In August 2026 alone, Americans filed 531,728 applications to start a new business, according to the US Census Bureau. That’s one month.

So you’re not the only one thinking about it. And most of those people aren’t starting anything clever. They’re starting cleaning companies, bookkeeping practices, online shops and trade businesses. Ordinary businesses that solve ordinary problems for people willing to pay.

That’s what this list is. Not the best business ideas for 2027 in some trendy sense. Fifty businesses with real demand behind them, sorted by type, with a rough idea of what each takes to start.

How to read this list

Each idea has a rough startup cost:

• Low: mostly a laptop, software and your time. Often under $2,000.

• Medium: equipment, a vehicle, inventory or training. Roughly $2,000 to $20,000.

• High: licenses, a commercial space or serious equipment. Often $20,000 or more.

These are ballpark ranges, not quotes. Your real cost depends on where you live, what you already own and how big you start. Licensing rules also vary a lot by state and city, so check locally before you commit to anything.

Services for other small businesses

Businesses buy from businesses all day. These ideas sell skills small companies need but can’t justify hiring for full-time.

1. Bookkeeping service

Keep the books for local businesses: categorizing transactions, reconciling accounts, preparing reports for their accountant. Cost: Low. Best for detail-oriented people with some accounting background. A bookkeeping certification helps win trust.

2. Social media management

Plan, post and report on social media for restaurants, gyms, shops and service firms. Cost: Low. Start with two or three local clients and a portfolio of real results.

3. Cybersecurity and IT setup for small offices

Set up secure Wi-Fi, backups, password managers and two-factor authentication for offices with 5 to 50 people. The BLS expects jobs for information security analysts to grow 21% between 2025 and 2035, which tells you how much demand there is for the skill. Cost: Low to Medium. Needs real technical skill and usually certifications.

4. AI automation consulting

Help small businesses connect their tools and automate repetitive tasks, like routing web form leads into a CRM or drafting routine replies. Cost: Low. Clients buy results, not “AI,” so sell the hours saved.

5. Website maintenance plans

Updates, backups, security fixes and small content changes for a monthly fee. Cost: Low. Recurring revenue is the big draw here. Ten clients on a monthly plan is a steady base.

6. Video and podcast editing

Edit long recordings into finished episodes and short clips for social media. Cost: Low. You’ll need editing software and a decent computer.

7. Grant writing

Research and write grant applications for nonprofits, schools and small businesses. Cost: Low. Strong writing and patience with paperwork matter more than anything else.

8. Fractional operations manager

Work a few days a month for several small companies, setting up processes, hiring plans and systems. Cost: Low. Best for people with management experience who want variety.

9. Translation and localization

Translate websites, product listings and documents for businesses selling in other languages. Cost: Low. Native-level skill in two languages is the requirement. A specialty, such as legal or medical, raises your rates.

10. Copywriting for local businesses

Write website pages, emails, ads and brochures. Cost: Low. Pick a niche, like dentists or contractors, so your samples speak directly to your buyers.

Home and local services

Demand for local services doesn’t move online. Someone still has to show up.

11. Non-medical home care

Help older adults with meals, errands, light housework and companionship at home. The BLS projects home health and personal care aide jobs to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035. Cost: Medium to High. Many states require a license for home care agencies, so check your state’s rules first.

12. Senior move management

Help older adults downsize, pack, sell or donate belongings, and set up a new home. Cost: Low to Medium. Patience and organization count more than equipment.

13. Residential cleaning

Regular house cleaning, move-out cleans and deep cleans. Cost: Low to Medium. Easy to start. Hard to stand out, so reliability and good reviews are everything.

14. Commercial cleaning

Offices, clinics and small retail spaces, usually after hours. Cost: Medium. Contracts tend to be steadier than residential work.

15. Pressure washing

Driveways, decks, siding and storefronts. Cost: Medium. A good machine, insurance and a truck or trailer are the main costs.

16. Mobile car detailing

Clean and detail cars at the customer’s home or office. Cost: Medium. Check local rules about water runoff before you start.

17. Junk removal

Haul away furniture, appliances and clutter. Cost: Medium. A truck and disposal fees are the big costs. Donating usable items keeps dump fees down.

18. Handyman services

Small repairs, installs and fixes. Cost: Low to Medium. Many states limit what you can do without a contractor’s license, so know where that line is.

