Virtual Assistant Pricing: Quote Hours, Availability and Monthly Scope

Translate the job title into a service description

“Virtual assistant” can mean a scheduled inbox review, daily customer support or executive coordination with urgent decisions. Those are different commitments. Before choosing a rate, write down the tasks, systems, approval authority, response window and expected volume.

For example, “inbox support” should explain whether you label messages, draft replies for approval or send replies autonomously. Identify any purchases or calendar changes that require permission. Do not promise professional accounting, legal or medical services merely because the client calls the work administration.

Find the revenue requirement

In this worked example, a VA wants $50,000 of annual owner compensation before personal taxes, budgets $7,000 of operating expenses and wants $3,000 of additional business surplus. Required collected revenue is $60,000.

At 20 billable hours per week for 48 working weeks, capacity is 960 billable hours. The required average collected rate is $60,000 ÷ 960 = $62.50 per hour.

That is a planning result, not a market rate or a take-home-pay guarantee. If the expected clients cannot support that price, test a different service, more collected hours or a lower cost structure. Rebranding alone does not make the budget feasible. Build your own starting point with the hourly rate calculator.

Avoid the four-week month error

Suppose a client requests 20 hours every week at $40 per hour. The weekly amount is $800. For a full 52-week commitment:

20 × $40 × 52 ÷ 12 = $3,466.67 per average month.

Multiplying $800 by four gives $3,200, which funds only 48 weeks across twelve months. It can be a valid price if the agreement genuinely covers 48 service weeks, but it is not equivalent to year-round weekly coverage.

A simpler alternative is 80 hours per calendar month at $40 = $3,200, with an explicit monthly cap. That promises different capacity from 20 hours every week. Specify holiday and leave coverage before selecting either format.

Choose a package you can monitor

Use the retainer pricing calculator for an hour-based package. Capacity or outcome arrangements also need a manual scope and calendar check.

Test a proposed discount against the commitment

A worked 40-hour monthly bank at $62.50 is $2,500. A 5% discount reduces the fee to $2,375, or $59.38 per included hour after rounding. The $125 reduction needs a reason, such as lower sales effort or simpler administration. It is not required simply because the client pays monthly.

If you reserve all 40 hours but the client uses 30, the fee divided by time used rises. Your remaining ten reserved hours may still be unavailable for another commitment. Track both actual work and reserved capacity.

Review volume before expanding the promise

After a defined trial period, compare estimated and actual hours by task. Add onboarding time, client meetings and reporting to the review. If urgent messages repeatedly interrupt other bookings, negotiate the coverage window or price rather than absorbing unlimited availability.

For the next proposal, present one service description, its capacity limit, the monthly fee and the process for approving extra work. Retainer pricing explains how to make those boundaries measurable.