Virtual Assistant Services: 132 Tasks You Can Outsource
Key Takeaways
- Virtual assistant services are business tasks done by a remote assistant who works inside your tools and follows your process.
- Most of this work falls into 14 departments, from admin and inbox support to sales, bookkeeping and e-commerce.
- Group tasks by role before you hire. One assistant should own a clear set of work, not a random pile of chores.
- A general virtual assistant fits mixed admin work. Sales, executive and finance work usually go better with a role-specific assistant.
- Keep licensed work, final decisions and owner-level passwords in-house.
- Start with tasks that repeat every week and are easy to check.
This guide lists 132 virtual assistant services in 14 departments. For each department, you will see the tasks an assistant can take on, the signs it is time to hand them off and the type of assistant that fits the work. You will also see what to keep in-house, what the work costs and how to scope your first hire.
What Are Virtual Assistant Services?
Virtual assistant services are remote support tasks that a trained assistant handles for a business. The assistant logs in to your email, calendar, CRM, help desk or project tools and completes defined work on a set schedule.
The phrase covers two things. The first is the work itself, such as scheduling, follow-ups or bookkeeping support. The second is how you buy that work, such as a freelancer, a task-based service or a staffing partner. This guide focuses on the work. The buying models are covered briefly further down.
In this guide, a virtual assistant is a person. It is not a voice app like Siri or Alexa, even though those tools share the name.
Virtual Assistant Services List at a Glance
Use this table to find the departments that match your workload. Each one has its own section below.
Administrative Support Services (12 Tasks)
Admin work is the most common place to start. It repeats every week, it is easy to write down and mistakes are easy to spot.
- Data entry and record updates in spreadsheets or databases
- File and folder cleanup in Google Drive, Dropbox or SharePoint
- Document formatting and reusable templates
- Meeting notes with action items and owners
- Transcribing calls, voice memos and recordings
- Contact list and database upkeep
- Converting PDFs and scanned files into editable documents
- Processing digital mail from a virtual mailbox service
- Office supply and subscription tracking
- Canceling unused software subscriptions
- Building an internal wiki or knowledge base
- Pulling standard weekly reports from existing data
Hand this off when: you or a manager spends several hours a week filing, updating and formatting instead of running the business.
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Executive and Personal Support Services (10 Tasks)
An executive assistant protects one leader's time. The job is more than booking meetings. It includes making sure the leader walks into each meeting prepared and leaves with clear next steps.
- Calendar management and conflict resolution
- Scheduling meetings across time zones
- Travel research, booking and itineraries
- Expense report preparation
- Meeting briefs, agendas and pre-reads
- Drafting emails and letters for the leader to approve
- Tracking the leader's deadlines and follow-ups
- Coordinating with board members, partners and vendors
- Event, offsite and dinner logistics
- Online personal tasks such as gift orders, reservations and renewals
Hand this off when: meetings get double-booked, prep happens in the car or follow-ups slip after important calls. See what a virtual executive assistant handles day to day.
Inbox and Phone Support Services (8 Tasks)
A busy inbox hides the few messages that matter. An assistant can sort, answer and flag email so you only see what needs your decision.
- Daily inbox triage with labels and folders
- Drafting replies from approved templates
- Filtering and unsubscribing from low-value email
- Flagging urgent messages by a set rule
- Monitoring shared inboxes such as info@ and support@
- Answering and routing inbound calls
- Checking voicemail and building call-back lists
- Keeping a library of saved replies up to date
Hand this off when: important emails sit unread for days or calls go to voicemail during business hours.
Customer Service Virtual Assistant Services (10 Tasks)
Support work needs clear rules. Before day one, write down how you handle refunds, credits and escalations so your assistant can answer with confidence.
- Email ticket responses
- Live chat coverage
- Phone support during set hours
- Order status and shipping updates
- Returns, exchanges and refunds within your written policy
- Tagging and routing help-desk tickets
- Updating FAQ and help-center articles
- Replying to public reviews
- New-customer onboarding check-ins
- Logging escalations and repeat issues for the product team
Hand this off when: response times keep growing or the owner is still answering support tickets.
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Sales Support Virtual Assistant Services (12 Tasks)
Sales support splits into two jobs. A sales assistant keeps current deals and accounts moving. A sales development representative (SDR) finds and qualifies new leads so your closers have more meetings.
