Virtual Assistant is a strong representative of the top-notched work powered by the VAs’ brilliant labor force. That’s why many entrepreneurs and business owners prefer hiring Virtual Assistants. Here is your ultimate guide on How to Pay Virtual Assistant.
Now you may be here after knowing about the work provided by Virtual Assistants and the savings people get by hiring them. While knowing these things, you should also be aware of how much, how often, and how you should pay them. It’s very important to get the payment done in minimum time and avoid wasting your money.
In this article, I’m going to answer all of these questions for you. So let’s not beat about the bush and get straight into the topic!
From Where To Hire Virtual Assistants?
You can hire a virtual assistant either from a VA agency or from a freelancing platform.
Here are some VA agencies to look at:
Some best freelancer platforms to hire a virtual assistant are:
How To Pay Virtual Assistant?
The method of paying virtual assistants depends upon the platform from where you hire them. Different platforms have different payment methods.
For example, if you hire a virtual assistant from a freelancing site like Fiverr then you can pay them through the site but if you use a VA agency to hire them then the payment method will be different.
Now that you’ve got a reliable virtual assistant, it’s time to focus on the best ways to pay him/her. You may be thinking of using your bank for this process but there are some shortcomings to consider.
● Paying through a bank
Banks usually end up charging high fees and margins for each transfer you put through. Therefore, while considering currency exchange rates (which are often up to 5% above interbank rate), fixed fees, and margins, it becomes crystal clear that paying your virtual assistant through a bank will get very expensive. So, what’s the benefit of choosing this option? Nothing!!
● Paying through IMT
International Money Transfer providers (or simply IMT) refer to several reliable online money transfer companies, like Western Union, OFX, or Worldfirst. With the help of these companies, you can easily make payments to your virtual assistant in a highly affordable way. It will allow you to avail high security and privacy at a very less cost than your bank.
Don’t get confused about bank transfers and International Money Transfers. Let’s compare both!
| Standard bank | International Money Transfer |
| Lower exchange rates | More competitive exchange rates |
| High transaction fees | No transaction fees |
| Face to face service | Online service |
| Less availability | High availability |
How Much Do Virtual Assistants Charge?
Want to know how much virtual assistants charge? Following statistics can help:
- The salary for an entry-level VA is around $350 to $450.
- More professional and experienced VAs charge usually between $450 to $650 per month.
- For a part-time virtual assistant, the salary rate is generally half of this data.
How Much To Pay?
You can pay your virtual assistant keeping the above-mentioned salary rates in mind. However, the data is based on the experience and skills of virtual assistants, and in some cases, their work does not depend on these factors.
For example, if your VA is less experienced and still meets all your expectations and requires less training, then you should pay more. But if your VA doesn’t work well but has a great working experience then you should pay less. It all depends upon the quality of work they provide you.
How Often To Pay?
As an employer, it’s completely up to you and your virtual assistant to decide paydays and payment frequency. Generally, Virtual Assistants are given monthly salaries. Other options could be hourly, weekly, and bi-weekly salaries.
Fortnite salaries are commonly paid to them during the 1st & 15th or 15th & 30th of each month. The frequency of paying Virtual Assistants should depend upon their workload and your payment preferences.
How To Estimate The Payment By Yourself?
If you want to estimate VA’s salary on your own then the best way could be to follow this procedure:
- Visit multiple virtual assistant companies
- Browse through different profiles of virtual assistants.
- Look for virtual assistants with the same skills and experience as your VA have.
- Analyze their salary
- Take an average of that salary and pay a similar amount to your virtual assistant.
Tips On Paying Your Virtual Assistant
If you are planning to start working with a Virtual Assistant, it’s very important for you to know how to pay them. Paying your virtual assistants can be pretty difficult if you don’t know the ways of doing so. Here are some tips on paying a virtual assistant in the best possible way:
1. Use common online payment systems
Most employers prefer to pay their virtual assistants a minimum, but if we talk about VAs, they always prefer to receive a payment that they can get easily on a common online payment system such as Bank Transfer, Wise (formerly TransferWise), Payoneer, and PayPal.
2. Pay the whole fee
When transferring funds through some common payment systems, especially including banks, one issue is the money transfer fee. Some employers pay the half fee and the remaining half of the fee is paid by their respective VAs.
However, It’ll be a very good practice if you pay the whole fee, which will be around $3 to $12. It will help build a better understanding of you with your virtual assistants and they will be comfortable with you as well.
3. Don’t delay
Highly experienced virtual assistants charge a lot and not all business owners can afford them. They can demand their payment whenever they complete the task and it’s very important to pay them at the time. Delaying the payment won’t be a good thing for your reputation. So, if you hire a virtual assistant for a fixed payment project, you should pay as soon as your VA completes the project.
4. Additional Payments
If your virtual assistants have spent a long time working with you and you’re more than happy with them, you should provide them some additional cash. You can offer some incentives like paying for their internet connection or giving some bonuses. By doing this, your virtual assistants will trust you and they will love working with you.