19. Lawn care and landscaping

Mowing, planting, cleanup and seasonal work. Cost: Medium. Seasonal in colder areas, so plan off-season services like snow removal.

20. Pet sitting and dog walking

Visits, walks and overnight stays. Cost: Low. Insurance and bonding build trust with pet owners.

Online and digital businesses

These can be run from anywhere. The catch: you’re competing with everyone, everywhere.

21. Niche e-commerce store

Sell a focused range of products to a specific group, like gear for left-handed golfers. Cost: Medium. Inventory and ads are the main costs. Narrow beats broad.

22. Print-on-demand shop

Sell your designs on shirts, mugs and posters, printed only when someone orders. Cost: Low. Margins are thin, so design and marketing matter a lot.

23. Digital templates and printables

Planners, budget spreadsheets, resume templates and social media templates, sold on Etsy or your own site. Cost: Low. Make it once, sell it many times.

Research what buyers are searching for before you design.

24. Online courses or cohort programs

Teach a skill you already use at work. Cost: Low. Live cohort programs are easier to sell than recorded courses when you’re starting out.

25. Paid newsletter

Write about a specific industry or interest for paying subscribers. Cost: Low. Takes time to build. Consistency is most of the job.

26. Niche YouTube channel

Teach, review or document something specific. Cost: Low. Income usually comes from sponsors and your own products, not just ads. Plan on a slow start.

27. Micro-SaaS product

A small software tool that solves one problem for one type of customer. Cost: Low to Medium. Needs coding skill or a technical partner.

28. UGC creator for brands

Create user-style videos and photos that brands use in ads. Cost: Low. A phone, good lighting and a portfolio are enough to start.

29. Online tutoring

Math, languages, test prep or coding. Cost: Low. Specialize by subject or exam to charge more.

30. Resale business

Buy underpriced items at thrift stores, estate sales or auctions and resell them online. Cost: Low to Medium. Knowledge of one category, like vintage clothing or tools, is your edge.

Food and drink

Food businesses are hands-on and heavily regulated. But people always eat.

31. Meal prep service

Cook and deliver healthy weekly meals. Cost: Medium. You’ll usually need a licensed commercial kitchen, which you can often rent by the hour.

32. Home bakery

Sell baked goods from home. Cost: Low. Most states have cottage food laws that allow some home-made foods to be sold, with limits. Check yours.

33. Specialty coffee cart

Serve coffee at events, offices and markets. Cost: Medium to High. Events and private bookings can be steadier than a fixed spot.

34. Office catering

Lunches and meeting food for local businesses. Cost: Medium to High. Repeat corporate orders are the goal.

35. Food truck

A mobile restaurant. Cost: High. Permits, the truck and equipment add up fast. Spend time working in someone else’s truck before buying your own.

Health, fitness and care

36. Personal training

In person, online or both. Cost: Low. A recognized certification and insurance are the basics.

37. Corporate wellness workshops

Run fitness, stress or ergonomics sessions for companies. Cost: Low. Sells well to HR teams.

38. Senior fitness classes

Balance, strength and mobility classes for older adults at community centers or senior living facilities. Cost: Low. A specialized certification helps.

39. Doula services

Support families before, during and after birth. Cost: Low. Training and certification programs are widely available.

40. After-school program

Homework help, activities and care after school. Cost: Medium to High. Childcare licensing rules vary by state and can be strict.

Skilled trades and green energy

Trades take training and licenses. That’s also why they’re harder to compete in.

41. Solar installation

The BLS projects solar photovoltaic installer jobs to grow 37% from 2025 to 2035, one of the fastest rates of any occupation. Cost: High. Requires licensing, electrical knowledge and insurance.

42. EV charger installation

Install home and workplace chargers. Cost: Medium to High. Usually requires a licensed electrician.

43. Home energy audits

Find where homes lose heat and money, and recommend fixes. Cost: Medium. Certification programs are available, and some utilities work with auditors.

44. Smart home installation

Set up cameras, doorbells, lighting, thermostats and Wi-Fi systems. Cost: Low to Medium. Great for people who already help friends with this for free.

45. Appliance repair

Fix washers, dryers, fridges and ovens. Cost: Medium. Training and a stock of common parts get you started.

Creative and specialty services

46. Event planning

Weddings, corporate events and parties. Cost: Low. Supplier relationships are your real asset.

