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Hire an offshore virtual assistant in the Philippines for your Australian business

By William Smith, Co-founder and CEO, Offshored. Published 13 September 2026. Last updated 22 October 2026.

An offshore virtual assistant from Offshored costs A$1,900 to A$2,400 per month, all-inclusive, and an executive assistant A$2,100 to A$2,800, for one full-time person who works only for your business, in your systems, in Australian business hours.

Most Australian owner-operators hire their first offshore team member for exactly this job: the inbox, the diary, the quotes, the follow-ups and the CRM updates that eat two hours of every day. You choose the candidate and set the priorities; Offshored recruits, onboards and manages them, and Australian Pathways OPC employs them in the Philippines.

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The role

What an offshore virtual assistant does

An offshore virtual assistant is a full-time administrative professional based in the Philippines who works only for your business. Unlike a freelance VA who bills by the hour and serves several clients, an Offshored virtual assistant is a dedicated member of your team: same person every day, same start time, your email address, your calendar and your procedures.

The role is deliberately broad. In a trades business the assistant chases quotes and schedules jobs; in a professional services firm they prepare documents and onboard clients; in an online store they process orders and answer customer emails. What stays constant is that you set the priorities each morning, they work through them in your systems, and you see the result in the tools you already use. If one person in the business is the bottleneck rather than a set of processes, read the executive assistant section below.

They work inside your accounts with the access you grant, so nothing moves off your platforms and you can change or remove that access at any time. Confidentiality and assignment of work product to your business are written into their employment contract.

Task list

Tasks you can hand to an offshore virtual assistant

Start with the first column and add the second as trust builds. Your team member follows your procedures and your approval limits, documented during onboarding.

Inbox and calendar management triaging your email, drafting replies for approval, booking meetings, confirming appointments and keeping your day free of double bookings
Quotes, invoices and follow-ups preparing quotes from your templates, raising invoices in Xero or MYOB, sending statements and politely chasing overdue accounts
CRM and pipeline hygiene logging calls and emails, updating deal stages, removing duplicate contacts and running the follow-up sequences your salespeople never get to
Job scheduling and supplier coordination booking jobs in ServiceM8, simPRO, AroFlo or Tradify, confirming with customers, ordering materials and keeping suppliers to their dates
Document preparation proposals, reports, presentations, procedures, onboarding packs and contracts from your templates, formatted and proofread

Data entry and reporting keeping spreadsheets, dashboards and registers current, and producing the weekly numbers you want on your desk every Monday
Customer and client communication answering routine enquiries by email or chat in your brand voice, sending appointment reminders and collecting Google reviews after a job is done
Research and list building prospect lists, supplier comparisons, competitor pricing and any research task that needs an hour of careful work rather than a decision from you
Bookings, travel and events travel, accommodation, venue and catering bookings, staff rosters in Deputy or Tanda, and the logistics behind client events
Personal administration for the owner the renewals, appointments and errands that only get done when someone owns them

Systems

Tools an offshore virtual assistant typically uses

Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive)Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint)XeroMYOBQuickBooks OnlineZoho CRMPipedriveGoHighLevelSalesforceServiceM8, simPRO, AroFlo and TradifyAsana, Trello, ClickUp and monday.comCanvaDocuSignCalendly and ZoomDeputy, Tanda and Employment HeroWhatsApp Business

Australian small businesses run on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 with Xero or MYOB underneath, and most add a CRM and, for trades, a job management platform such as ServiceM8, simPRO, AroFlo or Tradify. Offshored shortlists candidates who already use the systems you name on the first call; where your setup is unusual, you train them the way you would a local hire.

Monthly cost

How much an offshore virtual assistant costs per month

An offshore virtual assistant from Offshored costs A$1,900 to A$2,400 per month. That is one flat, all-inclusive fee per full-time team member, invoiced monthly in advance, in the administration and support band on our pricing page.

Item	Offshore virtual assistant
Monthly fee	A$1,900 to A$2,400 per month
Where in the band	Lower end for a general administrative assistant working from your procedures; upper end for an assistant with several years of experience who runs the inbox, quoting and CRM without supervision. Executive and personal assistants who support one owner or director are priced at A$2,100 to A$2,800
What is included	Everything: recruitment and vetting, employment in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, salary, Philippine income tax and statutory contributions (SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG), 13th month pay, paid leave, HMO health insurance, payroll, timekeeping, HR and performance management, office space and equipment for office based team members, and replacement at our cost if the person leaves
What is not included	Seats in your own software and phone systems, hours outside the agreed eight-hour day, and your own time managing the work day to day, as with any employee

For a sourced comparison with the full cost of a local hire, including superannuation, leave, payroll tax and recruitment, read the 2026 offshore staff cost guide. Every band is listed on the pricing page.