5. Sign a payment contract
If you are paying your virtual assistants according to the amount of work they do for you, you’re making a big mistake because you have to pay a lot. It is very important for you to set up a payment contract so that you do not have to spend too much on their services.
You can sign a contract based on the time at which your virtual assistants will work. The contract can be for a weekly or bi-weekly payment. Afterward, you can pay them according to their working time. This will definitely help you save a lot of money from having to pay your virtual assistant.
6. Don’t charge your virtual assistant hourly
Most people think that if they want to get good value for their money, they should be charging hourly. However, this is something that you shouldn’t do. Since virtual assistants are just freelancers, it would be inappropriate for them to be charging them with rates that will make them lose. So, instead, set up a more suitable rate that will be fair to both you and your virtual assistant.
7. Get your money back
Always prefer hiring a virtual assistant from the agency that provides a risk-free money-back guarantee. It is in your best interest to demand a refund if:
- You think that you have been overcharged for services by your VA.
- Your VA is not working according to your expectations.
- Your VA is not following the payment contract.
8. Don’t overpay
Virtual assistance is usually paid according to their workload. However, some of them can demand you much more money than their services. So, it’ll be better to find out what other employers are paying for the same services that your VA offers.
This will allow you to get a better idea of what other VAs can do for you at the same price. If you find that other employers are paying less money for similar services, you should consider changing to the VA who is offering a better deal.
9. Schedule the payment
Payment for a virtual assistant can either be fixed or per project. It can also be made through a time-block and project completion. Make sure that you set up a payment schedule for your project completion so that your virtual assistant knows exactly how much he/she is going to be paid for. You can also add a deadline to the job so that your VA can be paid at the time of completion of the job.
10. Never pay first
As a general rule, you should only pay your virtual assistants after they have completed the job. This is to prevent any problems later on. Although virtual assistants can take a lot of work off your hands, they are also human. They may miss a deadline or create a mess somewhere during a project. This will only cause you delays and money losses later on.
Wrapping Up: How to Pay Virtual Assistant
So that’s all! If you have any doubt or confusion about paying your virtual assistants then you should tell them. However, before you start asking anything about the payment, you must first establish good communication with them. After that, you can start using their skills to take your business to the next level.
Don’t forget to set the boundaries and rules in place so that your VA will know that you are paying her properly. Make sure that you are going to get a great VA, keep communication open, and you will be able to get more out of your business. However, to know more about how to pay virtual assistants, don’t hesitate to contact us! You also may sign up here!
Virtual Assistant is a strong representative of the top-notched work powered by the VAs’ brilliant labor force. That’s why many entrepreneurs and business owners prefer hiring Virtual Assistants. Here is your ultimate guide on How to Pay Virtual Assistant.
Now you may be here after knowing about the work provided by Virtual Assistants and the savings people get by hiring them. While knowing these things, you should also be aware of how much, how often, and how you should pay them. It’s very important to get the payment done in minimum time and avoid wasting your money.
In this article, I’m going to answer all of these questions for you. So let’s not beat about the bush and get straight into the topic!
From Where To Hire Virtual Assistants?
You can hire a virtual assistant either from a VA agency or from a freelancing platform.
Here are some VA agencies to look at:
Some best freelancer platforms to hire a virtual assistant are:
How To Pay Virtual Assistant?
The method of paying virtual assistants depends upon the platform from where you hire them. Different platforms have different payment methods.
For example, if you hire a virtual assistant from a freelancing site like Fiverr then you can pay them through the site but if you use a VA agency to hire them then the payment method will be different.
Now that you’ve got a reliable virtual assistant, it’s time to focus on the best ways to pay him/her. You may be thinking of using your bank for this process but there are some shortcomings to consider.
● Paying through a bank
Banks usually end up charging high fees and margins for each transfer you put through. Therefore, while considering currency exchange rates (which are often up to 5% above interbank rate), fixed fees, and margins, it becomes crystal clear that paying your virtual assistant through a bank will get very expensive. So, what’s the benefit of choosing this option? Nothing!!
● Paying through IMT
International Money Transfer providers (or simply IMT) refer to several reliable online money transfer companies, like Western Union, OFX, or Worldfirst. With the help of these companies, you can easily make payments to your virtual assistant in a highly affordable way. It will allow you to avail high security and privacy at a very less cost than your bank.
Don’t get confused about bank transfers and International Money Transfers. Let’s compare both!
| Standard bank | International Money Transfer |
| Lower exchange rates | More competitive exchange rates |
| High transaction fees | No transaction fees |
| Face to face service | Online service |
| Less availability | High availability |
How Much Do Virtual Assistants Charge?
Want to know how much virtual assistants charge? Following statistics can help:
- The salary for an entry-level VA is around $350 to $450.
- More professional and experienced VAs charge usually between $450 to $650 per month.
- For a part-time virtual assistant, the salary rate is generally half of this data.
How Much To Pay?
