What should be optional in a virtual assistant proposal?

In this template: Bookkeeping hand-off ($150.00 USD per month), After-hours cover ($250.00 USD per month). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.

Pricing guide for virtual assistants

How much to charge for virtual assistant work

Updated October 23, 2026. Example prices in US dollars from the virtual assistant template.

Example starting total$840.00 USD

Short answer: Price virtual assistant as one fixed line (assistant hours at $42.00 USD) with a starting total of $840.00 USD, then 2 optional lines (bookkeeping hand-off, after-hours cover) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.

Use this template, no signup See the template

Free plan · No credit card · No account until you send

Below: the price lines from our virtual assistant quote, what is fixed, what the client can switch on, and how to show it so the client accepts instead of haggling.

The example pricing

Line	Example price	How it is sold
Assistant hoursPer hour, in a monthly block	$42.00 USD per month	IncludedClient picks 10 to 80
Bookkeeping hand-offReceipts and invoices prepared for your bookkeeper monthly	$150.00 USD per month	Optional, off by default
After-hours coverUrgent messages watched evenings and weekends	$250.00 USD per month	Optional, off by default

Starting total with the defaults on: $840.00 USD, before the client chooses among 2 optional lines, with 1 quantity the client sets within your limits. Example prices in US dollars; the template works in 16 currencies and every number is yours to change.

How to present it

Advisory and back-office work is bought for peace of mind, so the proposal should read like a plan: what you look at first, what the client receives, and how often. A monthly or yearly figure with a named deliverable beats an hourly rate.

Fix the recurring core and make the rest optional: director returns by the number, extra hours, a training day. The core is easy to say yes to; the options let the client size the engagement without a second call.

Say what you need from the client and by when. Missing receipts and late answers are where these engagements go wrong, and a proposal that says so is a proposal that gets respected.

Questions people ask

How much should I charge for virtual assistant work?: Price virtual assistant as one fixed line (assistant hours at $42.00 USD) with a starting total of $840.00 USD, then 2 optional lines (bookkeeping hand-off, after-hours cover) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.
What should be optional in a virtual assistant proposal?: In this template: Bookkeeping hand-off ($150.00 USD per month), After-hours cover ($250.00 USD per month). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.
How do I present virtual assistant pricing so it gets accepted?: Advisory and back-office work is bought for peace of mind, so the proposal should read like a plan: what you look at first, what the client receives, and how often. A monthly or yearly figure with a named deliverable beats an hourly rate.

Why this structure gets accepted

One fixed line the client can say yes to. Assistant hours is priced as a whole, so the conversation is about the result, not the hours.
Options on the page, not in follow-up emails. Bookkeeping hand-off, After-hours cover sit next to the base price with a switch. People choose what they can see.
The total moves as they choose. On a Quote and Sign page the client toggles lines and sets quantities, watches the total update, and signs with their name. What they chose becomes part of the signed record.

Put it in front of a client

Open this pricing as a real quote, change the words and numbers, and send the link. Your client reads it on a phone or laptop, picks the extras, and taps Accept. You both get the signed PDF.