- CRM data entry and cleanup
- Building targeted lead lists
- Researching prospects before calls
- Sending cold email sequences
- Cold calling from a script
- LinkedIn connection requests and messages
- Qualifying inbound leads
- Booking and confirming appointments
- Following up after demos and proposals
- Preparing quotes and proposals from templates
- Weekly pipeline reports
- Account check-ins, renewal reminders and upsell tracking
Hand this off when: new leads wait too long for a reply or your reps spend selling hours on CRM updates. Compare a virtual sales assistant with a virtual sales development representative, or read what an appointment setter does.
Marketing and Social Media Services (10 Tasks)
Marketing tasks pile up because each one is small. An assistant can keep the calendar moving while you or your marketing lead set the plan.
- Scheduling social media posts
- Replying to comments and direct messages
- Building and sending email newsletters
- Cleaning and segmenting email lists
- Promoting webinars and events
- Partner and influencer outreach
- Monitoring competitor social accounts
- Ad campaign performance reports
- Keeping the marketing calendar current
- Running review request campaigns
Hand this off when: posts and newsletters go out late, or not at all, because nobody owns them.
Content and SEO Support Services (10 Tasks)
An assistant can handle the hands-on SEO and publishing work. Strategy, keyword priorities and final edits should stay with your marketing lead or SEO partner.
- Formatting and uploading posts in your CMS
- Proofreading and light editing
- Keyword research support
- Writing and updating meta titles and descriptions
- Adding image alt text
- Updating business listings and directory citations
- Monthly ranking and traffic reports
- Turning blog posts into social posts and email snippets
- Refreshing older posts with new stats and links
- Adding internal links to new and updated pages
Hand this off when: finished drafts wait weeks to go live or old posts never get updated.
Creative and Design Services (8 Tasks)
Template-based design is a strong fit for a virtual assistant. Original brand design is usually a job for a designer.
- Social graphics from brand templates
- Slide deck design from an outline
- Photo editing and background removal
- Short video edits with captions
- YouTube uploads with titles, descriptions and thumbnails
- Lead magnet and ebook layout
- Sourcing licensed stock images
- Organizing a brand asset library
Hand this off when: your team spends more time resizing graphics than planning campaigns.
Website and Tech Support Services (8 Tasks)
Small website tasks often wait for a developer who is busy with bigger projects. A tech-savvy assistant can handle routine updates and checks.
- Text and image updates on website pages
- Building landing pages in a page builder
- Testing and fixing web forms
- Finding and fixing broken links
- Plugin and app updates, with a backup first
- Pulling GA4 and Search Console reports
- Managing user access and software licenses
- Basic customer tech help such as password resets
Hand this off when: simple site edits sit in a developer queue for weeks.
Bookkeeping and Finance Admin Services (10 Tasks)
A virtual bookkeeper keeps records clean and current. Tax filing, audits and financial advice belong with a licensed CPA. Clean books make that work faster.
- Categorizing transactions
- Bank and credit card reconciliation support
- Creating and sending client invoices
- Following up on unpaid invoices
- Entering bills and scheduling payments for approval
- Collecting and matching receipts
- Tracking business expenses
- Preparing payroll data for review
- Building month-end reports
- Maintaining vendor records
Hand this off when: month-end takes too long or invoices go out late. Learn more about what a virtual bookkeeper does.
HR and Recruiting Support Services (8 Tasks)
Hiring creates a lot of scheduling and paperwork. An assistant can run the process while you keep the final hiring decision.
- Writing and posting job listings
- Screening resumes against your criteria
- Scheduling interviews
- Sending candidate updates
- Coordinating onboarding paperwork
- Maintaining employee records
- Tracking PTO and attendance
- Organizing training materials
Hand this off when: good candidates drop out because nobody replied or scheduled them in time.
Operations and Project Management Services (10 Tasks)
Operations support keeps work moving between people. The assistant tracks who owes what and follows up before deadlines slip.
- Updating project boards in Asana, monday.com, ClickUp or Trello
- Writing and updating standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Coordinating vendors and suppliers
- Tracking inventory levels
- Processing purchase orders
- Sending weekly status updates
- Running quality checklists
- Scheduling field crews and service appointments
- Tracking contracts and e-signatures
- Watching KPI dashboards and flagging changes
Hand this off when: projects stall between steps and you are the one chasing every update.
E-commerce Support Services (8 Tasks)
Online stores need daily upkeep. An assistant can keep listings accurate and orders moving.
