Virtual Assistant Rate Calculator

Virtual Assistant Hourly Rate Calculator

Determine your ideal hourly billing rate based on your income goals, expenses, and billable hours.

1. Income Goals & Expenses

Take-home pay goal

2. Work Capacity

Only Admin Work 75% 100% Client Work

Percentage of time actually billed to clients vs admin tasks.

Required Hourly Rate

$0.00

Gross Annual Revenue Needed $0

Total Billable Hours / Year 0

function calculateVARate() { // Get inputs var targetNet = parseFloat(document.getElementById('vaTargetIncome').value); var monthlyExp = parseFloat(document.getElementById('vaMonthlyExpenses').value); var taxRate = parseFloat(document.getElementById('vaTaxRate').value); var weeksOff = parseFloat(document.getElementById('vaWeeksOff').value); var hoursPerWeek = parseFloat(document.getElementById('vaHoursPerWeek').value); var billablePercent = parseFloat(document.getElementById('vaBillablePercent').value); // Validation if (isNaN(targetNet) || isNaN(monthlyExp) || isNaN(taxRate) || isNaN(weeksOff) || isNaN(hoursPerWeek) || isNaN(billablePercent)) { alert("Please enter valid numbers for all fields."); return; } if (taxRate >= 100) { alert("Tax rate cannot be 100% or more."); return; } // Calculations // 1. Calculate Total Net Needed (Income + Annual Expenses) var annualExpenses = monthlyExp * 12; var totalNetNeeded = targetNet + annualExpenses; // 2. Calculate Gross Revenue Needed (Accounting for Taxes) // Formula: Net = Gross * (1 – TaxRate) -> Gross = Net / (1 – TaxRate) var taxFactor = 1 – (taxRate / 100); var grossRevenue = totalNetNeeded / taxFactor; // 3. Calculate Available Working Time var workingWeeks = 52 – weeksOff; var totalWorkingHours = workingWeeks * hoursPerWeek; // 4. Calculate Billable Hours (Accounting for Efficiency) var annualBillableHours = totalWorkingHours * (billablePercent / 100); // 5. Calculate Hourly Rate var hourlyRate = 0; if (annualBillableHours > 0) { hourlyRate = grossRevenue / annualBillableHours; } // Display Results document.getElementById('finalHourlyRate').innerText = "$" + hourlyRate.toFixed(2); document.getElementById('grossRevenueNeeded').innerText = "$" + grossRevenue.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 0, maximumFractionDigits: 0}); document.getElementById('totalBillableHours').innerText = Math.floor(annualBillableHours).toLocaleString(); document.getElementById('vaResults').style.display = 'block'; }

How to Calculate Your Virtual Assistant Rate

Setting the right hourly rate is one of the most critical decisions for a Virtual Assistant (VA). Unlike a salaried employee, your hourly rate must cover not just your desired take-home pay, but also your business overhead, taxes, paid time off, and non-billable administrative time.

Key Factors in the Calculation

This calculator uses a reverse-engineering approach to determine your rate based on your financial goals. Here is the logic used:

• Target Annual Net Income: This is the actual amount of money you want to put in your pocket (or bank account) after all business expenses and taxes are paid. Think of this as your "salary."
• Business Overhead: VAs have costs such as subscription software (Canva, Zoom, CRM), internet, hardware upgrades, and marketing. These are deducted from your gross revenue.
• Billable Efficiency: This is the "hidden killer" of freelance profitability. You cannot bill for 40 hours a week if you work 40 hours. You spend time on invoicing, finding clients, and emails. A typical efficiency rate for a healthy freelance business is between 60% and 80%.
• Taxes: As a contractor, you are responsible for the self-employment tax and income tax. If you want to net $50,000, you must charge enough to cover the government's share on top of that.

Understanding Billable vs. Non-Billable Hours

One of the most common mistakes new VAs make is assuming they can bill 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you set your rate based on 2,080 hours a year (standard 40hr/week job), you will undercharge.

Example: If you work 40 hours a week but spend 10 hours on marketing and admin, your Billable Efficiency is 75%. You must earn your entire week's revenue in the remaining 30 billable hours.

Industry Standard Rates for VAs

While your calculated rate is based on your needs, it helps to know the market averages:

VA Expertise Level	Typical Hourly Rate Range
Entry Level (General Admin)	$15 – $25 / hour
Experienced (General + Specialized)	$25 – $45 / hour
Specialist (Tech, Web, Graphic Design)	$45 – $75+ / hour
Executive Assistant / OBM	$60 – $100+ / hour

Use the calculator above to ensure that your quoted rate aligns with your financial survival and growth, rather than just guessing a number based on competitors.