| Dr. Duncan gets in his office and checks his email for a | | | | them. The recession has made businesses more |
| status update from his bookkeeper Kathy. An email | | | | prudent about how they spend their operating budgets |
| from Kathy has an attached statement generated | | | | making virtual assistants a hot commodity. |
| using QuickBooks which includes invoices waiting for | | | | Hot coffee on your desk can be a challenge but a |
| Dr. Duncan’s approval and hours to be billed to his | | | | virtual assistant can do just about everything else an |
| clients for services. Dr. Duncan contacts Kathy over | | | | on-site assistant can do. Many a times, even with a |
| instant messenger and tells her to (a) pay the invoices, | | | | full-time on-site assistant, the work load can get too |
| and (b) send bills for services clients. Kathy | | | | much to handle. The on-site assistant can, at that point, |
| immediately acknowledges and goes on to pay off | | | | off-load work to a Virtual Assistant who can act as |
| invoices using Dr. Duncan's online Bill Pay system. | | | | an overflow buffer. |
| She then emails and faxes bills for services provided | | | | Small businesses can find it cumbersome to train and |
| to clients. | | | | retain an assistant or bookkeeper. The effective hourly |
| Who exactly is Kathy and where is she located? | | | | pay rate for the assistant gets quite high especially if |
| Kathy is a virtual assistant – virtual bookkeeper to | | | | the assistant has to be paid for vacations, health care, |
| be specific - working from India for Maxim Liberty, Inc. | | | | sick time and bench time. As a result, having more |
| which provides online bookkeeping services for various | | | | than one assistant is really a luxury that a small |
| clients in the USA. As Ms. Prabhukumar, President | | | | business may not be able to afford. |
| of Maxim Liberty, Inc. remarked, “We are our | | | | Small business owners may attempt to do everything |
| client’s best kept secret. Every firm has tasks that | | | | on their own. However, it may not make good |
| can be handled via virtual assistants. And, if these | | | | business sense to do so because their time could be |
| tasks can be done better than on-site bookkeepers at | | | | better spent focusing on their core competency and |
| a fraction of the cost, the explosive growth of our | | | | developing the business. It would be more efficient to |
| bookkeeping services shouldn’t be surprise. Since | | | | delegate the operational grind to online services which |
| our virtual assistants work with various businesses and | | | | consists of specialists such as bookkeepers, paralegals |
| specialize on a specific process or task such as | | | | and administrative assistants. With technology paving |
| bookkeeping or word processing, they can draw upon | | | | the way, even very small firms can hire virtual |
| best practices of operating a small business.” | | | | assistants and bookkeeping services as a cost saving |
| Online virtual assistant and bookkeeping services are | | | | and more efficient alternative to a jack-of-all-trades |
| an outsourcing strategy that can be used to gain | | | | in-house assistant. That is, if you don’t need coffee |
| competitive advantage. As a result, they have shot | | | | brought to your desk as well! |
| to prominence and firms of various sizes are utilizing | | | | |