Spotlight: Virtual Accounting Services

Happy New Year! We hope your new year is starting great! But, if you find yourself looking like this guy – 

 

 

then you’ll want to keep reading to learn how help from a Victory Virtual Accounting Assistant is just what you need to get your business off on the right foot this year. 

What is a virtual accountant? 

Virtual accountants provide accounting services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. They provide these services remotely, without the need to work in the same physical location. They typically work as independent contractors who do not require the same overhead costs as an in-house accountant. 

 

Some of the services a virtual accountant can provide include: producing reports and financial statements, managing payroll, filing tax returns, reconciling accounts, and much more. Accounting is one of the key operations for a business, but 40% of business owners say that it’s one of the worst parts of owning their business.

 

If you’re part of that 40%, have you asked yourself, “Should I hire a virtual accountant?”

Why should I outsource my accounting needs? 

Our goal at Victory Virtual is to help our client’s businesses succeed. We aim to provide them with the easiest solutions to their outsourcing needs. 

 

Every business owner should know the numerous advantages of outsourcing their accounting tasks. They should be aware of the possible risks involved when they keep their accounting tasks in-house.  

Risks of not outsourcing 

  • No backups of your digital information – Everything is predominantly digitized these days. Regarding accounting, you need to keep backups of records in case anything is deleted or lost, which is a big responsibility. 
  • Inaccurate records – Having inaccurate records is one of the most common mistakes business owners make. Accounting is a constantly-moving process and one that requires consistency and accuracy. When, as a business owner, you’re juggling too many tasks, it’s easy to make unintentional mistakes. 
  • Poor cash management – A proper record of the business’s cash flow is huge, along with maintaining accurate records. If this task is not properly handled, you run the risk of mishandled cash or cash spent but not recorded.  
  • Missing deadlines – Weekly payroll, monthly reports, quarterly tax payments; these regularly scheduled tasks add up to a lot of tracking time. As a business owner, you mustn’t miss deadlines, or your business will suffer. 

Advantages of outsourcing your accounting needs

  1. Cost savings: Contrary to popular belief, hiring a virtual accountant can cost much less than having an accountant as an employee. 
  2. Expertise: Virtual accountants should have specialized expertise and knowledge in their field. Virtual accountants can be certified public accountants (CPA), certified financial analysts (CFA), and certified management accountants (CMA) to provide what your business needs. 
  3. Time savings: Since they work remotely, a virtual accountant can free up your time, allowing you to focus on growing your business instead of managing its finances. 
  4. Flexibility: Many virtual accountants can work on a flexible schedule in case your business has fluctuating accounting needs. 
  5. Scalability: When you look to hire a virtual accountant, you gain access to a wider talent pool. And since Victory Virtual handles all the interviews for the candidates, we’ll find you the perfect match for your business.

 

 [insert CTA that directs to the accounting page]

 

 

When you work with Victory Virtual Accountant Services, you are paired with a qualified accountant who can handle all your accounting needs. We will spend time with you to understand your needs and goals and then get you started as quickly as possible so you can move your focus to other tasks. Our virtual accountants can help your business succeed in many ways, here are just a few. 

Virtual accountant services

 

Integration and reconciliation

Virtual accountants can help integrate and reconcile your data within Quickbooks and Xero. They will effectively connect your accounting systems, saving time and mistakes. They reconcile your accounts to ensure your records stay up-to-date and accurate. They can identify any discrepancies, so the integrity of your business is maintained. 

 

Monthly reports 

A virtual accountant will prepare your financial statements, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports. They’ll also analyze your financial data to gauge the performance of the business, looking for any areas of concern or improvement. If you need reports for management or stakeholders, a virtual accountant can prepare these, too. 

 

Year End tax-ready financial statements

Your business will need help each year, and each quarter, to prepare and file tax returns. A virtual accountant will know how to prepare these financial statements to meet the taxing authorities’ requirements. They can also help identify areas where you could have potential tax savings or financial planning opportunities. 

 

eCommerce

The requirements for eCommerce can be complex. A virtual accountant can take this off your plate by setting up and maintaining an organized system of record keeping, ensuring the financial reporting is used to track financial performance and make future decisions, and ensuring that the business complies with all financial regulations and laws. 

 

Payroll

Your business cannot function with its core team of employees. A virtual accountant can come alongside your efforts to take care of your employees by managing your payroll processes. They can set up and maintain payroll records, calculate and process payroll, and provide you with payroll reports. 

