Virtual Assistant Contract: What to Include (With Template Wording)

Practice Runbook · updated 2026-09-22

Most virtual assistants start working before anything is signed. The client is friendly, the work is urgent, and a contract feels like distrust. Then month four arrives, the hours have crept, and there is nothing to point at.

A contract is not a sign you expect trouble. It is the document that lets you raise an awkward subject calmly, because you are referring to something you both agreed rather than making a new demand.

What it must cover

1. The parties, and that you are not an employee

Name both parties properly, and state your status plainly. This matters for tax and employment classification in most countries.

“The Contractor provides services as an independent contractor, not an employee, and is responsible for their own taxes, insurance and equipment. Nothing in this agreement creates an employment relationship, partnership or agency.”

2. Scope — and what is outside it

List the services concretely: inbox management, calendar, travel booking, invoicing, CRM updates, social scheduling. Then list what is excluded.

“Services outside this scope — including bookkeeping, copywriting, design, paid advertising and technical support — are not included and may be quoted separately.”

The exclusions matter more than the inclusions. Scope creep never arrives as a large request; it arrives as five small ones.

3. Hours, and what happens to unused ones

The single most-skipped clause in VA contracts. Answer it in writing before the first invoice.

“The retainer includes [N] hours per calendar month. Unused hours do not roll over. Hours worked in excess of the retainer are charged at [rate] per hour, agreed in advance in writing where the excess exceeds [N] hours.”

Whatever you decide about rollover, decide it explicitly. “I assumed they carried over” is a conversation with no good ending.

4. Working days and response times

Without this clause, clients reasonably assume you are always available, because from their side you appear to be.

“The Contractor works [days], between [hours] [timezone]. Messages received outside these hours are answered on the next working day. Routine requests are acknowledged within [N] working hours. Urgent work outside working hours is subject to prior agreement and charged at [rate].”

5. Access, security and passwords

Say that access is delegated, not shared. It protects both of you, and it is the professional answer when a client offers to email you their password.

“The Client will provide access through delegated permissions or a password manager rather than shared credentials. The Contractor will not store Client credentials outside an approved password manager, and access will be revoked by the Client on termination.”

6. Confidentiality and data

A short clause covering confidential information, how long the duty lasts, and what happens to files at the end. If you handle personal data on their behalf, your jurisdiction may require a separate data processing agreement.

7. Ownership of work

Say who owns what you produce, and when ownership transfers.

“On full payment of the relevant invoice, all rights in work produced under this agreement transfer to the Client. The Contractor retains rights in pre-existing templates, systems and processes used to deliver the work.”

That second sentence matters. Your own checklists and templates should not transfer to a client because you used them once.

8. Payment terms

Retainers are payable in advance. Say when the invoice is issued, when it is due, and what happens if it is not paid.

“The retainer is invoiced on the [Nth] of each month and payable within [N] days. Where an invoice remains unpaid [N] days after the due date, the Contractor may suspend services until payment is received.”

The right to pause is the only leverage you have. Write it down or you will not feel able to use it.

9. Termination

Notice on both sides, what happens to the current month, and handover.

“Either party may terminate by giving [N] days' written notice. The retainer for the current month remains payable. On termination the Contractor will return Client files and documentation and confirm that access has been relinquished.”

The clauses VAs most often leave out

• Unused hours. Ambiguity here always resolves in the client's favour, because they are the one who remembers it differently.
• The overage rate. Agreed in advance it is a rate; raised afterwards it is a dispute.
• Response times. Silence gets interpreted as always-on.
• Suspension for non-payment. Without it, you keep working and hope.
• Retained rights in your own systems. Otherwise a broad IP clause quietly hands over your templates.

Practical points

Send it with the proposal, not after the client says yes. It reads as professionalism at that stage; a week later it reads as second thoughts.

Keep it to two or three pages in language a busy person will actually read. A contract nobody finished is not protection.

Re-issue when the arrangement genuinely changes — more hours, a new service, a second brand. And put the review date in your own calendar rather than waiting for the client to raise it.

One caveat: this is practical guidance, not legal advice. Contractor classification, consumer rules and data protection obligations differ by country. Have it checked before you rely on it.