Key Items in your Virtual Assistant Contract

You’ve created the beautiful proposal, absolutely nailed the discovery call, and landed the perfect client! Now, there is one last step to complete before you start putting in the hours:

The Contract

Yes, the often dreaded contract. Dreaded for reasons like:

• You don’t understand its purpose
• You don’t know what to include — and what not to include
• It’s just an extra task that you don’t feel like doing

Well, I’m here to tell you why a contract is a necessary (albeit boring) task and what you need to include from here on out.

The Purpose

Your contract is a means of protection for both you and your client. Therefore, both of you should want to have a solid one in place. The key here is that your VA contract is a mutually beneficial document.

Here’s an example from a VA’s perspective:

Sally has a client who is consistently late on payments. She sends reminders every month, but since she doesn’t have a contract in place with a specified payment date and late fees, there’s nothing she can do about it (legally).

Here’s an example from a client’s perspective:

Jennifer owns an online business that sells nutrition guides and workout plans. She recently hired a VA named Sally to help her stay on top of social media. Sally reaches out for payment every month on the 1st — but Jennifer doesn’t run payroll until the 15th.

In this example, Sally and Jennifer are experiencing a miscommunication that a contract could solve!

What To Include –

Payment Terms

Do you require a monthly retainer? Or do you get paid by the hour? When do you want to get paid, and how often? What happens if you go over the hours you both agreed on? These are all questions that your contract needs to answer. That way, you are not consistently spending time chasing down payments each month. You also need to include which method the client will use to pay you, such as Paypal, TransferWise, Stripe, etc.

Duration

How long do you plan to work on this project? Make sure you are very clear about start and finish dates, and remember to include whether or not there is a trial period.

Termination

Sometimes the client-contractor relationship just isn’t working out! If this happens, you want to have a termination agreement in your contract. In this provision, you should be sure to include things like:

• That both parties can terminate
• The notice period
• How to handle remaining payments

Confidentiality

This part of your contract is absolutely vital. It will provide peace of mind to both you and your client that any given information will be safe and secure in your hands so that you can work alongside each other without any trust issues!

Description Of Services/Deliverables

You want to be clear when describing the project because some clients try to get more from you than you originally agreed. If you don’t have this in your contract, it can be difficult (or uncomfortable) to tell them that any additional tasks will require additional payment.

Having a contract in place may seem intimidating, but it is one of the most important things you can do as a VA. It’s also easier than you think, so there is no reason to avoid it any longer.

Just think of the client and contract as going hand-in-hand- You shouldn’t have one without the other!