· Reviewed by Issabela Masters
What does a remote virtual assistant do?
An AssistBPO virtual assistant works a standing brief of 10 duties, and anything on it can be added or dropped in the weekly review.
- Triage the shared or personal inbox, label, draft replies and flag what needs you
- Manage the calendar: schedule, reschedule, add buffers and send confirmations
- Book travel, hotels and restaurants and build itineraries with confirmation numbers
- Prepare documents, proposals and templates in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
- Enter and update records in the CRM, spreadsheets and internal systems
- Chase invoices, vendor replies and outstanding approvals on a set cadence
- Run web research briefs on vendors, competitors and prospects
- Maintain the task board in Asana, ClickUp or Trello and nudge owners on due dates
- Handle recurring admin: expense capture, subscriptions, filing, form submissions
- Send the end-of-day report: handled, waiting on you, tomorrow's plan
What skills and tools does a remote virtual assistant need?
The 8 skills below are the ones AssistBPO screens for, and the virtual assistant works them inside 10 platforms you already run.
- Clear written English with a calm, professional tone
- Fast, accurate typing and attention to detail on data and dates
- Calendar and time-zone management across US, UK, Canadian and Australian hours
- Working knowledge of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
- Comfort with CRMs, task boards and shared drives
- Discretion with confidential inboxes and documents
- Prioritization: knows what to do first and what to ask about
- Written and spoken updates that are short and complete
Tools this role works in
A sample day, in your time zone
- 8:00Start of shift in your time zone: inbox cleared of overnight mail, calendar checked, priorities posted in Slack
- 9:00Replies drafted for approval, three meetings rescheduled around a client's travel
- 10:30CRM updated with yesterday's call notes; two vendor quotes chased
- 12:00Research brief on three software options sent as a one-page comparison
- 13:30Proposal formatted from your notes, PDF version saved to the shared drive
- 15:00Expense receipts filed, subscription renewals listed for your decision
- 16:30Task board tidied, due dates confirmed with each owner
- 17:00End-of-day report sent: 23 items handled, 4 waiting on you, tomorrow's plan
Times are illustrative. Your shift is fixed to your opening hours during onboarding.
Hours and models
Models
- Dedicated assistant, 160 hours a month full-time in your hours
- Dedicated assistant, 80 hours a month part-time
- Project engagement with a fixed scope and dates
Coverage
US Eastern through Pacific, UK and Canadian business hours from the group's two offices. AEST shifts and bilingual Spanish or French support are available on request.
What are the terms for a remote virtual 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 assistant, 160 hours a month full-time in your hours |
| Coverage | US Eastern through Pacific, UK and Canadian business hours from the group's two offices. |
| 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 virtual 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 | PayScale average $19.45 an hour for virtual assistants (range $12 to $30); Indeed average $27.15 an hour; a full-time in-house assistant costs $4,700 to $9,100 a month loaded | PayScale and Indeed via Wishup, Marblism and Cherry Assistant, 2026 |
| United Kingdom | UK-based virtual assistants £25 to £45 an hour; Society of Virtual Assistants surveys put freelance rates around £28 to £35; offshore full-time £900 to £2,000 a month against £3,000 to £5,000 UK-based | SVA survey, PayScale UK and agency pricing pages, 2026 |
| Australia | Offshore managed assistants A$8 to A$35 an hour; onshore virtual assistants A$39.90 to A$65 an hour; agency retainers A$800 to A$3,000 a month | Virtual Coworker, DotVA and Australian agency pricing roundups, 2026 |
How are remote virtual 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.
Every virtual assistant candidate writes a timed inbox exercise (six real-world emails to triage and answer) and completes a recorded phone interview. We score grammar, tone, clarity and how well they ask for missing information.
A typing test at 50 words a minute or better with 98 percent accuracy, followed by practical tasks in Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and a task board: build a calendar invite across two time zones, format a document, update a spreadsheet from an email thread.
Identity, address history, education and previous employment are verified through a third-party screening provider before any offer. References from at least two previous managers are called, not emailed.
The assistant signs a group NDA and a client-specific confidentiality addendum, then completes security training: MFA, managed devices, no local storage of client files, phishing recognition and how to handle a request that looks off.
The first week is spent shadowing a senior assistant on a similar desk. After go-live the team lead samples the assistant's emails, calendar entries and reports each month and scores accuracy, tone, turnaround and follow-through on the QA scorecard.
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 virtual assistant?
Plans depend on hours, desks and coverage. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day. For orientation, PayScale puts the US average for a virtual assistant at $19.45 an hour and Indeed at $27.15, while a full-time in-house assistant runs $4,700 to $9,100 a month once benefits and overhead are loaded (via Wishup, 2026). A dedicated AssistBPO assistant is priced per person for a block of monthly hours, so you know the number before the month starts.
Is it the same person every day?
Yes. You are matched with one named assistant who learns your inbox, your preferences and your people. A trained backup from the same desk covers leave and sick days using the same playbook, and a team lead runs the weekly review. We do not rotate tasks through a pool, because the value of a virtual assistant is in what they remember about you.
What hours will my virtual assistant work?
Your hours. Most clients choose a fixed shift in their own time zone, for example 8am to 5pm Eastern or 9am to 5:30pm London, with a 160-hour or 80-hour monthly plan. The group staffs US, UK and Canadian business hours from its two offices, and AEST coverage is available on request. Split shifts, for example mornings and late afternoons, are possible on a dedicated plan.
How are virtual assistants vetted?
Five steps before anyone joins a client desk: a written and spoken English assessment, typing and tool tests in Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, a third-party background check with reference calls, an NDA with security onboarding on managed devices, and a week of shadowing followed by a monthly QA scorecard from the team lead. Candidates who fall short at any step do not move forward.
Is the assistant an employee or a contractor?
An employee of the group, never a freelancer or contractor. The assistant is hired, paid, trained and managed by us, with a team lead and HR behind them. You do not co-employ anyone, run payroll or handle contractor paperwork; you simply direct the work. That is also why continuity holds: an employed assistant with a backup does not disappear when a better gig comes along.
What can a virtual assistant not do?
No licensed advice (legal, medical, financial or tax), no signing or filing where a license is required, no handling of card numbers outside your own payment portal, and no third-party debt collection. Outbound calls and messages are made only with lawful consent and do-not-call scrubbing. Everything else that runs on a laptop and a phone, from inbox to bookings to research, is in scope.
How do I hand over work without spending all day explaining?
Onboarding starts with a 45-minute walkthrough of your inbox, calendar, tools and rules, which we turn into a written playbook the assistant follows and updates. After that, most clients use a shared task board and a five-minute morning message. The end-of-day report closes the loop, so you see what was handled and what is waiting on you without asking, and the playbook grows with every correction you make.
Which tools will the assistant work in?
Yours. Assistants are trained on Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Asana, ClickUp, Trello, Notion, HubSpot, Calendly, Slack and QuickBooks Online, and pick up client-specific systems during shadowing. Access is granted through your own user accounts with the permissions you choose, on managed devices with MFA, and you can revoke it at any time. If you run something unusual, say a niche industry portal, the assistant learns it during the first week with a senior watching.
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