What is admin really costing you?

How the numbers work

What this calculator is actually measuring

Most business owners underestimate admin because it arrives in small pieces: ten minutes clearing the inbox, twenty minutes chasing an invoice, half an hour moving meetings around. Individually none of it feels significant. Added up across a year it is usually several full working weeks — time taken from selling, delivering and running the business.

The calculator takes the hours you spend on admin each week and values them at what your own time is worth. It then compares that figure with the cost of handing the same work to a virtual assistant at our published rates — £35 per hour ad-hoc, or an effective £34.38 per hour on the largest monthly retainer. The difference is the value you reclaim: hours back in your week, and a lower cost per hour for the work you were doing yourself.

How to get a realistic answer

• Track a normal week, not a quiet one. Include email, diary juggling, invoicing, chasing payments, filing, supplier calls and the admin you catch up on in the evening.
• Value your time honestly. Use what an hour of your billable or revenue-generating work is worth, not your salary divided by hours. That is the real opportunity cost of doing admin yourself.
• Delegate in stages. Very few clients hand over everything at once. Start with the tasks that are repeatable and low-risk, then increase the hours once the process is proven.
• Remember what you are not paying. A virtual assistant is invoiced for productive hours only, with no recruitment, equipment, holiday or downtime cost attached.

Figures are indicative and are not a quotation. For a firm number, use the retainer quote builder or see full rates and packages.