20 Tasks You Can Delegate to a Virtual Assistant

Inbox, calendar and communication (1–5)

1. 01Inbox triage — sorting, labelling and surfacing only what needs you, with routine replies sent from a shared set of templates.
2. 02Calendar management — scheduling, rescheduling, buffers, time zones and confirming attendance ahead of meetings.
3. 03Enquiry acknowledgement — a same-day reply to every new enquiry so nobody waits on you to be free.
4. 04Follow-up reminders — chasing unanswered proposals, quotes and questions on a set cadence.
5. 05Meeting notes and actions — a written summary after calls, with owners and dates on each action.

This group usually returns the most time per hour spent, because it removes interruptions rather than just tasks.

Customers, CRM and follow-up (6–10)

1. 01CRM data entry — new contacts, notes after calls and correct stage on every deal.
2. 02Pipeline hygiene — de-duplicating records, closing stale deals and flagging anything with no next step.
3. 03Lead list building — researched, verified contact lists that match a defined profile.
4. 04Outreach sequencing — sending and tracking a documented follow-up sequence, and routing replies to you.
5. 05Customer check-ins — scheduled touchpoints with existing clients so relationships do not go quiet.

The point of this group is that no enquiry, quote or client relationship depends on you remembering it.

Invoicing, records and reporting (11–15)

1. 01Invoice preparation — drafting and issuing invoices on a schedule from agreed rates and time records.
2. 02Payment follow-up — tracking what is outstanding and sending polite, escalating reminders.
3. 03Receipt and expense collation — filing documents where your bookkeeper or accountant expects them.
4. 04Spreadsheet maintenance — keeping trackers, budgets and rosters current and free of broken formulas.
5. 05Recurring reports — a weekly or monthly summary built from the same sources, delivered without prompting.

Administrative support around invoicing and records is not the same as accounting sign-off — the numbers still get reviewed by you or your accountant.

Website, documents and systems (16–20)

1. 01Website and WordPress updates — new pages, text and image changes, plugin and backup checks.
2. 02Blog and content publishing — formatting, uploading, internal links, alt text and scheduling.
3. 03Document formatting and templates — proposals, contracts and packs that look the same every time.
4. 04Research briefs — suppliers, competitors, venues, pricing or tools summarised into a decision-ready page.
5. 05Process documentation — writing down how recurring work is actually done, so it can be handed over again later.

The last one compounds: every documented process makes the next delegation faster.

Which of these to hand over first

Pick two or three tasks that are frequent, rule-based and low-risk if they need a second pass. A common first set is inbox triage, scheduling and invoice follow-up.

What to keep for yourself

• —Pricing decisions and final approval on proposals.
• —Sensitive or difficult client conversations.
• —Anything requiring your professional judgement or licence.
• —Strategy — what the business does next, and why.

An assistant can prepare all of these. The decision stays with you.

How to describe a task so it comes back right

1. 01Trigger — what starts the task, and how often.
2. 02Steps — the sequence, including which tool and which account.
3. 03Finished — what a good result looks like, with one example.
4. 04Edge cases — the two or three exceptions that come up most.
5. 05Escalation — when to stop and ask you instead of guessing.

Five lines per task is usually enough. Write them once and the same note serves as training material later.

Frequently asked questions