47. Wedding and event photography

Cost: Medium. Good gear isn’t cheap, and backup gear isn’t optional.

48. Drone photography and video

Real estate, construction progress, events and inspections. Cost: Medium. In the US, flying a drone for business requires following the FAA’s Part 107 rules, including a Remote Pilot Certificate.

49. Custom embroidery and merchandise

Branded shirts, hats and gifts for local businesses, teams and events. Cost: Medium. An embroidery machine is the main investment.

50. Music lessons

Teach an instrument or voice, in person or online. Cost: Low. Group classes can raise your hourly income.

Which of these business ideas for 2027 fits you?

Fifty ideas is too many. Narrow it down with four filters:

1. Skills. What can you do well today, without a year of training?

2. Budget. How much can you spend without borrowing more than you’re comfortable losing?

3. Demand where you are. For local ideas, count the competitors. Too many is a warning sign. None at all can be too.

4. The life you want. Weekends free? Working alone? Growing a team? Some ideas fit and some don’t.

Then test before you spend. Get three people to pay for a small version of the service, or pre-order the product, before you buy equipment or build a website. Our guide to validating a business idea walks you through cheap ways to do that.

Here’s how that looks in practice. Renee was an office manager in Tampa for 11 years before her company restructured. She had no budget for equipment but knew QuickBooks and half the small business owners in her neighborhood. She shortlisted bookkeeping, event planning and senior move management. Bookkeeping passed all four filters. She offered two local businesses a month of catch-up bookkeeping at a discount. Both stayed on as monthly clients, and one referred a third. (Renee is an illustrative example.)

The part most idea lists skip

Picking the idea is the easy part. The hard parts are the ones nobody puts in a listicle:

• Paperwork. Business registration, licenses, insurance and taxes. Our guide to starting a small business lists the steps.

• Finding customers. A good service with no customers is a hobby.

• Admin. Invoices, emails, scheduling and bookkeeping grow faster than most new owners expect.

That last one catches almost everyone. You start a business to do the work you’re good at, and within a year you’re spending evenings on paperwork. When that happens, it’s a good time to hand off the admin so you can stay on the work that grows the business.

Also worth saying plainly: none of these ideas is a guaranteed win. Plenty of new businesses struggle, and the reasons are usually cash, customers or burnout, not the idea itself. Start small, keep your costs low and let real customers tell you what to build next. This list is general information, not financial or legal advice.

FAQ

What is the most profitable small business to start?

There’s no single answer. Service businesses built on a skill you already have, like bookkeeping, consulting or trades, often have the best margins because there’s little inventory. But profit depends far more on pricing and how you find customers than on the idea itself.

What business can I start with little money?

Most skill-based services on this list: bookkeeping, social media management, copywriting, tutoring, pet sitting and digital templates. Each can start with a laptop, some software and your time. See our list of low-cost business ideas for more.

What business can I run from home?

Almost any online or service business: bookkeeping, editing, tutoring, digital products, consulting or a home bakery where cottage food laws allow it. Check local zoning rules if customers will visit your home.

Do I need an LLC to start a small business?

Not always. Many people start as a sole proprietor and form an LLC later. The right choice depends on your liability risk and taxes, so check with an accountant. We compared the two in LLC vs sole proprietorship.

Which business ideas will grow in 2027?

Look at where demand is clearly rising. The BLS projects fast growth for home care, solar, and information security work through 2035. Ideas that serve those areas, directly or as suppliers, have demand behind them.

Pick one and start small

Choose one idea, test it with three paying customers, and let what they tell you shape the next step.

And when the business starts growing and the admin starts piling up, you don’t have to hire someone full-time right away. IncludeWork gives new business owners 5 free hours with a trained virtual assistant, with no credit card and no contract. Start your free hours whenever you’re ready.

A home office, a laptop and an internet connection. For a growing number of small businesses, that’s the whole setup.

Online businesses can be cheaper to start than local ones, and you can work with customers anywhere. But they come with a trade-off: you’re competing with everyone else online, too. And the ones that work usually pick a clear niche and do one thing well.

Here are online business ideas you can run from home, grouped by type, with notes on what each needs and who it suits.

Online business ideas: services

Sell your skills to clients anywhere. Usually the fastest to start earning.

1. Freelance writing and editing

Blog posts, website copy, emails and reports. Best for strong writers who can specialize in an industry.

