How to Track Virtual Assistant Hours (5 Steps to Track Your VA)

In 1995, for the first time, the virtual assistant industry was created by Christine Durst, but VA gained popularity in 2009 with Tim Ferriss’s book, “The 4-Hour Workweek.” However, its ultimate use began with the rise of COVID-19 and the practice of working from home.

Nowadays, employers are concerned about how they can track the hours of their virtual assistants. Your reporting boss or employer may want to know your working time to be sure you’re not billing them while playing PES (eFootball) on a PlayStation 5, as you start working remotely.

To maintain transparency and build trust, it’s crucial to keep accurate and detailed records of your work hours. In this article, we summarize the five steps for tracking virtual assistant hours. So let’s get started.

5 Steps to Track Your Virtual Assistant Hours

Tracking your virtual assistant’s hours is crucial because your VA might claim billing without actually working or may occasionally be unproductive. To ensure your VA is working effectively and providing accurate billing, tracking them becomes essential. To do this, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Choose a Time Tracking Tool

Software-based tracking systems have gained popularity among virtual assistants and employers. Numerous time-tracking tools are available today. This software automates time tracking with a single click, enhances accuracy, categorizes projects, improves reporting capabilities, and sometimes even offers insights for productive solutions. Below, we summarize seven productivity tools for virtual assistant time trackers:

Tracking Time

Tracking time is one of the best tools available due to its features and pricing, which include free, freelancer, pro, and business plans. You can view and edit your virtual assistants’ or employees’ time, project and task estimates, invoicing, and billing, export data to different files, and efficiently audit your workers’ or VAs’ work.

Toggl Track

Toggl Track is high-quality time-tracking software recognized for its user-friendly interface, making it easy to track virtual assistant hours. It enables users to monitor time across different tasks and projects, providing flexibility on various devices. Toggl Track offers free plans (up to 5 users) and paid options to suit your needs and budget.

Clockify

Clockify is a time-tracking software known for efficiently tracking and reporting time for virtual assistants. This platform allows unlimited tracking, making it an ideal choice for startups. Clockify provides a free plan with basic features, as well as pro plans for advanced reporting.

 Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a virtual assistant time-tracking software that provides deep insights into productivity monitoring. This tool helps by taking screenshots and recording activity levels. Time Doctor includes comprehensive features, such as website and application tracking. It delivers detailed insights into productivity, including idle time tracking and other relevant metrics. It offers a 14-day trial version, followed by a paid service.

Harvest

Harvest is another well-known virtual assistant time-tracking software known for its intuitive and straightforward interface. It integrates with popular project management tools, making it easy to track time seamlessly across projects. Harvest also offers seamless integration with invoicing and expense-tracking software, streamlining your workflow. It provides both free solutions for solo entrepreneurs up to 2 projects and paid plans for teams and businesses.

Hubstaff

Hubstaff is another well-known and popular time-tracking software for virtual assistants. It provides a detailed record of time spent, including screenshots, activity monitoring, and GPS tracking for employers to monitor their virtual assistants. Hubstaff offers various monthly plans, along with a 14-day trial, to cater to different customer needs.

MyHours

For any employer requiring detailed tracking of virtual assistant hours for project-based work, MyHours is a top choice. This platform prioritizes project profitability, making it ideal for freelancers and consultants. MyHours offers both a free plan (supporting up to 5 users) with essential features and a paid plan(with a 14-day free trial), allowing users to track time and create invoices seamlessly.

DeskTime

DeskTime is another popular automatic time-tracking and productivity analysis software for virtual assistants. It helps track the time spent on different websites and applications, offering comprehensive tools to analyze productivity based on computer usage. DeskTime offers a free plan with up to 1 user and a paid plan with all advanced features.

EverHour

Everhour is also known as a time tracking software in the remote job industry. EverHour provides you with a free version with time tracking, project and task management, report exporting, and many more features for your virtual assistant. On the other hand, it’s a paid version called the team plan, which has more advanced features, making this software a complete package to track your virtual assistant’s activity.

