Virtual assistant Philippines: a dedicated assistant you hire

What a virtual assistant takes off your plate, hour by hour

In a small business the owner usually does the admin, often at night. A dedicated assistant takes it over in a predictable rhythm (for costs and other assistant roles, see our guide to hiring a virtual assistant in Australia):

• First thing: clear the shared inbox, answer routine enquiries from your templates and log new leads in your CRM.
• Through the day: book appointments, inspections or site visits, send confirmations and update job or property files.
• Afternoon: chase clients, suppliers and agents on outstanding items, and prepare documents and simple reports.
• End of week: schedule approved social posts, tidy shared folders and update your process checklists.

The role adapts to the industry. For buyers agencies, it might be inspection bookings and CRM upkeep. For real estate and property businesses, enquiry handling and listing admin. For builders and trades, booking jobs and chasing paperwork.

Why a Filipino virtual assistant suits a small team

Most owners looking for a virtual assistant Australia-wide find two options: marketplaces of freelancers who juggle several clients, or agencies that bill a margin every month. A direct hire is a third. Your assistant works your hours, uses your logins and processes, and builds up knowledge of your business over time.

What stays with you:

• Pricing, quotes and commercial decisions
• Licensed activities and anything that needs your professional judgement
• Payments and access to sensitive accounts beyond what you delegate

How we test virtual assistants

Type “hire virtual assistant Philippines” into Google and you get page after page of profiles and no easy way to compare them. We do that sorting for you. Each search typically starts with 1,000+ candidates from job advertising, direct headhunting and referrals through vetted local networks. Of that starting pool, about 40% pass CV and quality screening, 20% the video screen, 10% the practical assessment and 5% the structured interview. Only around 2% reach finalist review, and you receive a shortlist of 3–4 in about 2 weeks.

The practical assessment could include a short inbox of enquiries, a booking request with a scheduling conflict and a spreadsheet to update. In interviews, look for someone who asks a good question early instead of guessing, records details accurately and writes to a customer the way you would.

What an agency VA costs compared with a direct hire

With a managed agency, you pay a fee every month on top of your assistant’s salary, for as long as they work for you. One published example: Staff Domain lists $1,099 per person per month, about $13,188 a year, plus $1,200 per hire (checked October 2026). Over two years that is about $27,576 in fees alone.

With Tarino you pay a one-time fee, and your assistant keeps their full salary because you pay them directly. Compare agency fees with a one-time fee, or calculate the markup for your own role.

Before you hire your first assistant

Write down the ten tasks you want to hand over and the rules for each: what the assistant does, drafts or escalates. Our guide on how to hire Filipino staff from Australia covers contracts, pay and onboarding. If you mainly need someone running your own inbox and diary, an executive assistant is the closer fit. More than 95% of Tarino placements are still in the role at 6 months, so the processes you write down once keep working. See how we find and test candidates.