You can pay your virtual assistant keeping the above-mentioned salary rates in mind. However, the data is based on the experience and skills of virtual assistants, and in some cases, their work does not depend on these factors.
For example, if your VA is less experienced and still meets all your expectations and requires less training, then you should pay more. But if your VA doesn’t work well but has a great working experience then you should pay less. It all depends upon the quality of work they provide you.
How Often To Pay?
As an employer, it’s completely up to you and your virtual assistant to decide paydays and payment frequency. Generally, Virtual Assistants are given monthly salaries. Other options could be hourly, weekly, and bi-weekly salaries.
Fortnite salaries are commonly paid to them during the 1st & 15th or 15th & 30th of each month. The frequency of paying Virtual Assistants should depend upon their workload and your payment preferences.
How To Estimate The Payment By Yourself?
If you want to estimate VA’s salary on your own then the best way could be to follow this procedure:
- Visit multiple virtual assistant companies
- Browse through different profiles of virtual assistants.
- Look for virtual assistants with the same skills and experience as your VA have.
- Analyze their salary
- Take an average of that salary and pay a similar amount to your virtual assistant.
Tips On Paying Your Virtual Assistant
If you are planning to start working with a Virtual Assistant, it’s very important for you to know how to pay them. Paying your virtual assistants can be pretty difficult if you don’t know the ways of doing so. Here are some tips on paying a virtual assistant in the best possible way:
1. Use common online payment systems
Most employers prefer to pay their virtual assistants a minimum, but if we talk about VAs, they always prefer to receive a payment that they can get easily on a common online payment system such as Bank Transfer, Wise (formerly TransferWise), Payoneer, and PayPal.
2. Pay the whole fee
When transferring funds through some common payment systems, especially including banks, one issue is the money transfer fee. Some employers pay the half fee and the remaining half of the fee is paid by their respective VAs.
However, It’ll be a very good practice if you pay the whole fee, which will be around $3 to $12. It will help build a better understanding of you with your virtual assistants and they will be comfortable with you as well.
3. Don’t delay
Highly experienced virtual assistants charge a lot and not all business owners can afford them. They can demand their payment whenever they complete the task and it’s very important to pay them at the time. Delaying the payment won’t be a good thing for your reputation. So, if you hire a virtual assistant for a fixed payment project, you should pay as soon as your VA completes the project.
4. Additional Payments
If your virtual assistants have spent a long time working with you and you’re more than happy with them, you should provide them some additional cash. You can offer some incentives like paying for their internet connection or giving some bonuses. By doing this, your virtual assistants will trust you and they will love working with you.
5. Sign a payment contract
If you are paying your virtual assistants according to the amount of work they do for you, you’re making a big mistake because you have to pay a lot. It is very important for you to set up a payment contract so that you do not have to spend too much on their services.
You can sign a contract based on the time at which your virtual assistants will work. The contract can be for a weekly or bi-weekly payment. Afterward, you can pay them according to their working time. This will definitely help you save a lot of money from having to pay your virtual assistant.
6. Don’t charge your virtual assistant hourly
Most people think that if they want to get good value for their money, they should be charging hourly. However, this is something that you shouldn’t do. Since virtual assistants are just freelancers, it would be inappropriate for them to be charging them with rates that will make them lose. So, instead, set up a more suitable rate that will be fair to both you and your virtual assistant.
7. Get your money back
Always prefer hiring a virtual assistant from the agency that provides a risk-free money-back guarantee. It is in your best interest to demand a refund if:
- You think that you have been overcharged for services by your VA.
- Your VA is not working according to your expectations.
- Your VA is not following the payment contract.
8. Don’t overpay
Virtual assistance is usually paid according to their workload. However, some of them can demand you much more money than their services. So, it’ll be better to find out what other employers are paying for the same services that your VA offers.
This will allow you to get a better idea of what other VAs can do for you at the same price. If you find that other employers are paying less money for similar services, you should consider changing to the VA who is offering a better deal.
9. Schedule the payment
Payment for a virtual assistant can either be fixed or per project. It can also be made through a time-block and project completion. Make sure that you set up a payment schedule for your project completion so that your virtual assistant knows exactly how much he/she is going to be paid for. You can also add a deadline to the job so that your VA can be paid at the time of completion of the job.
10. Never pay first
As a general rule, you should only pay your virtual assistants after they have completed the job. This is to prevent any problems later on. Although virtual assistants can take a lot of work off your hands, they are also human. They may miss a deadline or create a mess somewhere during a project. This will only cause you delays and money losses later on.
Wrapping Up: How to Pay Virtual Assistant
So that’s all! If you have any doubt or confusion about paying your virtual assistants then you should tell them. However, before you start asking anything about the payment, you must first establish good communication with them. After that, you can start using their skills to take your business to the next level.
Don’t forget to set the boundaries and rules in place so that your VA will know that you are paying her properly. Make sure that you are going to get a great VA, keep communication open, and you will be able to get more out of your business. However, to know more about how to pay virtual assistants, don’t hesitate to contact us! You also may sign up here!