2. Bookkeeping

Remote bookkeeping for small businesses using cloud accounting software. Steady, recurring work.

3. Social media management

Plan, post and report for brands. Pick a niche, like restaurants or dentists, to stand out.

4. Web design and maintenance

Build sites on popular builders and sell monthly maintenance plans.

5. Video and podcast editing

Editing for creators, coaches and companies. Demand follows the growth of video content.

6. Online tutoring and coaching

Subjects, languages, test prep or professional skills, over video calls.

7. Translation and localization

Websites, documents and product listings for businesses selling across languages.

8. Consulting

Sell expertise from your career: HR, operations, marketing, IT. Check any employment restrictions first.

Digital products

Make once, sell many times. Slower to start, but less time per sale later.

9. Templates and printables

Planners, spreadsheets, social templates and resume templates, sold on Etsy or your own site.

10. Online courses and cohort programs

Teach a skill people pay to learn. Live cohorts are easier to sell at first than recorded courses.

11. Stock photos, graphics or fonts

Best if you already have a design or photography skill.

12. Small software tools

A micro-SaaS that solves one problem for one type of customer. Needs coding skills or a partner.

E-commerce

13. Niche online store

A focused range of products for a specific audience. See how to start an online store.

14. Print-on-demand

Your designs on products printed only when ordered. No stock to hold.

15. Handmade goods

Sell what you make through Etsy or your own site. We compared the options in Shopify vs Etsy vs Amazon.

16. Online reselling

Buy underpriced items, resell online. Specialize in one category.

Content businesses

17. Paid newsletter

Write about a niche for paying subscribers or sponsors.

18. YouTube or podcast

Teach, review or explain something specific. Income usually comes from sponsors and your own products. Expect a slow start.

19. UGC creator

Make user-style videos for brands to use in their ads.

20. Niche website

Helpful articles in a specific topic, earning from ads or affiliate links. Takes months of consistent work before it earns much.

How to choose

• Need income soon? Start with a service. Clients can pay you this month.

• Want something that scales without your hours? Plan for digital products, but expect a slower start.

• Love making things? E-commerce or handmade goods.

• Enjoy teaching or explaining? Courses, tutoring or content.

And many online businesses combine them: a service for steady income, plus a digital product built from what clients keep asking.

What working from home really takes

• A clear schedule. Home businesses blur into evenings and weekends without one.

• A separate workspace, even a corner. If you use it regularly and exclusively for business, you may also qualify for a home office deduction. Check with your accountant.

• Good systems from day one: invoicing, a task list, an email routine.

• A way to find customers. Online doesn’t mean customers find you automatically.

One home business, two income streams

Asha left a hospital administration job and started remote bookkeeping for small medical practices from her home in Raleigh. Clients came from her old network and a few referral partners.

After a year, she noticed every new client asked the same questions about setting up their books. She turned her answers into a $49 setup guide and spreadsheet template, sold on her website. The service pays the bills. The template brings in a smaller, steady extra income without extra hours. (Asha is an illustrative example.)

The honest part

Online businesses aren’t passive or easy. Most take months of steady work before they earn reliably, and many don’t make it. Choose something you can keep doing for a year, keep costs low, and test with real customers early.

As things grow, the admin side (email, invoicing, scheduling, listings) can take over your week. That’s the kind of work IncludeWork’s VAs take on for home-based businesses, from admin support to e-commerce listings.

This is general information, not financial or tax advice.

FAQ

What’s the easiest online business to start?

A service using a skill you already have, like writing, bookkeeping, design or tutoring. You can find clients and start earning quickly.

Can I start an online business with no money?

Close to it, if you sell a skill. Digital products and e-commerce usually need some money for tools, samples or ads.

Which online business makes the most money?

It depends on your skills, niche and effort more than the idea. Services earn fastest. Digital products and content can grow larger over time but take longer.

Do I need a business license for an online business?

Often, depending on your state and city. You may also need to collect sales tax on products. Check local rules.

How long does it take an online business to make money?

Services can earn in weeks. Content, digital products and stores often take months. Plan for that.

Pick one and start this week

Choose the idea that fits your skills and the time you have, and take one step this week: a sample, a first client conversation, or a first product. For more ideas, see our 50 best small business ideas for 2027.

When the admin starts to pile up, IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Start your free hours.

You don’t need a loan, an office or a big savings account to start a business. Plenty of good small businesses begin with a laptop, a phone, a skill and a few hundred dollars.