AP and AR
Let a virtual accountant perform the tasks associated with your accounts payable and receivable, including sending out invoices, tracking payments, following up with vendors, and maintaining transaction records. 

Tracking inventory
A virtual accountant can set up and maintain your inventory system if your business deals in products and tangible goods. They can also record any inventory transactions and analyze your inventory data to identify any slow-moving or excess inventory. Some inventory reports they can provide include levels, costs, and values. 

Bookkeeping catch-up services
If you struggled last year with bookkeeping because you were trying to do everything alone, a virtual accountant could help you bring your records up to date. They can review and organize your records, enter past transactions into your accounting system, reconcile your accounts, and review and correct any errors. 

 

 

The bottom line (pun intended)

As statistics show accounting is one of the least favorite tasks of business owners. Let Victory Virtual Accountant Services give you the break you need this new year. We’ll ensure that your finances are being tracked better in 2023, so you can invest less time in the land of frustration and more time in growing your business. 

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Six Tips to Help You Keep on Top of Your Books in the New Year

It’s the start of a new year, and you’re ready to jump right into your resolution to organize your small business files and financials! Attempting to run a business without a plan for efficient bookkeeping and accounting is like trying to drive with your eyes closed. Sooner or later, you’re going to crash. 

 

The most important thing to remember is that business bookkeeping and accounting are ongoing throughout the year. Much of the basic tasks you’ll do daily will help your business function better. 

 

You’ll be more equipped to move your business forward in success if you follow these six tips. 

Start using quality accounting software.

Your accounting software is the backbone of your bookkeeping. Good accounting software will help you keep track of income and expenses, generate and pay invoices, and create financial reports. 

 

Accounting software will save you time and effort by allowing you to automate financial management tasks. The software will also help to reduce any errors and improve accuracy. 

 

If you do business on the go, look for an accounting software program to access and update your financial data using any device. 

 

Even if you outsource your bookkeeping needs to a service or virtual assistant, you will still understand the basics of your financial information by choosing user-friendly accounting software. This knowledge will keep you in the know, even if you leave the details to someone you trust to handle the books. 

Keep your records organized.

Many businesses operate in a digital world, so you may not require a filing cabinet or folders. But you’ll still need a good record-keeping system and a paper trail just in case something happens to your computer records. 

 

Some of the records you’ll want to have in a filing system include the following: 

 

  • Accounting records (payable/receivable)
  • Bank statements
  • Employee and payroll records
  • Contracts, permits, licenses
  • Stock, investment, and tax records

 

You’ll want to use a consistent system for naming and storing your documents. For example, an alphabetical filing system for your accounts payable can help you quickly find your suppliers’ information. With your accounts receivable, keep your sales invoices in numerical order to review what’s outstanding quickly. 

 

There are various schools of thought about how long to keep your financial/business records. Check with your local, state, and IRS to know what applies to your industry. 

 

As a standard rule, always keep your business and personal expenses separate from each other. Have a business and a personal bank account and separate credit cards for business and personal use. Be mindful of how you spend your funds, ensuring that your business account is used only for business-related expenses. 

Make a business budget.

Your business will have a better chance of succeeding if you’ve created a budget. Having a budget, and sticking to it, provides your business with a roadmap for managing financial resources, making informed decisions, and staying on track. 

 

Start by determining the financial goals for your business. Then, gather data on your business’s income and expenses from last year to create a baseline and identify trends. Estimate your future business income and list the expenses you expect for the upcoming year. 

 

Once you have this information, you can then create a budget. By allocating your resources wisely to match your goals, you’ll have a better chance of meeting those goals. 

 

Make sure you monitor and adjust your budget throughout the year. Especially in uncertain economic times, you’ll need to regularly review your budget and make adjustments as needed to make any course corrections. 

Monitor your cash flow

Just like understanding your accounting software, knowing how the cash flows through your business will help you manage it well. Bookkeeping can help you with this by producing a cash flow statement. This statement will give you a broad understanding of how cash moves inside and outside your business. 

 

Weekly and monthly cash flow statements will help you to:

 

  • anticipate expenses
  • appropriately allocate income
  • build your financial trajectories

 

Monitoring your cash flow will also help you to identify any potential cash shortages so you can take corrective action. Or, if you are generating more cash than you are using (Whoo-hoo!), you can decide to invest it or pay down business debt.  

