Virtual Assistant Hourly Rate in Ireland: What an Hour Buys

What does remote business support cost per hour in Ireland?

My published rate for remote business support is €16 an hour (the pricing page), for research, admin, documents, spreadsheets, LinkedIn posting and similar online tasks, for businesses in Ireland and the UK. The rate on its own tells you very little. What matters is what sits beside it: a written task, an agreed number of hours before any work starts, and a bill for the time actually spent on that task. An hour that was agreed in writing is a known cost. An hour that was not is a guess. This guide explains what one hour of support covers, how the time is agreed and tracked, which tasks suit hourly work, how it compares with a part-time hire, and what should be in writing before the first hour. It includes a worked hour, one example task from brief to delivery, showing what is billed and what is not.

Business Support from Arcturus Professional Services is €16 an hour (the pricing page). That is the published price on the pricing page, and it is the only rate in this guide. I work alone from New Delhi, India, during Irish and UK working hours, Monday to Friday, so you deal directly with the person doing the work.

How the price works in practice:

Hours agreed first. You send the task in writing, I reply with the hours I expect it to take, and nothing starts until you say yes.

Half in advance. You pay half of the agreed hours before work starts.

The rest on delivery. The balance is paid when the task is delivered, based on the time actually spent.

Paid via Wise, against a written invoice.

There are no paid tools you need to buy for this service. What I do need from you is a clear description of the task, the files or information involved, any examples of the finished result, and access to the tools or accounts the task uses.

What does one hour of support actually cover?

One hour is time spent doing an agreed task. The service covers these kinds of work:

Research on businesses, competitors, suppliers or any topic you need.

Data entry and keeping spreadsheets up to date.

Business documents, created, updated and tidied.

Content writing from your notes and material, with help from AI tools.

Website help, including DNS changes where agreed.

LinkedIn posting and scheduling.

YouTube uploads and looking after your channel, not YouTube SEO.

Ad campaign admin and other agreed ad tasks.

One-off or regular back-office tasks, agreed in advance.

Some things are outside it, whatever the hours: financial, legal or HR advice, any calling work at all, including phone calls, video calls and cold calls, being available around the clock or replying within minutes, and CRM management. Tasks where I do not have the access or information needed cannot be started until that arrives.

How is the time agreed and tracked?

The sequence is the same for every task, and all of it is in writing.

You send the task. By email or through the contact form, with any files or examples.

We agree the hours. I confirm what I will do, what I need from you and the number of hours. You say yes before I start.

I send it back finished. Ready to use, or with a plain note of what is still missing.

Every delivery comes with a short written update. It shows the hours used on each task, what is done, and what is waiting on you. That update is the record the final invoice is based on, so you can check the hours against the work before you pay the balance.

If a task turns out to need much more research or many more hours than we agreed, I stop and tell you in writing before going further. Extra hours are never added without checking with you first.

How I work, kept in writing

A worked hour: one task from brief to delivery

This is an example of a common task type, set out to show how the billing works. It is not a client record.

The brief, as you might send it. "Please find twenty accounting software resellers in Ireland. For each one, put the company name, website, town, and whether they list a sales contact page into the attached spreadsheet. Use the column headings already there. No personal phone numbers."

What I send back before starting.

The task as I understand it, in one sentence.

The one question the brief leaves open: whether resellers in Northern Ireland count.

The estimate: two hours.

The advance: half of the two hours, so one hour at the hourly rate.

What is billed. The time spent finding the resellers, checking each website, filling in the spreadsheet in your column order, and writing the delivery note.

What is not billed.

Reading your brief and sending the estimate, because that happens before you say yes and before any agreed task exists.

Anything you did not ask for, such as extra columns or a second region, unless you agree to it in writing first.

The written note at delivery.

Task: twenty accounting software resellers in Ireland, spreadsheet attached.

Hours used: one hour and forty five minutes.

Done: all twenty rows filled, every website opened and checked.

Waiting on you: nothing.

Note: two companies list only a general enquiries form, marked in the last column.

The balance. You pay for the time actually spent, less the advance already paid. In this example, that is one hour and forty five minutes at the hourly rate, less the one hour already paid, so the balance is three quarters of an hour.