As mentioned earlier, for any virtual assistant job, tracking hours is crucial for maintaining productivity, ensuring the timely completion of tasks, and providing accurate billing. Effective time management starts with the right tools. Depending on your preference and the nature of your work, you can choose between manual tracking and software-based tracking.

Step 2: Set Clear Task Goals (Daily/Weekly/Monthly)

Setting clear goals is crucial for any employer to track work progress effectively. First, begin by defining clear and measurable goals for your virtual assistant. Specify the tasks that need to be performed daily, weekly, or even monthly. In this way, you can use apps like ClickUp, Asana, or Trello to manage your employees’ tasks and enhance work efficiency.

You may set the number of working hours per day, specific developments for each week, and your monthly objectives. These will also help your VA prioritize tasks and set the stage for more accurate time tracking.

Step 3: Ensure Regular Submission of Timesheets

It is essential to ensure the timely submission of timesheets or spreadsheets for better project completion, for any project to be sustainable. If your virtual assistant is updating daily, weekly, or biweekly, they must keep accurate records of their work.

Ensuring regular submission of the timesheets allows you to track the project effectively, assess the agreement with the virtual assistant, and simplify the payroll process. It also provides an opportunity to review, analyze, and adjust working patterns.

Make sure your virtual assistant does not provide any fake reports and submits them in a timely manner.

Step 4: Regular Check-Ins

For successful project completion, it is crucial to schedule regular progress meetings with the virtual assistant. During these meetings, you can discuss their progress and any challenges they face in completing tasks.

These regular check-ins also provide an opportunity to review timesheets and make necessary adjustments to goals and expectations. Such regulated interactions foster better working relationships and ensure that the virtual assistant remains aligned with your project’s objectives.

Step 5: Manual Tracing and Cross-matching the Timesheet with the Actual Output

Manual tracking is the simplest method of tracking, where a virtual assistant records their time on documents like spreadsheets or notebooks. In manual tracking, the VAs note down these stats, their start time, their end time, or any other time records of the task. This simple method requires a high level of discipline and honesty.

Finally, cross-matching the timesheet with the actual output is crucial. This step verifies the accuracy of the hours reported by your VA and ensures they align with the expected deliverables. By comparing timesheets with actual work completed, you can assess your VA’s productivity and identify areas for improvement or optimization, if necessary.

Advantages of Tracking Virtual Assistant Hours

There are several advantages to using a time tracker for virtual assistant jobs:

• It allows your employer to monitor working hours for precise invoicing, efficient time management, and preserving trust.
• Virtual assistants typically work at an hourly rate, whether part-time or full-time, enabling them to log their hours accurately.
• For VAs managing multiple clients, time-tracking tools assess the time spent on each client accurately, enhancing accountability.
• It bolsters your credibility with your employer by providing proof of work.

There are also various reasons you may want to track your working hours for your benefit:

• If you are unsure how long a job will take to finish.
• If you are handling various tasks that require different amounts of time, this allows you to showcase your flexible working hours. Here are some tasks that a virtual assistant can handle.
• If your working hours are flexible—starting work in the morning one day and in the evening the next—tracking your hours helps you manage your time efficiently.

Some issues can impact your virtual assistant in the wrong way as well. Such as:

• Time tracking and micro task management can disturb your virtual assistant’s mind.
• Constantly being under control can make your virtual assistant feel like they are in prison.
• It demoralises sometimes and makes your VS feel under pressure, as a result, it can decrease creativity.

Conclusion

In short, tracking hours of your virtual assistant not only helps measure productivity but also creates accountability and aids in strategic planning. Ensuring regular submissions and check-ins, utilizing an efficient time tracking setup, setting task goals, and examining the timesheet alongside the actual output, all contribute to maintaining a clear overview of the project’s progress. Implementing these steps ensures that your VA’s time is optimized for the best possible business outcomes.