 

Don’t ever let your business get ahead of the financial side of your business. Accounting, accounting, accounting. Know your numbers. – Tilman J. Fertitta

Keep track of your expenses.

Make sure you keep all of your receipts–all of them. Keeping receipts from purchases will help prevent many taxes, accounting, and cash flow problems. 

 

If you don’t like having a bunch of paper in a box to sort through at tax time, take a picture of your receipts and keep them in a digital folder. Many accounting software programs allow you to upload receipts directly, and the program categorizes them for you. 

 

Have you ever asked yourself, “What counts as a business expense?” Business expenses will generally fall into one of these categories: 

 

  • Travel expenses
  • Office/home office expenses
  • Marketing/advertising
  • Insurance
  • Wages/employee salaries
  • Raw materials or production inventory

 

There are many more, so keeping up with your expense reports can make all the difference, especially at tax time. 

Hire a professional virtual accountant.

Keeping up with the files, regulations, and details of the bookkeeping and accounting process is a full-time job. Are you struggling to keep up with your small business books? If so, consider using professional virtual accounting services. Once you’ve developed your business plan, a professional virtual accountant can help your financial plan work.

 

Even with the best accounting software, the right filing system, and a responsible budget, it is still time and effort-consuming to keep up with all the bookkeeping needs. Consider these items a virtual accountant can take off your plate: 

 

  • Recording and categorizing daily expenses
  • Sending out customer invoices and recording payments
  • Getting the books ready for your tax accountant
  • Assisting your tax accountant at tax time
  • Reconciling monthly bank statements
  • Generating monthly/quarterly financial statements 
  • Processing your payroll

To conclude…

 

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is getting organized, these six tips can help you. Creating efficient processes and outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting needs can support the growth of your business. 

 

Reach out to Victory Virtual, and let us connect you with our U.S.-based professional Virtual Accounting Services so you can begin this year the best way! 

 

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5 SERVICES VICTORY VIRTUAL CAN TAKE OFF YOUR PLATE FOR THE NEW YEAR

At Victory Virtual, we recognize that your time is limited, so we won’t take up much of it. Instead, we’d like you to take just a moment to reflect and ask yourself these four questions: 

  1. Did you miss taking a real, no-work vacation this year?
  2. Have you missed project deadlines?
  3. Have you forgotten critical information for a meeting?
  4. Are you missing business opportunities because you can’t seem to get organized?

If you answered yes to any of the questions, you might need help. Managing your business is hard. Committing to better supporting your staff, customers/clients and being the best business owner/manager you can be is a great way to start the new year.

Have you ever wondered how a Virtual Assistant could help you? We’ve provided you with an answer to that question and some insight into how a partnership with Victory Virtual might be just what you and your business need in the upcoming year.

Help your on-staff talent be their best

You want to utilize your on-staff talent best and ensure their strengths are focused on producing the maximum contribution to the business. For example, if your employees constantly have to handle a ton of emails every day, follow up with customer inquiries or issues, and stay up-to-date on what your competition is doing, their time is wasted.

Our virtual outsourcing talent can free up your, and your staff’s time, so you can focus on staying competitive in your market. Maybe you think that as a business owner, if you hire a virtual assistant, it will make you appear lazy.

This is far from the truth.

Virtual Assistants, such as admin assistants, bookkeepers, web services professionals, and social media managers, are there to become an extension of your team. They are brought on board so you can stop sacrificing your time and increase your personal and business productivity.

 

Be present and intentionally focus your own time

Ranking up there with micromanaging and poor communication, employees state that being disorganized is a top trait of poor management. Can you relate? If this is how you feel, you know this is not because you don’t want to be organized but because there are so many things on your daily to-do list that it’s impossible to keep up.

By outsourcing administrative, accounting, website support, and social media tasks, you will help your employees in remarkable ways, such as the following:

You’ll be more focused in meetings: Your Virtual Admin Assistant prepared and supplied everyone with an agenda so that you could run an efficient and productive meeting.

You’ll be more motivating for your sales team: Your Virtual Bookkeeper did all the record-keeping and calculations and then provided you with the quarterly projections. Hence, you can focus more on brainstorming creative ways to meet those goals with the sales team.

You’ll provide an exceptional experience for your customers: Your Virtual Web Services Specialist has created a more user-friendly online ordering process, so your customers spend less time versus if they shopped on a competitor’s website.

