how a virtual assistant works
virtual assistants have become more prominent as small businesses and startups rely on virtual offices to keep costs down and businesses of all sizes increase their use of the internet for daily operations because a virtual assistant is an independent contractor a business does not have to provide the same benefits or pay the same taxes that it would for a full time employee a virtual assistant is different from a salaried administrative assistant who works from home and would have the same compensation and same tax structure as any other full time employee also since the virtual assistant works offsite there is no need for a desk or other workspace at the company s office a virtual assistant is expected to pay for and provide their own computer equipment commonly used software programs and high speed internet service in a study of over 50 career categories flexjobs found virtual administration was one of the top 10 fastest growing remote career categories 1virtual assistant dutiesthe specific duties of a virtual assistant vary according to the needs of the client and the terms of the contract some virtual assistants handle clerical and bookkeeping tasks while others may post regular updates to social media or write articles for a blog a well rounded virtual assistant may also handle travel arrangements appointment scheduling data entry and online file storage virtual assistant qualificationswhile there are no hard and fast educational requirements to become a virtual assistant many clients will look for virtual assistants who have some higher level education or specialized training a few online companies and community colleges offer courses and certification for virtual assistant skills a virtual assistant should be tech savvy having a wide range of computer skills and a high level of proficiency with commonly used software and business programs a virtual assistant who specializes in bookkeeping should be adept at basic accounting tasks such as account reconciliations and double entry bookkeeping benefits of a virtual assistantfor the client one advantage of hiring a virtual assistant is the flexibility to contract for just the services they need depending on the terms of the agreement some virtual assistants may be paid by the task rather than by the hour in contrast employees in a traditional office setting usually must be paid for a fixed number of hours per day for small business owners hiring a virtual assistant can help them free up valuable hours to focus on growing the business and generating revenue it can be easier and more cost effective to outsource tasks that are tedious and time consuming to someone who is skilled at them 