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What to delegate to a virtual assistant: task checklist
Delegate the work that repeats, follows rules you can write down and doesn't need your name or your judgment: inbox sorting, scheduling, data entry, customer replies, invoicing admin and scheduled posts. Run the one-week time audit, tick what eats your week in the 8 task lists below, and you've got a job description and a first-month plan.
Four questions that decide it
Run any task through these four questions. Yes to the first three and no to the last means it's ready to hand over.
- Does it repeat? A task you'll do again next week pays back the time it takes to explain it. A one-off usually doesn't.
- Can you write the rules down? If you can explain it in a page, including what to do when something's off, someone else can do it.
- Can you check it quickly? Good tasks have a result you can review in a minute or two.
- Does it need your name, judgment or signature? If it does, keep it, or split off the preparation and keep the final decision.
One-week time audit
Every day for 5 working days, note each task
- Task: [what you did]
- Minutes: [how long it took]
- Happens: [daily / weekly / monthly / one-off]
On Friday, score each task
- Repeats? [yes / no]
- Could you write the rules down in 10 lines? [yes / no]
- Does it need your name, your judgment or your signature? [yes / no]
- Does it drain you, or do you enjoy it? [drains / enjoy]
Then sort
- Delegate first: repeats, rules can be written down, doesn't need you
- Delegate later: repeats, but the rules aren't clear yet. Write them down first
- Keep: needs your name, judgment or signature
- Stop doing: nobody would notice if it ended
Add it up
- Hours a week to delegate: [total]
- Hours a month: [total x 4.33]
- First three tasks to hand over: [1] [2] [3]
Inbox, calendar and admin
Inbox
- Sort the inbox into reply, forward, file and delete
- Answer routine emails with saved replies
- Draft replies for you to approve on anything sensitive
- Unsubscribe from newsletters you never read
- Flag urgent messages to you by [channel]
Calendar
- Book, move and confirm meetings
- Send meeting links and agendas the day before
- Block focus time and protect it
- Book travel and build a one-page itinerary
Documents
- Format documents, slides and proposals from your notes
- Turn call recordings or notes into summaries with action items
- Keep the shared drive tidy and consistently named
- Enter data from forms, receipts or business cards into a sheet
Customers and support
Day to day
- Answer tickets and live chat from a written FAQ
- Process returns, exchanges and refunds up to [amount]
- Update order and shipping status for customers
- Reply to reviews and comments with an approved tone
- Pass anything angry, legal or unusual to [person] the same day
Keeping it healthy
- Send customer satisfaction requests after each order or job
- Log common questions and suggest FAQ updates each month
- Keep the help centre articles current
- Follow up with customers who haven't replied in [days]
Sales and CRM
CRM
- Enter new leads and merge duplicates
- Keep deal stages and next steps current
- Clean old records and fill in missing fields
- Build the weekly pipeline report
Prospecting and follow-up
- Research prospects against a written profile
- Build lead lists in a sheet, with sources
- Send follow-ups from approved templates
- Book calls from replies onto your calendar
- Prepare a one-paragraph brief before each sales call
- Send proposals you've approved and chase them on schedule
Marketing
Content
- Turn a recording or rough notes into a blog draft for you to edit
- Upload and format blog posts, with images and links
- Build and schedule email newsletters
- Repurpose one long piece into several short ones
Numbers and upkeep
- Pull a monthly report on traffic, leads and email results
- Check for broken links and outdated pages
- Update listings on directories and review sites
- Keep an idea list of topics and customer questions
- Check ad results against targets and flag problems
Bookkeeping admin
Money in
- Create and send invoices from approved work
- Send overdue reminders on a set schedule
- Match payments received to invoices
Money out
- Collect supplier bills and receipts in one folder
- Enter bills and code them for your bookkeeper or accountant to check
- Prepare payments for you to approve; you release them
- Track subscriptions and flag ones nobody uses
Month end
- Reconcile from statements or a bank feed
- Prepare the monthly documents pack for your accountant
Operations and research
Running things
- Write SOPs from your screen recordings
- Keep the team's task tracker current and chase overdue items
- Order supplies and handle supplier emails
- Schedule contractors and confirm their visits
- Post job ads and sort applications against your list
Research
- Compare vendors and tools in a one-page table
- Check what competitors publish and report changes monthly
- Find events, podcasts or partners that fit a brief
- Collect prices and options before you make a decision
Personal admin
Only if you want this
- Book personal appointments and renewals
- Research purchases and send you the top three options
- Plan trips and handle booking changes
- Keep a list of family dates and order gifts on time
What to keep for yourself
Delegating well also means knowing where to stop. These usually stay with the owner, at least until there's a long record of trust:
- Decisions about money: prices, large purchases, who gets paid and when. Someone else can prepare them.
- Hiring and letting people go. A VA can sort applications; the call is yours.
- Your most important customer relationships, and any hard conversation.
- Anything that needs your signature, or that an adviser has told you to handle yourself.
- Strategy: what the business does next year, and what it stops doing.
How to hand a task over
Most delegation fails at the handover, not at the person. This order works for almost anything:
- Record yourself doing the task once with a screen recorder, talking through each decision.
- Have them write it up as an SOP from the recording, then read it. It shows you what they understood.
- Let them do it while you watch, or review their first few rounds line by line.
- Give them the access the task needs and no more, and note it in the access log.
- Move to spot checks once it's come back right a few times in a row.
- Agree how they'll tell you it's done, and what to do when they get stuck.
Mistakes that waste the first month
- Handing over everything in week one. One new task a day is plenty, each with its SOP.
- Delegating what you've never done yourself. If you can't describe a good result, they can't hit it.
- Keeping the rules in your head, so every exception turns into a message to you.
- Sending only the boring work. People do better with some tasks they can take ownership of.
- Checking everything forever. If you're still reviewing every item in month three, either the SOP or the fit has a problem.
FAQ
What tasks should I delegate first?
Start with what repeats most, is easy to check and can't do much damage if it's wrong: inbox sorting, calendar booking, data entry, and simple reports. Hand over one a day, and leave anything touching customers or money until those are running well.
What should you not delegate to a virtual assistant?
Final decisions on money, hiring and strategy, your hardest customer conversations, and anything that needs your signature. A VA can still prepare most of these: gather the numbers, draft the reply, sort the applications. You make the call.
How many hours of tasks do I need before hiring a VA?
Run the time audit for a week and add up what you could hand over. See whether you land nearer 10 or 20 hours a week. Our part-time vs full-time guide shows what each level costs. If you can't find 5 hours a week of repeating work yet, a freelancer for specific jobs may suit you better.
Can a virtual assistant do personal tasks?
Yes, if you both agree it up front and it's in the job description. Some VAs prefer business work only, so mention it in the ad and at the interview, and keep your personal logins and payment details out of it.
How do I delegate without losing quality?
Write down what done looks like, review the first few rounds closely, and fix the SOP whenever something comes back wrong. Then measure a few results each month with a simple scorecard, so you don't have to look over anyone's shoulder.
Related
- Part-time vs full-time VA: what the hours cost
- What a virtual assistant costs
- How to give a VA access to your accounts
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