You’ll increase your business by reaching more clients: Your Virtual SEO/Social Media Manager created an email and marketing campaign highlighting how your company can meet potential clients’ needs. Now you can relax this weekend with your family and look at the numbers on Monday.

“The important thing about outsourcing or global sourcing is that
it becomes a very powerful tool to leverage talent,
improve productivity and reduce work cycles.”
Azim Premji

Where Victory Virtual comes in

While extremely valuable, a business’s full-time staff costs a lot. Hiring virtual assistants sometimes makes more financial sense for a company. Using VAs could save your company 78% on operating costs per year.

Did you know that virtual assistants have been around since the 1980s? What began as secretaries working from home has developed into a booming freelancing industry that helps companies and remote workers thrive. At its most basic, a Virtual Assistant is a highly-qualified and experienced professional who supports businesses, solopreneurs, or start-ups.

Victory Virtual can partner with your business to provide skilled and knowledgeable Virtual Assistants in the areas where you need the most help. We come alongside your team to support your efforts. Our qualified, U.S.-based VAs are college-educated and have extensive experience in their select fields.

 

Virtual Assistant:

  • Schedule and email management
  • Travel booking & expense reporting
  • Event management
  • Research & reports
  • Project coordination
  • Light bookkeeping.
  • Answer customer calls
  • Provide support for customer issues and questions

Social Media Management:

  • Create content calendars
  • Create content
  • Schedule posts
  • Develop strategy
  • Drive engagement
  • Create brand conversations
  • Provide reporting
  • Blog posts
  • Social media paid advertising
  • Email marketing

Accounting:

  • Monthly data integration and reconciling in Quickbooks or Xero
  • Monthly reports (Income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow report)
  • Year-end tax-ready financial statements
  • eCommerce-specific sales and product reportsstatements
  • More reports → payroll breakdown, etc.
  • AP and AR handling
  • Bill pays and handles vendor invoices
  • Tracking inventory
  • Running payroll
  • Bookkeeping catch-up services

Website Design & Support:

  • Entire website design
  • Provide content updates
  • Maintain website
  • Website hosting & domain support
  • Responsive web design
  • Update plugins
  • Regular backups

SEO:

  • On-page SEO
  • Off-page SEO
  • Local SEO
  • Enterprise SEO

 

 

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5 Best Bookkeeping Practices to Prep for Tax Season [Guide]

As a business owner, you want to keep revenue, so you know how to prepare for tax season 2022. Since businesses cannot avoid paying taxes, you should know how to be prepared for the tax season 2022. Preparing sooner can help alleviate your tax-related stress and set your business up for success. 

Here’s your guide for the 5 best bookkeeping practices to prep for tax season. 

  • Ask a professional for help.
  • Make sure to keep your personal and business expenses separate.
  • Organize your documents.
  • Be aware of tax deductions and filing dates.
  • Plan for next year — now.

Ask a professional for help

Have you ever tried to read the tax code and laws? It’s not fun, overwhelming, and confusing, and they change regularly. For example, are you aware of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changes? If not, you’ll want to take your first step in being ahead of the bookkeeping game for tax season by hiring a professional bookkeeper. 

A professional bookkeeper will: 

  • help you reconcile your documents
  • review prior years’ tax returns
  • examine your accounts
  • understand the beginning, trial, and ending balances
  • know how to problem-solve if the balances don’t match. 

The professional bookkeeper will also ask questions like: 

  • What is the current status of your tax payments? 
  • How do you invoice?
  • Do you have a payroll, and who takes care of it? 
  • Do you know of any significant issues with your accounts? 
  • Will you be looking to expand next year?
  • And many others. 

You’ll want to schedule regular times to meet with your professional bookkeeper during tax season so you are both on the same page and there are no surprises. Make sure the professional bookkeeper you hire is someone you can get along with, is available to answer your questions or emails quickly, and communicates well. 

Make sure to keep your personal and business expenses separate

Having many other items on your to-do list may keep you from making sure separating your expenses is a priority. However, keeping personal expenses apart from your business expenses will go a long way in preparing you for a productive tax season. 

Aside from limiting personal liability in the business, you will also avoid blurring any of those lines between your personal and business expenses, which could trigger an audit by the IRS. 

Keeping your expenses separate throughout the year will also help make your bookkeeping more efficient since you won’t be spending time determining where to account for expenses at the last minute.  