But there’s a catch: low-cost businesses usually trade money for time. You’ll spend less to start, but more of your own hours finding customers and doing the work. That’s a fair trade when you’re starting out.

Here are 25 low-cost business ideas, grouped by type, with what each one needs. The “under $1,000” assumes you already have a computer and phone, and doesn’t include licenses or insurance, which vary by state. Check what applies where you live.

Skill-based services (mostly a laptop and your time)

1. Bookkeeping. Help small businesses keep their books up to date. Needs: accounting software knowledge, ideally a certification over time.

2. Freelance writing or copywriting. Website pages, emails, blog posts for local businesses. Needs: writing samples.

3. Social media management. Run posting and replies for local businesses. Needs: a portfolio, even from your own accounts.

4. Graphic design. Logos, social graphics, flyers. Needs: design software, some of it free.

5. Video editing. Edit podcasts and short videos for creators and businesses. Needs: editing software and a decent computer.

6. Web design for small businesses. Build simple sites on website builders. Needs: builder skills and a few sample sites.

7. Tutoring. In-person or online, by subject or test. Needs: subject knowledge, a video call setup.

8. Translation. Documents, websites, product listings. Needs: fluency in two languages.

9. Consulting in your field. Sell what you already know from your job, where your employment agreement allows it. Needs: experience and a clear offer.

10. Resume and LinkedIn profile writing. Needs: strong writing and an understanding of hiring.

Local services (some basic equipment)

11. House cleaning. Needs: supplies and reliable transport.

12. Pet sitting and dog walking. Needs: insurance is wise, plus references.

13. Lawn mowing and yard cleanup. Needs: a mower and basic tools, if you don’t own them.

14. Errand and grocery service. Especially for older adults and busy families. Needs: a car.

15. Handyman jobs. Small repairs and installs, within what your state allows without a contractor’s license.

16. Personal training. In parks, homes or online. Needs: a recognized certification and insurance.

17. Senior tech help. Setting up phones, video calls and smart devices. Needs: patience and tech know-how.

Online and digital

18. Digital templates and printables. Planners, spreadsheets, social templates sold on Etsy or your own site.

19. Print-on-demand. Your designs on shirts and mugs, printed only when ordered. No inventory.

20. Reselling. Buy underpriced items at thrift stores and sales, resell online. Start with a small budget and one category.

21. Online course or workshop. Teach a skill you use every day. Start live and small.

22. Paid newsletter. Write about a niche for paying subscribers. Slow to build, cheap to run.

23. UGC content creation. Make user-style videos for brands’ ads. Needs: a phone and good lighting.

Food and creative (where local rules allow)

24. Home baking. Many states have cottage food laws allowing some home-made foods to be sold. Check yours first.

25. Event photography. If you already own a good camera. Start with small events and portraits.

How to choose between these low-cost business ideas

Ask yourself four questions:

1. What can I do well today, without months of training?

2. Who would pay for it, and do I know any of them?

3. How much time can I give it each week?

4. Do I want local, face-to-face work or online work?

And the best low-cost idea is usually the one where you already have the skill and know a few potential customers.

Test before you spend

Even $1,000 is worth protecting. Before buying anything:

• Offer the service to three people you know, or three local businesses

• Ask for a small payment, not a favor

• Learn what they valued and what they’d pay

Our guide on how to validate a business idea covers more ways to test cheaply.

One idea, under $500

Diego worked in IT support for a hospital in El Paso and kept getting asked by older relatives to fix phones and set up video calls. He started “senior tech help” on weekends: a $150 set of business cards and flyers at two senior centers, a free scheduling tool and a simple Google Business Profile.

His first month brought eight paid visits. After three months, two senior living communities booked him for monthly group sessions. Total startup cost: under $500. (Diego is an illustrative example.)

The honest part

Low-cost doesn’t mean low-effort. Most of these ideas take steady work to find customers, and some will need insurance, licenses or registration once you’re up and running. Profit is far from guaranteed. Start small, keep costs low, and let paying customers tell you if it’s worth growing.

And when it does grow, the admin grows with it. Invoices, scheduling and emails pile up fast. That’s often the first thing new owners hand off, so they can stay on the paid work. IncludeWork’s startup support is built for that stage.

This is general information, not financial or legal advice.

FAQ

What business can I start with $500?

