Hourly rates, flat fees, and why I hate packages | Tips for virtual assistants 

Thank you!! Great information for us starting VAs 👍🏽

Great advice on pricing. It can be hard when you first start.

I have found your videos so helpful in starting my own VA business. In this video you mention another video coming soon on how to talk with your clients about switching from an hourly rate to a monthly/flat rate. Did I miss that video or is it still in the works? Thanks so much for your time and great tips.

I agree with your method. My whole confusion with packages is what services do you offer? Some VAs offer ALL of their services for a set number of hours and what if the customer wants 2 or 3 services and how do you track that you're giving them everything you say you're giving them. I like your method better, less confusion.

This is great advice!

This was awesome! I’m so happy I found this video. We definitely have the same thoughts lol

I currently offer hourly packages and have even trying to figure out how work around it, so thank you! I love the idea of flat fee packages vs packaging hours. I really appreciate your videos!

Awesome video. Thank you so much.

Thanks I was really stuck on this. I saw so many package deals I was wondering if I offered a flat rate per hour only if I was not being competitive enough.

I've downloaded almost all the playlist of your videos so I won't forget and can watch from time to time just in case I missed something important.

Thank you for this

I was wondering what should I start my pricing at is $14 an hour too low.

My question is…when do we charge? Is it a half now half later thing or..

Hi, I'm just starting out I did a calculation in AI I saw where it suggested $23-55 hourly because I included what taxes deductions might be and what transaction fees I might pay. Is $15 USD hourly too low if I'm just starting out? Also should I charge hourly rate regardless of the service?

So, I am struggling with my packages I tried to make admin packages and more creative packages, but I think it's too much since I'm new I haven't niche down yet.

Do you raise prices for existing clients too? Or just new oncoming clients? And if you raise them for existing, how do you go about advising the client of the rate increase/why you’re raising rates?

Not sure if I asked this question already but do you think someone new to VA should charge $15 USD hourly or more? Because previously I thought I should charge twice as my old salary. But then I realized that I have to pay fees to receive the money using PayPal, stripe etc then transfer. I also have to consider electricity and internet access that's not even other expenses yet.

Here is the issue with charging a monthly flat fee depending on the amount the client *thinks* they need -- the first month ALWAYS utilizes extra hours around onboarding, extra meetings, etc. etc. etc. -- clients don't ever know what hours they actually need -- often times, clients give more and more tasks as they become more and more comfortable The way I do this -- we have a hourly rate -- if they want to pay hourly. For hourly clients, we require a getting started deposit and that deposit is immediately applied to their account. For clients that do "packages" -- the set number of hours in that package is a CAP on hours. There is always a flat fee with that cap and it runs on a monthly or bi-monthly autopay cycle, depending on what is best for them. That means a guaranteed income every month. Any unused hours roll over for one cycle, but we almost ALWAYS use the full amount. If the client goes over their cap on hours that is okay, too. We just send an additional invoice for any hours that go over their cap. We only send this once a month so that I am not always sending invoices. This makes life a lot easier for the client and me because I don't ever have to tell my client they don't have any hours left to use and leave them without support and they don't have to carefully watch their tracked hours so that they don't run out of support for the month. We do occasionally negotiate rates simply because we have clients who need very difficult and niche services while others need very simple tasks done. Because of this, I never give rates upfront or post them anywhere. I only offer rates during our consultation/discovery call once I know a bit more about what they will need. I use to not track hours, but then I realized that I was actually spending more time on client needs than I really realized. Often times it was 5-15minutes here and there in addition to my "allocated" time, but that time adds up and adds up quickly.

i have this fear that a client will think that i’m being dishonest about how long a task took me just to swindle an extra hour or two out of them. is there a way we can both be sure that i’m being honest about my time spent?

Hi - I'm obsessing over how much to charge, can you help? Some background, I have over 15 years of experience working for CEO's and different C-suite executives in Manhattan in 3 different industries. I'm now trying to build my own VA business but since I'm new to VA but not the work, I'm struggling with what my rates should be? I hope you see this, I just realized it's a 2 year old video! :(

Thanks for your video, it was very helpful! How do you track your hours with a client? For example, if you agree 30hrs for the month with your client how do you show them you have done the 30hrs (or more) for the month? Is there an app, or is it down to trust? I can imagine trust builds as a relationship between VA and Client continues, but how do new VA's combat this? Thanks!

Awesome video! Im struggling with how i should price or package things like email management/calendar management/scheduling. Ppl need their emails looked at daily so im not sure how to price that?

I have a question! I have a long standing client that I have worked with for 3 years now. I work for a VA agency and my client is interested in buying me out from the agency (which is allowed). I was averaging 6 hours a week for him but recently business has grown and I have been doing 10. He’s wants to increase my hours to 15-20 a week once I work directly for him. At the agency I make $22/hour but he gets charged $40/hour. If he buys me out, what do you think I should charge? I don’t want to sell my self short but I also don’t want to overcharge.

This was a very informative video. I'm a VA that also provide social media management services. If working on "flat fee" model, would you include that in the flat fee?

Hi Erin! Great video. Do you typically charge clients for a full month upfront? Wondering what the process is for payment.

Hi Erin... As a beginner in Virtual Assistant (Entry level), how much should I charge per hour.....in other not to be too greedy and not to loose a client 🤭 as a beginner. Since it's more like my trial level.

I like the idea of using a monthly flat fee. Could you do another in-depth video on your flat fee? (If you haven't already)

Thanks for your reply, I had watched your video's and they are very informative, in one of your video you have mentioned the qualities of VA , and I am very much confident that i have all the said qualities, and in one of your video you have mentioned that VA are providing services as Customers service representative, so we can start VA and we'll provide services as Customer services representative for US clients, can you help us how to start VA, and also can you get US Contract, we are located in Mumbai India

What about requiring a min number of hours for hire?

what is the most hours you offer to one client?

If the client states they'll need 30 hours a month, but they don't use the full 30 hours, the fee remains the same? Also, a video didn't pop up about price increases :(

👍👏☺️🤩🙏😃😊😀