The Small Business Administration offers helpful insight into the best practices for separating your business and personal expenses. For example, consider applying for a Dun & Bradstreet number (DUNS), a unique, 9-digit identifier for businesses. This number can help you build credit for your business and keep your business credit profile separate from your personal one. 

Creativity is great–but not in accounting.” – Charles Scott

Organize your documents

Your professional bookkeeper may provide you with a questionnaire to begin the tax preparation process. This information-gathering document will help you provide as much detail as possible to your bookkeeper so they can prepare and file your small business taxes accurately and quickly. 

Your bookkeeper will also need the following documents to begin the process:

  • Income statement and balance sheet
  • Bank, credit card statements, accounting, and payroll documents
  • Last year’s tax return
  • Partnership agreements, if applicable
  • Asset purchase receipts and schedules of depreciation
  • There may be more documents, depending on your situation.

Quality business accounting software will produce these financial records in an ideal business operating situation. However, if you currently need to utilize accounting software, now would be a great time to ask a professional bookkeeper about recommending one. Various programs are available, and you can determine the best one for you by considering their features, how easy they are to use, the cost, and how their customer service ranks. 

When it comes to keeping your financial documents organized, there may be other strengths for you. You may be fully capable of managing your books, but you may also be much more suited to marketing than accounting. If this is you, let a professional take the tedious work of bookkeeping off your plate. Instead, you focus on what you do best and create a better return for your business by employing a talented bookkeeper to keep up with your books. 

Be aware of tax deductions and filing dates

The tax laws change yearly, and trying to keep up with them takes work. Navigating the IRS website can be challenging for small businesses, so you should leave the minute details of interpreting tax regulations to a professional. However, it won’t hurt to know some basics.

  • Know which tax deductions can apply to your business. For instance, if you operate your business out of your home, you can take advantage of the home office tax deduction. 
  • Do you need to file quarterly? Do you need to make estimates? When are the 1099s due to contractors? Small business owners need to be aware of their tax calendar.

The pandemic changed the makeup of tax dates and penalties. Your professional bookkeeper will stay on top of these important facts so that you can focus on your other tasks. However, you’ll need to know how state and local tax calendars differ from the federal level. Hence, you can assist in meeting deadlines by having your documents and financial records readily available. 

Plan for next year — now

Once you have your professional bookkeeper on board, schedule regular meetings with them. Having consistent check-ins with your bookkeeper will ensure that you correctly maintain your records and track your expenses. 

You’ll want to plan for monthly evaluations of your financial data. Reconcile your bank and business credit card statements each month, and if you find any issues or discrepancies, be sure to address them immediately. 

In case of an audit, you will want to prepare your business with a storage system. Generally, keeping financial records and documents for seven years is the requirement, but verify this with your bookkeeper. 

Remember that accounting software we mentioned earlier? Begin researching, with your bookkeeper, the available options for your business situation and invest in accounting software that will help your business track your one-off and recurring expenses. 

The more you streamline your accounting processes, the better you can identify the areas where your business is strong and how to capitalize on this growth. Quality accounting software will also help you review your spending trends, which can help you determine what expenses you may be able to adjust to your business tax advantage for the coming year. 

Conclusion

If you let a professional bookkeeper handle your books, you can relax during tax season. The key takeaways here are:

  1. Reach out for professional help.
  2. Keep your business and personal expenses separate and your documents organized. 
  3. Make yourself aware of the common tax deductions and filing deadlines for your business situation.
  4. Begin planning for next year now. 

By getting your house in order and planning for next year’s tax season, you’ll future-proof your business by planning realistic financial goals.

Reach out to us here at Victory Virtual, and let us connect you with one of our U.S.-based professional Virtual Bookkeepers. We’ll take this task off your to-do list so you can focus on growing your business. 

 

Sources:

https://taxfoundation.org/tax-cuts-jobs-act-business-tax-increases
https://www.sba.gov/blog/5-ways-separate-your-personal-business-finances
https://www.business.org/finance/accounting/best-small-business-accounting-software
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/get-ready-now-to-file-your-2022-federal-income-tax-return
https://www.smartvault.com/resource/choosing-the-best-document-management-solution-for-your-small-business

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Press Release

An Inc. 5,000 Company, Victory Virtual, Celebrates Successful Acquisition Of Integrity Designs Of Tampa LLC

With Over 20 Years Of Experience And Proven Success, Victory Virtual Is Thrilled To Serve And Work Alongside The Clients Coming On Board! 

