Hire a virtual executive assistant who runs your week.
When the calendar runs you instead of the other way around, when the inbox has quietly become a second job and the week vanishes into other people's scheduling, an executive assistant is the role that hands the day back. This is the overview hub: what the role is, how it differs from a PA or an admin VA, how AEST cover and confidentiality work, and where it lands by industry.
Book a free discovery callEA, PA, admin VA: not the same hire
The three titles get used as though they are interchangeable. They are not, and picking the wrong one is the most common reason a delegation hire never compounds. The split is judgement.
Admin VA
Executes a defined list
Data entry, form filling, list building, scheduling against rules you set. Work with a clear right answer that you hand over. An admin VA needs instructions.
Personal assistant
Runs the life side
Household coordination, personal bookings, the logistics that sit outside the business and belong to one person. If most of what you need is lifestyle rather than business cover, a personal assistant is the closer fit.
Executive assistant
Holds a function
Owns the calendar and inbox, decides what reaches you, prepares you for board and leadership meetings, and represents you to vendors and stakeholders. An EA needs context, not a task list. They make calls in your absence.
The full breakdown, including who we recruit from and what the role owns by week four, sits on the virtual executive assistant role page.
What an executive virtual assistant owns by week four
Executive inbox triage
They read every inbound email, label by priority, draft replies in your voice for the routine 60-70%, and surface only the handful a day that genuinely need you. You read ten emails instead of eighty.
Complex calendar management
Booking and rebooking across time zones, defending your focus blocks, resolving the double-bookings before they reach you, sending agendas the morning of and tracking action items after.
Travel and accommodation
End-to-end booking for domestic and international trips, itineraries, calendar holds, lounge passes, and the rebooking when a flight moves at 6am.
Board and meeting prep
Pre-meeting briefs so you walk in across the detail, decks formatted, board packs assembled and circulated, minutes drafted, and action items tracked through to the next meeting.
Vendor and stakeholder coordination
Quote chasing, supplier confirmations, invoice approval, contract renewals, and being the steady point of contact so threads do not stall waiting on you.
Pipeline and CRM hygiene
Keeping deals and contact records clean in HubSpot, Pipedrive or Salesforce, nudging stalled tasks in Notion or ClickUp, and making sure nothing quietly falls off the board.
Confidentiality and AEST cover, built in
An EA sees the sensitive material by definition: board papers, investor updates, contracts, financials, and the personal side of your week. So discretion is not bolted on, it is the bar for placement. Every DotVA EA signs a confidentiality agreement before they start. Credentials move through 1Password Teams rather than email, access is scoped tightly with view-only wherever that will do the job, and we screen for prior executive support experience and proven discretion before anyone reaches your shortlist.
On hours, our EAs are Manila-based and only two to three hours behind the east coast, so AEST or AEDT business cover is the default. Most placements run an 8am to 4pm window on your local time, giving you a live person across the working day rather than an overnight hand-off.
Specialist tier pricing
$18-25/hr AUD
- Excludes GST. At ~20 hrs/week, roughly $1,500-$2,200/month
- About a third of the loaded cost of a local EA once super, leave and payroll tax are counted
- No lock-in contract; $500 refundable deposit covers recruiting and placement
- Replaced at no cost inside the 30-day window
Model it for your hours on the VA cost calculator, or see the full DotVA pricing.
EA support, shaped to your industry
The EA role looks different behind a founder than it does behind a partner at a law firm or a financial adviser carrying compliance load. These pages go deep on what the work, the tools and the confidentiality look like for each.
For founders and CEOs
Buying back the focus hours, board prep, investor updates and the scheduling that eats a founder's week.
Read more →For law firms
Diary and inbox cover for partners, matter coordination and discretion that holds around privileged material.
Read more →For real estate
Appraisal and listing coordination, vendor follow-up and calendar control for principals and high-volume agents.
Read more →For financial advisers
Client review scheduling, document chasing and inbox triage that respects the compliance side of advice.
Read more →For accounting and bookkeeping firms
Client onboarding, deadline tracking through BAS and tax season, and the partner diary kept clear for the work that bills.
Read more →The full role page
Who we recruit, the week-by-week onboarding, why Manila, and the complete scope of an EA placement.
Read more →Hiring a virtual EA: the straight answers
What is the difference between a virtual EA and an admin VA or a PA?
It comes down to judgement. An admin VA executes the tasks you define and hand over, work with a clear right answer. A personal assistant runs the life and household side for one person. An executive assistant works a level up from both: they hold your calendar and inbox, decide what reaches you and what is handled without you, prepare you for the meetings that matter, and speak for you to vendors and stakeholders. The plain test is whether the role makes calls in your absence, not just finishes a list.
What does an executive virtual assistant actually run day to day?
By the end of the first month a DotVA EA typically owns executive inbox triage with drafted replies in your voice, complex calendar management across time zones, end-to-end travel and accommodation, board and meeting prep with packs assembled and circulated, and vendor and stakeholder coordination so threads do not stall waiting on you. The point is not a task list. It is a function handed over, so you read ten emails a day instead of eighty.
Can a virtual executive assistant keep my AEST business hours?
Yes. Our EAs are Manila-based and Manila sits only two to three hours behind the east coast, so they work AEST or AEDT business hours by default. Most placements run an 8am to 4pm window on Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane time, which gives you live cover across the working day for diary changes, urgent inbox items and same-day coordination. If you need an earlier start or a later finish, we set that on the discovery call.
How does confidentiality work when an EA sees board and personal material?
Handling sensitive material is the job, not an edge case, so it is built in from day one. Every DotVA EA signs a confidentiality agreement before they start. Credentials move through 1Password Teams rather than plain email, access is scoped tightly with view-only wherever that will do the job, and we screen for prior executive support experience and demonstrated discretion before anyone is presented to you. Board papers, investor updates, contracts, financials and the personal side of your week are all routine work for this role.
How much does a virtual executive assistant cost in Australia?
A DotVA EA sits in our specialist tier at $18-25/hr AUD excluding GST. At a typical 20 hours a week that is roughly $1,500-$2,200 a month, about a third of the loaded cost of a local EA once you add the 12% super guarantee, leave, payroll tax and a desk. There is no lock-in contract, a $500 refundable deposit covers the recruiting and placement work, and we replace at no cost inside the 30-day window.
How fast can I hire one, and is the EA dedicated to me?
We usually present three to five vetted EA candidates within 7-10 days of the discovery call. You interview and you choose. Every placement is one EA serving one principal, the same person every day rather than a shared pool or a help desk, which is what lets the role compound as the context builds. Onboarding runs as shadowing in week one, supervised execution in week two, and ownership of at least one major workflow by the 30-day review.
Book a free discovery call
Thirty minutes with Jenn, DotVA's founder. Talk her through where your week is leaking, the tools you run on and how much of your inbox and calendar you are ready to hand over, and she will give you a straight read on the right scope, the first two or three things to delegate, and where the cost lands. No obligation.
Useful next: the EA role in full · cost calculator · pricing
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