A typical week for your offshore virtual assistant, and what it replaces

An offshore virtual assistant from Offshored costs A$1,900 to A$2,400 per month, all-inclusive, which is A$22,800 to A$28,800 a year. An administration officer in Sydney is advertised at A$70,000 to A$80,000 a year (Seek, October 2026), about A$78,400 to A$89,600 with 12% superannuation.

What your offshore virtual assistant does in a typical week

Every day: triage your inbox, draft replies for your approval and keep your calendar current
Monday: prepare quotes and invoices from last week's jobs and follow up the unpaid ones
Tuesday: update the CRM, tidy the pipeline and log every call and email against the right contact
Wednesday: schedule jobs, confirm bookings and coordinate suppliers and subcontractors
Thursday: prepare the documents, proposals and presentations you need for the week ahead
Friday: compile the weekly report (sales, jobs booked, outstanding items) and book any travel or events
Executive assistant: board packs, meeting minutes, stakeholder follow-ups and the owner's personal administration on top of the above

This is the pattern most clients settle into after the first month. Your team member follows your procedures and approval limits, and you can change the mix at any time.

Salary figures are Seek's average advertised full-time salary range for Administration Officer jobs in Sydney, refreshed 1 October 2026; Seek notes that some advertised salaries include superannuation. The superannuation guarantee has been 12% since 1 July 2025. The 2026 cost guide adds payroll tax, leave, recruitment and equipment to the local side of the comparison. Offshored's figure is the approved band on the pricing page. Before you share system access, read how we protect your data.

Who you get

Qualifications and experience

What Offshored looks for when shortlisting an offshore virtual assistant for an Australian business:

Degree a bachelor's degree, typically in business administration, office management, communication or a related field
Experience two or more years in an administrative or executive support role, usually with an Australian, US or UK client, so the pace and expectations of a Western small business are familiar
Written and spoken English strong in both; the assistant drafts emails and documents that go out under your name, so we screen for writing first

Software fluency in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, plus at least one accounting, CRM or job management platform from the list above
Judgement the habit of asking once, documenting the answer and not asking again, which is what makes an assistant save you time rather than cost it
Vetting a pre-screening interview with Offshored's recruitment team in BGC, Manila and an NBI clearance (the Philippine police check) before any candidate is presented to you

You interview the shortlisted candidates yourself and make the final decision. We suggest a short written task, such as drafting a reply to a real customer email, so you can see their writing before you choose.

Working hours

Working hours and overlap with Australian time zones

Your offshore virtual assistant works a full eight-hour day, Monday to Friday, at the times you set in your Australian time zone. Manila is two hours behind Sydney for most of the year, so the overlap is complete: they are online when you are, from your first coffee to close of business.

Your office	Manila is behind by	Your 9am to 5pm day in Manila time
Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart	2 hours (3 hours in daylight saving, October to April)	7:00am to 3:00pm (6:00am to 2:00pm in daylight saving)
Brisbane and Queensland	2 hours, all year	7:00am to 3:00pm
Adelaide	1.5 hours (2.5 hours in daylight saving)	7:30am to 3:30pm (6:30am to 2:30pm in daylight saving)
Darwin	1.5 hours, all year	7:30am to 3:30pm
Perth	No difference, same time as Manila	9:00am to 5:00pm

Team members work Australian public holidays unless the day is also a Philippine holiday, and Offshored gives you two business days' notice of any Philippine holiday that affects your team member's schedule. Every shift is logged on our timekeeping platform. See the FAQ on the Sydney to Manila time difference.

Virtual assistant or executive assistant

Offshore executive assistant: when you need more than a virtual assistant

An offshore executive assistant supports one owner, director or executive rather than a team. The work is the same family of tasks, but the assistant owns them end to end: they run your calendar and travel without asking, prepare board and management papers, handle sensitive correspondence, take minutes and actions from meetings, and keep your commitments moving while you are in front of clients. The role calls for more experience, more discretion and more judgement, which is why Offshored prices executive and personal assistants at A$2,100 to A$2,800 a month rather than A$1,900 to A$2,400.

Choose a virtual assistant when the work is a set of recurring processes that several people in the business can hand over: quotes, scheduling, CRM updates, invoicing, customer replies. Choose an executive assistant when one person is the bottleneck and needs a trusted right hand who works ahead of them. A common path is to start with a virtual assistant and, as the business grows, add a second team member or move the first into the executive assistant seat.