       May 4th 2022 – Today, Victory Virtual is pleased to announce the acquisition of Integrity Designs of Tampa LLC immediately becoming the new Webmaster for all of their valued clients and much more!


“This acquisition felt right from the beginning. James at Integrity Designs built a relationship based business by providing an excellent service to small business owners. That is directly in line with our mission at Victory Virtual” said Nick Tortora, Owner at Victory Virtual. 


       Over the last seven years more than 150 small businesses have entrusted James at Integrity with their website development, design, updates, and support needs. Over the last several months, both James and Nick have diligently worked to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for all clients. Victory Virtual as a whole is committed to further nurturing and serving the clients that have placed their trust and confidence in Integrity. 


        Alongside being Webmaster, Victory Virtual’s services include social media posting/advertising, blog writing, payroll, bookkeeping, calendar management, customer service, HR, Ad service and much more! All of which will be available to Integrity’s clients. Driven by client business success, Victory is an extension of your team and business. They let you focus on running your business while they manage your website and any of the above mentioned services. 


“I am entirely confident that Victory Virtual will be the perfect caretakers for the IDT family of clients. They have over 20 years of experience managing hundreds of local and national client websites, ensuring they are always available, fast, functional and up-to-date” said James Bailey, Founder of Integrity Designs of Tampa LLC. 

  

For more information, press only:
Nick Tortora
nick@appwebmart.com
https://victory-virtual-llc.websitepro.hosting/

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Virtual Assistants, The New Workforce?

People have now had a taste of working remotely, will this new found freedom become the norm?

Depending on your personality you may either be thankful that Covid forced a lot of people to work from home or not. Some people thoroughly enjoy going into an office to carry out their work responsibilities. The others have been wondering where this style of work has been their whole lives. As the pandemic seems to be nearing an end, many companies have begun implementing a re-entry strategy for their employees. 

Over the course of the pandemic we have seen an overwhelming rise of e-commerce and online retail stores and businesses. Business owners having to pivot to that model to ensure survival has been critical. While employees are being placed between a rock and a hard place with deciding to stay home or go back to work, they see an opportunity to support these businesses in their new endeavors while staying home. 

Virtual Assistants are necessarily a new idea, they are however gaining a new popularity as of late. Their proven flexibility and freedom are enticing to these individuals who have amassed decades of experience in their respective fields. Realizing that they can not only stay at home with the kids, cater to an ill/aging loved one, or save on associated vehicle costs and make a very attractive wage seems like a no brainer. 

Business owners are intrigued by hiring virtual assistants due to the versatility of having highly skilled team members without all the added cost and liability tied to it. With VA’s typically being an independent contractor position, it allows the business owners to save on traditional overhead. Depending on the business the owner wouldn’t have to provide any office space for them to work in, workmans comp insurance, or internet and other services that would normally be needed to keep an office running. 

By hiring already skilled virtual assistants, the business can run completely on its own while providing potentially infinitely more possibilities for people all over the world. The owner is no longer limited to a specific geographical area to find skilled candidates, they now have a vast pool to pick from. You want a bookkeeper who has automotive accounting experience? You need a coding wizard to assist with your website building? A master at copy who also knows Google Ads and can tactfully answer emails? The business owner now can find exactly what they’re looking for without having to sacrifice. One thing verses the other. 

Same goes for the virtual assistant. Want to help a single mom manage her booming home and decor e-commerce business? You love adapting to the tonality of a business owner to help them write blogs about their manufacturing operations? There is no shortage of areas that a VA can assist any kind of business online or not. 

It doesn’t look like online business is going anywhere anytime soon. If anything, we may only be scratching the surface of it. People have seen behind the curtain and are becoming aware that they can put their skills they have to use and achieve full autonomy in the process, while earning a decent livable income at the same time. If you’re considering a career change that might better fit your lifestyle or needs, now seems like the perfect time to become a virtual assistant.

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Who Needs a Virtual Assistant, You Ask?

You may have heard the term Virtual Assistant and think “I don’t need one”. You might not realize how valuable they are in many scenarios.

If you’ve been online for any length of time you may have heard of the term virtual assistant. Many individuals, thanks to the pandemic, have had to find ways to shift their lives around whether they were in business or not. As many more aspects are now entering the online space, virtual assistants are becoming more and more in demand. 

