trained backup covers the desk the same day, re-match at no charge |
| Continuity | One named assistant, one named backup, one team lead |
| Who does the work | Employed by SS Support Network LLC, never freelancers or contractors |
These are rate-card starting points. What you pay depends on the hours, the desk and the coverage window, which is what the staffing plan sets. Rates improve as you add assistants. Your staffing plan states the rate for the number of seats you need. The rate card carries the other currencies, the add-ons and the six things that move a plan off it.
How much does it cost to hire a remote personal assistant?
Plans start at $400 a month for 40 hours, at $10 an hour, and rates improve as you add assistants. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day.
What moves the plan
- Hours a week and whether the role is dedicated or shared
- Seniority and the tools involved
- Coverage zone: business hours, after-hours or 24/7
- One person or a pod with a lead
What the market publishes
Other providers' published ranges, by market, so you have something to hold this against. These are not AssistBPO prices.
| Market | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Task-based and subscription services publish from $499 a month (Wing) and from $549 a month (Zirtual); Time etc around $28 to $36 an hour; PayScale average for virtual assistants $19.45 an hour | Magic, MyOutDesk and Nacho pricing roundups; PayScale via Wishup, 2026 |
| United Kingdom | UK virtual PA rates £25 to £45 an hour, with freelance surveys around £28 to £35 and agencies at £35 to £40 an hour with no retainer | Society of Virtual Assistants survey and Pink Spaghetti published pricing, 2026 |
| Canada | Canada-based personal and virtual assistants C$25 to C$60 an hour; managed offshore plans at US$699 to US$899 a month | Virtual Gurus and VantaStaff published pricing, 2026 |
How are remote personal assistants vetted?
5 gates, in order. A candidate who fails one does not reach the next.
- English and phone assessment
- Typing and tool tests
- Background check
- NDA and security onboarding
- Shadowing and QA scorecard
Candidates who clear all 5 gates are proposed to you by name within 72 hours.
Personal assistant candidates handle a scripted set of calls with an assessor playing a restaurant, a clinic receptionist and a difficult delivery company, then write a warm but firm email declining an invitation on a client's behalf. We score courtesy, persistence and discretion.
Typing at 45 words a minute or better with high accuracy, then a practical built around real personal admin: plan a three-city trip with connections under a budget, compare three insurance quotes in a spreadsheet, and set up a shared family calendar with color-coded members in Google Calendar.
Because a PA knows your home address, travel dates and family routines, the third-party background check covers identity, address history, criminal record where lawful, education and employment. Two references are interviewed by phone with specific questions about trust and discretion.
A group NDA and a personal confidentiality addendum are signed first. Security onboarding then covers MFA, managed devices, no screenshots or local copies of personal documents, purchases only through cards or portals you control, and never sharing your whereabouts with anyone outside the agreed list.
New PAs shadow a senior PA on a live desk for a week, then run your desk with the senior reviewing every booking and purchase for two weeks. The team lead scores a monthly sample of tasks for accuracy, timeliness and tone, and checks the pending list was kept current.
The full pipeline is on the how we hire and manage assistants page. Assistants are employees of the group, never freelancers, and you never co-employ them.
Services this role delivers
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to hire a remote personal assistant?
Plans depend on hours, desks and coverage. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day. For a sense of the market, US subscription assistant services publish from $499 to $549 a month for limited hours, hourly services run about $28 to $36, and PayScale's average for virtual assistants is $19.45 an hour (Nacho, MyOutDesk and Wishup roundups, 2026). AssistBPO prices a dedicated PA per person for a monthly block of hours, most often 80 hours.
Is it the same person every day?
Yes. A personal assistant only works when they know your dentist's name, your partner's diary, the airline you prefer and the restaurant you always want on a Friday. You get one named PA who builds that knowledge into a written preferences file, a backup PA who reads the file and covers leave, and a team lead who checks in weekly. Nothing goes to a rotating pool.
What hours will my personal assistant work?
Whatever fits your household. Many clients choose a half-day shift on an 80-hour plan, for example 9am to 1pm in their time zone, so the PA is awake when clinics, schools and shops are open. Full-day shifts on 160 hours suit families with heavy logistics or a leader combining executive and personal support. US, UK and Canadian hours are standard, with AEST shifts on request.
How is a personal assistant vetted?
Five steps, weighted toward trust: a phone assessment with realistic calls to clinics and vendors, a typing and practical test that includes trip planning and quote comparison, a third-party background check with phone references focused on discretion, an NDA with a personal confidentiality addendum and security onboarding, and a shadowed first week followed by two weeks of reviewed work and a monthly QA scorecard.
Is the personal assistant an employee or a contractor?
An employee of the group. Your PA is on our payroll, managed by our team lead and bound by our HR and security policies. You do not co-employ, contract with or insure them, and you never handle their pay. That structure is what lets us offer a backup and a manager for a role that is otherwise a single point of failure when a freelancer takes a holiday.
How does the PA make purchases on my behalf?
Through cards, accounts and portals you control. Most clients set up a dedicated virtual card with a limit, or add the PA as a delegate on retailer and travel accounts, so every purchase is visible to you and revocable. The PA never holds your card details in their own files, and anything above a threshold you set is queued for approval before it is bought.
Can the PA deal with my family and household contacts?
Yes, and most do within the first month. The PA introduces themselves to the people you nominate, such as a school office, a housekeeper or a partner, and works from a contact list with notes on how each person likes to be reached. Anything involving children, health or money follows rules you set in onboarding, and the PA will always check rather than guess.
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