Most skill-based services: writing, bookkeeping, social media management, tutoring, pet sitting, cleaning or tech help. Your main costs are basic tools and getting the word out.

What’s the easiest business to start with no money?

A service using a skill you already have, sold to people you already know. Your first customers can pay for everything else.

Do I need a license for a low-cost business?

Often, yes, depending on the business and where you live. Check your city and state requirements before you start.

How do I find my first customers?

Start with people you know, then local groups and online communities where your customers are. See our guide on getting your first 10 customers.

Can a low-cost business become a full-time income?

Yes. Many full-time businesses started as small, cheap side projects. Grow it step by step as customers and income allow.

Pick one and test it this month

Choose one idea, offer it to three people this month, and see what happens. For a bigger list, see our 50 best small business ideas for 2027.

When the admin starts to pile up, IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Start your free hours.

Every email tool looks cheap on its pricing page. Then your list grows.

Most email platforms charge by the number of contacts. A tool that costs $13 a month for your first 500 subscribers can cost many times that at 5,000. So the best email marketing software for small business isn’t just the one with the lowest starting price. It’s the one that still makes sense after your list has grown.

Below are seven tools worth considering, what each one is best for, what it costs to start, and the catch. We haven’t run these tools through formal testing. The comparison is based on the features and pricing each company publishes.

Prices as of September 2026, in US dollars. Most prices rise with your contact count, so the starting price is the price at the smallest list size.

Quick comparison

7 best email marketing software for small business: the details

1. Mailchimp: best all-rounder

The name most people know, with more than 300 integrations, so it connects to almost any website, shop or CRM.

• Plans: Free (up to 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, max 250 a day), Essentials (from $13), Standard (from $20), Premium (from $350)

• Good at: integrations, templates, and automations on Standard and above

• Free plan or trial: free plan, plus a 14-day trial on paid plans

• The catch: the free plan is small, and prices climb steadily as your list grows.

Mailchimp pricing

2. MailerLite: best value for simple newsletters

MailerLite covers what most small businesses actually use (newsletters, sign-up forms, automations and landing pages) without much clutter.

• Plans: Free (up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 3 automations), Comfort (from $12 billed monthly), Power (from $25, unlimited monthly emails)

• Good at: a clean editor, websites and landing pages included, good value at small list sizes

• Free plan or trial: free plan, plus 14 days of premium features

• The catch: the free plan’s subscriber cap is low, and you’ll need Comfort as soon as your list passes 250.

MailerLite pricing

3. Kit: best for creators, coaches and course sellers

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is built for people who sell knowledge: courses, coaching, digital products.

• Plans: Free (up to 10,000 subscribers), Creator ($39 a month or $390 a year, for up to 1,000 subscribers), Pro ($79 a month or $790 a year)

• Good at: a large free plan, tagging subscribers by interest, selling digital products, visual automations on paid plans

• Free plan or trial: free plan, plus a 14-day trial with no credit card

• The catch: automations and email sequences need a paid plan, and paid plans start higher than most tools on this list.

Kit pricing

4. Constant Contact: best for local businesses that want support

Constant Contact has long been popular with shops, restaurants and nonprofits. Every plan includes live phone and chat support.

• Plans: Lite ($12 monthly or $10.20 billed yearly), Standard ($35 or $29.75), Premium ($80 or $68). Prices rise with contact count.

• Good at: phone support, simple templates, event and local marketing features

• Free plan or trial: free trial with no credit card, and a 30-day money-back guarantee

• The catch: no free plan, and the send limit on Lite is 10 times your contact count per month, which is fine for a newsletter but tight for frequent sends.

Constant Contact pricing

5. beehiiv: best for newsletter-first businesses

If your newsletter is a product in its own right, with paid subscriptions or sponsors, beehiiv is built for that.

• Plans: Launch (free, up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends), Scale ($517 a year), Max ($1,151 a year)

• Good at: newsletter growth tools, an ad network, paid subscriptions with no platform cut on Scale

• Free plan or trial: free Launch plan

• The catch: it’s a publishing tool first. If you need detailed sales automations for a shop, look elsewhere.

beehiiv pricing

6. HubSpot: best if you want email and CRM together

HubSpot’s Marketing Hub ties email to a free CRM, so every open and click sits next to the contact’s sales history.