Both roles work your hours, in your systems, with confidentiality written into their employment contract with Australian Pathways OPC. On a free 20-minute call we will tell you which one fits the brief you have.

Ten questions

What Australian owners ask before hiring an offshore virtual assistant

How much does an offshore virtual assistant cost in Australia?

An offshore virtual assistant costs A$1,900 to A$2,400 a month through Offshored, and an executive or personal assistant A$2,100 to A$2,800, for one full-time person dedicated to your business. The fee is all-inclusive: recruitment, employment by Australian Pathways OPC, salary, 13th month pay, payroll, HMO health insurance, equipment, and replacement at Offshored's cost if the person leaves. There is no recruitment fee and no lock-in contract.

Can an offshore virtual assistant work Australian business hours?

Yes. Offshored virtual assistants work a standard Monday to Friday, eight-hour day at the times you set, matched to your Australian time zone. A 9am Sydney start is 7am in Manila during Australian Eastern Standard Time and 6am during daylight saving; Perth is on the same time as Manila. They work Australian public holidays unless the day is also a Philippine holiday.

What is the difference between an offshore virtual assistant and an executive assistant?

A virtual assistant runs recurring processes that several people in the business can hand over: quotes, scheduling, CRM updates, invoicing and customer replies. An executive assistant supports one owner or director end to end, running their calendar, travel, correspondence and meeting actions ahead of them, which calls for more experience and discretion. Offshored prices executive and personal assistants at A$2,100 to A$2,800 a month and virtual assistants at A$1,900 to A$2,400.

How quickly can an offshore virtual assistant start?

Typically one to two weeks from your first call with Offshored. Shortlisting takes three to four days, then you interview the shortlisted assistants and choose the person yourself. Because the Philippine employing entity, payroll and onboarding are already in place, your virtual assistant can start as soon as the paperwork is signed, so have inbox and calendar access, your procedures and a list of the first tasks to hand over ready for day one.

Who employs my offshore virtual assistant?

Australian Pathways OPC, a registered Philippine company, is the legal employer of every virtual assistant recruited by Offshored. It holds the employment contract, runs payroll and pays the Philippine statutory contributions, while Offshored recruits and manages the person and is the Australian company you contract with. You direct the daily work, and because the virtual assistant is not your employee under Australian law, superannuation, PAYG withholding and payroll tax do not apply, although you should confirm your own position with your accountant.

What happens if my offshore virtual assistant does not work out?

Offshored replaces the virtual assistant at our cost, with no re-recruitment fee. During the six month probation Offshored formally asks for your feedback at the end of month one, month three and month six, so a poor fit is picked up early. There is no lock-in contract either: you pay month to month and can end the arrangement with 30 days' notice and no exit fee.

What is the difference between an outsourced virtual assistant and an offshore virtual assistant through Offshored?

An outsourced virtual assistant works through a freelance platform or an agency, for several clients, by the hour or the task. An offshore virtual assistant through Offshored is a full time employee of Australian Pathways OPC in the Philippines who works only for your business, 40 hours a week in your hours and your systems, for A$1,900 to A$2,400 per month with no recruitment fee.

What administrative support can an offshore admin assistant take on?

An offshore admin assistant through Offshored can run your inbox and calendar, draft replies for approval, book and confirm appointments, prepare quotes from your templates, raise invoices in Xero or MYOB, send statements, chase overdue accounts, and keep your CRM and pipeline current. You document the procedures and approval limits during onboarding, and the assistant follows them.

Can I hire more than one offshore virtual assistant?

Yes. The minimum engagement with Offshored is one full time team member and there is no maximum. Each assistant is recruited for a defined role, so a second hire can cover a different function, such as bookkeeping support or customer service, rather than splitting one person across everything. Each is A$1,900 to A$2,400 per month, and you can add or end a role with 30 days' notice.

What are the benefits of an offshore virtual assistant for an Australian small business?

The measured benefit is cost. Offshored's cost benchmark puts a Sydney administration officer at A$70,000 to A$80,000 on Seek, which is A$78,400 to A$89,600 with 12 percent superannuation, against A$22,800 to A$28,800 a year through Offshored, a 69 percent saving at the midpoint. The assistant is dedicated to your business, works your hours, and Offshored handles recruitment, payroll and HR.

Ready to talk about hiring an offshore virtual assistant? Book a free 20-minute call.

Pick a time and William Smith, Offshored's co-founder, phones you. We scope the role, give you the monthly cost band and tell you honestly whether offshore staff will work for your business. No lock-in, no obligation.

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