- Uploading product listings
- Writing product descriptions
- Updating prices and stock levels
- Managing Amazon, eBay or Etsy storefronts
- Coordinating order fulfillment
- Messaging suppliers
- Answering product questions on listings
- Setting up store promotions and discount codes
Hand this off when: new products sit unlisted or stock counts are often wrong. See our guide to hiring an eCommerce virtual assistant.
Research Services (8 Tasks)
Research is easy to hand off when you define the question and the format of the answer, such as a one-page summary or a comparison table.
- Market research summaries
- Competitor research
- Software and vendor comparisons
- Price comparison tables
- Industry news digests
- Event and conference research
- Partner and sponsor research
- Survey setup and results summaries
Hand this off when: decisions wait on research that nobody has time to do.
Virtual Assistant Services by Industry
The same services look different in each industry. These are common examples of how businesses apply the list above to their own workflows.
What Virtual Assistants Should Not Handle
A good virtual assistant can prepare almost anything. Some work still needs to stay with you or a licensed professional.
- Licensed work: legal advice, tax filing, audits and clinical decisions. An assistant can prepare files and schedule meetings, but a licensed professional signs off.
- Final decisions: hiring and firing, pricing changes and refunds above the limit you set.
- Owner-level access: the main admin login for bank, payroll and domain accounts. Give the assistant their own user account with limited permissions instead.
- Work with no process yet: if you cannot explain how a task is done, write it down first or keep it until you can.
- Business strategy: goals, positioning and budgets. An assistant can gather the inputs, but you make the call.
Which Type of Virtual Assistant Fits Which Services?
The fastest way to a good hire is to match the work to the right role. Use this table to see where your task list points.
If your task list spreads across three or more rows, you may need two roles, or one role with a clear order of priorities. Trying to fit sales, bookkeeping and customer service into one job usually means none of them gets done well.
How Virtual Assistant Services Are Delivered
Once you know the work, choose how to buy it. Most businesses pick from four models.
For a deeper side-by-side, read Best Virtual Assistant Services for U.S. Businesses: What to Compare and Freelancer vs Virtual Assistant.
What Do Virtual Assistant Services Cost?
The cost of virtual assistant services depends on the role, the skills needed, the weekly hours, the assistant's location and the hiring model. A sales or bookkeeping role usually costs more than general admin support. A managed service may cost more per hour than a marketplace gig, but it includes screening and support you would otherwise do yourself.
To compare against an in-house hire, start with U.S. pay data. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes current median pay for secretaries and administrative assistants. Use that number as your baseline, then add payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, office space and the time it takes to recruit.
Location also affects cost and working hours. Read about Latin America virtual assistants and Filipino virtual assistants to compare time zones. For full rate ranges, see How Much Does a Virtual Assistant Cost? or check current role rates on our pricing page.
How to Scope Your First Virtual Assistant Services
A clear scope is the difference between a helpful assistant and a frustrating one. Follow these steps before you talk to any provider.
- Track one week of work. Write down every task that repeats and about how long it takes.
- Sort tasks into departments. Use the 14 departments above and mark the ones that take the most hours.
- Pick one role. Choose the assistant type that owns most of the marked work.
- Write outcomes, not just tasks. "No urgent email older than four hours" is clearer than "check email."
- List tools and access. Note each system, the access level needed and who approves it.
- Set a 30-day review. Check speed, accuracy and output each week, then adjust the task list at day 30.
For the full process, see How to Hire a Virtual Assistant: A U.S. Business Buyer's Checklist.
Security Checklist Before You Share Access
Remote work is only as safe as the access you give. Set these up before your assistant's first day.
- Use a password manager with shared vaults, so passwords are never sent by email or chat.
- Create a separate user account for the assistant instead of sharing your login.
- Turn on two-factor authentication for every tool the assistant uses.
- Give the lowest access level that still lets the assistant do the job.
- Sign a confidentiality agreement that covers client and customer data.
- Set rules for AI tools, including what data may and may not be pasted into them.
- Keep an offboarding list so you can remove access in one sitting.
Where Berry Virtual Fits
Berry Virtual is a virtual staffing partner. We connect U.S. businesses with dedicated virtual assistants for defined roles, including executive assistants, sales assistants and sales development representatives.
If your task list points to one clear role, our team can review the work, your schedule and your tools with you, then explain how matching works. Explore our virtual assistant services, read client testimonials or talk to our team about the role you need.
Your Guide To Common Questions & Solutions
