Office tasks handled from a distance
Remote virtual assistant support covers the administrative side of a small or mid-sized business: the messages, records, schedules and documents that keep things moving. An assistant logs into the accounts you grant, follows your procedures and leaves a clear trail of what was done.
Some businesses want a few hours a week for one stubborn task, such as keeping the CRM current. Others want someone covering the support inbox every weekday. Both are normal. What matters is that the tasks are defined, the tools are shared safely and someone on your side answers questions in the early weeks.
The main kinds of support
Each service page explains what is usually included, what you provide and what to ask before you start.
- Admin and data entry. The everyday office tasks. Read more.
- Customer email and chat support. Routine replies, ticket tagging and handoffs. Read more.
- CRM and sales admin. Records, follow-ups and pipeline hygiene. Read more.
- Invoicing and bookkeeping admin. Invoices, receipts and payment reminders, prepared for approval. Read more.
Back-office admin
The routine desk work that follows the same steps each week, handed over with notes and checked in the early rounds.
Shared inbox support
Sort, tag and answer the messages that follow a pattern, and hand back the ones that do not.
CRM and sales admin
Contact entry, deal stage updates, duplicate cleanup and follow-up lists, kept current inside the CRM you already use.
Payment follow-up
Polite reminders on unpaid invoices, sent on a schedule you set, with disputes passed back to you.
Getting started
Four steps take you from a request to a working arrangement.
- Describe the work: which tasks, which software, and how many hours a week you expect.
- Talk it through with the service partner, who will ask follow-up questions.
- Agree scope, hours and terms with the partner, or decide it is not the right fit.
- Hand over written instructions and set up access so the assistant can begin.
Hours, coverage and the rest
The weekly hour count is the biggest single input. A few hours for bookkeeping prep is a small arrangement; a daily shift on customer chat is a larger one.
Coverage matters next. If replies must go out during your business hours, the assistant's schedule has to match yours. If the work can happen any time before morning, there is more flexibility.
Then come complexity and tooling. Simple, well-documented tasks in one or two systems are quicker to set up than judgment-heavy work spread across a CRM, a help desk and an accounting package. Finally, a dedicated assistant who works only on your account is usually priced differently from a shared setup.
Common questions
What access will the assistant need?
Only what the agreed tasks require. That might mean delegated access to a mailbox and calendar in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, a user seat in your help desk or CRM, or a limited role in QuickBooks or Xero. Avoid sharing your own login. Create separate accounts where you can, so activity is traceable and access can be switched off cleanly.
What happens on holidays or when the assistant is out sick?
Cover arrangements vary, so ask before you sign. Some partners assign a backup who knows your process; others pause the work and catch up afterward. Keep task instructions in a shared document so anyone covering can follow them. Also agree which US holidays the assistant observes and whether any of their own holidays apply.
How do I end the arrangement if it is not working?
The proposal or agreement should state the notice period and how to stop. When you end it, remove the assistant's access from every system, rotate any shared passwords in your password manager and ask for working files and notes to be handed back. Plan a short handover if someone on your side is taking the tasks back.
What drives the cost of virtual assistant support?
Mainly the number of hours, the type of work and how much judgment it needs. Customer-facing replies and bookkeeping admin usually take more training than straightforward data entry. Cover outside normal hours, specific software skills and a dedicated assistant can also change the quote. The service partner sets the price in its written proposal.
Is the assistant my employee?
Normally not. The assistant is engaged by the service partner, and you contract with that partner for the service. Worker classification is a legal and tax question, so if you are unsure about your own obligations, ask an employment lawyer or accountant. The IRS also publishes general information on how workers are classified.
Describe the work, and a service partner will scope it with you and send a quote.
Start a requestStart with a short request
It helps to spend ten minutes listing what you actually want off your plate.