The point of the example is the shape, not the numbers. The scope was agreed before work started, the open question was asked in writing, and the hours on the invoice match a note you can read.

Which tasks suit hourly support and which do not?

Hourly support works best when a task has a clear finished result and can be explained in writing.

Good fits:

Repeatable tasks with a clear method, such as updating a spreadsheet every week.

Research with a defined output, such as a list, a table or a short summary.

Document work where you supply the material and the format.

Online admin in tools you can give access to.

Poor fits:

Anything that needs a phone or a video call. None of the work includes calling.

Work that needs an instant reply or someone watching an inbox all day.

Decisions only you can make, such as pricing, hiring or legal positions.

Open ended work with no finished result, which is better scoped as a smaller first task.

If you are not sure which side a task falls on, describe it in writing and I will say plainly whether it suits hourly work.

Business Support for Founders: What to Delegate First

How does hourly support compare with a part-time hire?

A part-time employee gives you someone on your team, available at fixed times, who can be trained into your business over months. That is a real advantage when the workload is steady and the role is clear. It also comes with obligations.

In Ireland, Revenue states that if you hire an employee you must register as an employer before paying them, and then deduct Income Tax, PRSI and USC from their pay and report it to Revenue on or before each payday. In the UK, the government's step by step guide for a first employee covers checking you can afford the minimum wage, National Insurance, sick pay and pensions, registering as an employer for PAYE, workplace pension duties and Employers' Liability insurance.

Hourly support from a self-employed freelancer works differently. UK government guidance on employment status describes a self-employed person as someone who runs their business for themselves and takes responsibility for its success or failure, is paid for the work they do, usually by invoice, and does not get holiday or sick pay. For you, that means:

You pay for agreed work, not for a fixed number of hours a week whether or not there is work to do.

There is no payroll to run for the support itself. You receive an invoice.

You do not get fixed, exclusive hours. Tasks are scheduled within Irish and UK working hours as they are agreed.

You do not get someone in the office. Everything is remote and written.

The honest summary: hourly support makes sense when the workload varies and the tasks can be written down. A part-time hire makes sense when you need the same person at the same times every week, or the role needs someone physically present. This is a general comparison, not employment or tax advice.

What should be in writing before the first hour?

Before any hours are counted, these should be agreed in writing, by email or message:

The task, in one or two sentences, with the finished result described.

The hours, as an estimate you have said yes to.

What I need from you, including files, examples and access.

What is not included, so neither of us assumes otherwise.

The payment, half of the agreed hours in advance and the balance on delivery.

What happens if it runs over, which is that I stop and ask before adding time.

If any of those is missing, ask for it before you pay the advance. The terms of service say the agreed written scope and the invoice take priority where they add detail, so the written agreement is the one that counts.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a minimum number of hours? No minimum number of hours is published. Each task is estimated on its own, and you agree the hours before it starts. A small task gets a small estimate.

Do I pay for time spent asking questions? Questions that come up while we agree the scope are part of agreeing it, and that happens before any hours are counted. Once a task is under way, a question that needs your answer goes into the written update as waiting on you, so you can see where the time went.

What happens if a task takes longer than expected? I stop and tell you in writing before adding time. If you need extra volume or a new task, I quote it in writing before that work starts. You pay for the time actually spent on what you agreed.

Can I send tasks outside working hours? Yes, in writing, at any time. I confirm and reply in writing. The work itself is done in Irish and UK working hours, Monday to Friday, and the service does not include replying within minutes or being available around the clock.

When managed business support makes sense

If you have a list of practical tasks that keep getting pushed back, and each one can be described in a short paragraph, hourly support is worth trying with one small task first. You see the estimate, the note and the invoice, and decide from there.

To start, send a short written brief through the contact page, with the task, any files and the result you want. I reply in writing with the hours before any work begins.

Sources

Registration of employers for PAYE, from Revenue (opens in a new tab) — checked 2026-10-25
Get ready to employ someone for the first time, from the UK government (opens in a new tab) — checked 2026-10-25
Employment status: self-employed and contractor, from the UK government (opens in a new tab) — checked 2026-10-25