First, let’s quickly explain exactly what a virtual assistant is. A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who specializes in certain areas ranging from calendar management, bookkeeping, SEO, social media management, and more who provide these services from a remote location. 

Businesses in particular have been hit the hardest with this transition. Many of those businesses do not really have the capacity to swiftly or smoothly make that transition. As businesses are making this shift, their needs are squaring exponentially. In most cases, the needs far outweigh the time or capacity business owners have to be able to cater to these rising needs. 

The idea of having a virtual extension of themselves or their team seems very new, daunting, and quite frankly nerve racking! But the realization of the freedom a virtual assistant can bring back to you and your business or even personal life is one worth exploring. Let’s unpack exactly who can benefit from having a virtual assistant. 

Short answer, everyone. Truly. Everyone who has responsibilities can benefit from having a virtual assistant.

Busy moms and dads who can’t seem to duplicate themselves to be able to not only work in their own businesses or careers but also take care of errands, manage the household budget, coordinate football, soccer and dance schedules, or call back the 13 people who have left them voicemails 4 days ago (or even 7 days ago). 

Freelancers or independent contractors who have 8 side hustles and dozens of clients and can’t manage to keep up with their orders coming through or who can’t seem to stay on top of their calendar that more resembles a chaotic crime scene.

Business owners whether it be a brick and mortar, strictly online, or both! Those owner’s who seem to be wearing all of the hats. Juggling sales, marketing, orders, schedules, inventory, maintenance and everything in between. 

Regardless of what it is you do in life, if you take inventory of all of the mundane, complicated, overwhelming tasks you have on your plate there is at least one item on that list that you can delegate to a virtual assistant. 

Virtual assistants can have a vast scope of expertise, or only one specific skill that they excel in. There are so many talented and skilled VA’s out there, and they can absolutely help you gain you time, sanity and life back. 

So to answer your question, any one who has a very full plate that could stand to gain a few more moments of their time back needs a virtual assistant. 

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Three Signs You Need a Virtual Assistant

A quick guide for the overly exhausted business owner looking to reclaim their time.

You did it! You have achieved what you set out to do, what seemed almost impossible. You almost quit 1,000 times before you got to this point. You built a successful and thriving business from the ground up. So many days spent hoping, sweating, grinding, and repeating. The hard work has paid off and the business is growing faster than you can keep up with.

The business has been running you for quite some time and you’ve been juggling all the responsibilities and wearing all the hats. You hate doing the admin side of the business but you sacrifice what little sleep you were going to get to handle it. The thought of marketing is so draining to you, that you can’t even muster the capacity to think of what to even say. The emails staring you in the face give you anxiety that you let them sit just a little bit longer. 

You’ve thought about bringing on a virtual assistant but haven’t pulled the trigger on it yet. The thought of taking on a VA kind of scares you, and you might have other factors weighing on you as to why you haven’t hired on yet. So many other entrepreneurs have entertained the same thoughts and fears, but also agree that they should’ve made the plunge a long time ago.

If you are still on the fence about hiring a VA, let these three reasons be your motivating factor to hire one. 

You have tasks on your plate that you don’t know how to do. 

Youtube has become your best friend. But you genuinely don’t have another minute to spare to try and learn how to create attention grabbing social media posts. Or how to use accounting software efficiently enough to know where your finances stand month of month. Having a VA who can do your bookkeeping or manage your social media marketing can truly be a game changer for you. 

Your business is sucking the life from you

All the responsibilities fall to you. You are CEO, head of sales, director of marketing, CFO, laborer, customer service, administrative assistant, and everything else to come up. There aren’t enough hours in the day to handle everything. You’re so busy in your business that you forgot what the words sleep or vacation even mean. Virtual assistance offers a range of services that you can delegate to them, allowing you to free up some of your time so you can try to not scarf down your lunch again (if you even eat lunch at all). 

You want to grow and scale your business

Wanting to grow your business is an exciting time. You’ve got the systems in place, the cash ready to operate on, you just need people. Ensuring that you are able to grow and scale your business in either your online community or sales conversation on social media may require bringing on VA to handle those duties, whether part-time or full time. 

Many entrepreneurs and business owners have been able to regain their time and sanity. While also managing to put more cash in their pockets by hiring a virtual assistant. You don’t have to be a one person show (or circus) anymore. There are legions of VA’s ready and skilled to help you thrive in your business. 

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