• Plans: Free (up to 2 users, 2,000 email sends a month with HubSpot branding), Starter (about $20 per seat a month at the regular rate, with 1,000 marketing contacts), Professional (from $800 a month, plus a $3,000 onboarding fee)

• Good at: email and CRM in one place, forms and contact tracking

• Free plan or trial: free plan

• The catch: the jump from Starter to Professional is steep. Plan your growth before you build everything inside it.

HubSpot Marketing Hub pricing

7. Sender: best free plan for sending volume

Sender’s free plan is generous: up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month.

• Plans: Free Forever (2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month, 1 seat), Standard (from $6.30 a month billed yearly), Professional (from $10.50 a month billed yearly)

• Good at: automation and pop-ups on the free plan, low paid prices

• Free plan or trial: yes

• The catch: a smaller company with fewer integrations than the big names, so check it connects to your shop or CRM first.

Sender pricing

How to choose the right email marketing software

Ask these five questions before you sign up:

1. How big will your list be in a year? Price the tool at that size, not at today’s.

2. What are you sending? A monthly newsletter needs very little. Abandoned-cart emails and welcome sequences need automations.

3. What does it connect to? Check your website, shop and CRM before anything else.

4. Who’s doing the work? If you’ll be stuck, phone support (Constant Contact) or a simple editor (MailerLite) helps.

5. Do you sell products, courses or a newsletter? Shops lean Mailchimp. Creators lean Kit. Newsletter businesses lean beehiiv.

One example. Grace runs a yoga studio in Madison with about 1,800 email contacts, collected over five years of class sign-ups. She sends one newsletter a month and a welcome email to new students. She didn’t need a heavy platform. She shortlisted MailerLite and Constant Contact, and chose based on whether she wanted phone support or a lower bill. If she’d been selling online courses, Kit would’ve been on the list. (Grace is an illustrative example.)

The rules every small business email has to follow

Whichever tool you pick, US marketing emails fall under the CAN-SPAM Act. The FTC’s compliance guide sets out the basics:

• Don’t use false or misleading “From,” “To” or “Reply-To” information

• Identify the message as an ad

• Include your valid physical postal address

• Tell people clearly how to opt out

• Honor opt-out requests within 10 business days

This isn’t a formality. The FTC says each email that breaks the law can bring penalties of up to $53,088. Every tool on this list adds an unsubscribe link and address footer. But you still have to use real sender details and only email people who can opt out easily. This is general information, not legal advice.

The honest part: the software is the easy bit

Picking a tool takes an afternoon. Sending good emails every month is the hard part.

Someone has to write the emails, design them, clean the list, check what’s working and keep the schedule. Most small businesses don’t struggle with software. They struggle with consistency. The newsletter goes out in January and February, and then it’s June.

If that sounds familiar, the fix is usually time, not a better tool. A virtual assistant can handle email campaign setup and management, from formatting and scheduling to list cleaning and monthly reports, while you decide what to say. That’s one of the jobs IncludeWork’s VAs take on for small businesses.

FAQ

What is the best free email marketing software?

For list size, Kit’s free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers and Sender’s covers 2,500 with 15,000 emails a month. For a small list with more features, MailerLite’s free plan is solid. Mailchimp’s free plan is the most limited of the big names.

How much should a small business spend on email marketing software?

At a few hundred contacts, $10 to $20 a month covers most tools. Costs grow with your list, so price your expected size in a year. Many tools discount yearly billing.

Is Mailchimp still good for small businesses?

Yes, especially if you need lots of integrations. But its free plan is small, and other tools can cost less at the same list size. Compare prices at your real contact count.

How often should a small business send marketing emails?

Consistency matters more than frequency. Once a month is a good start for most businesses. Our email newsletter ideas can help you fill the calendar.

Can I switch email marketing tools later?

Yes. You can export your contacts from any of these tools and import them into another. Templates and automations usually need rebuilding, so switch before you’ve built a lot.

Pick one, then send something

Choose the tool that fits your list size in a year, and send your first email this month. A plain, useful email beats a perfect one that never goes out.

And if the sending is what keeps slipping, hand it off. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Give them your next newsletter and see what comes back. Start your free hours.

You’ve probably tried delegating before.

It went fine for a week. Then something came back wrong. A client email sent in the wrong tone, a spreadsheet formatted differently from how you’d have done it. You fixed it yourself, quietly took the task back, and filed the whole thing under “easier to do it myself.”

That’s how most owners learn to stop delegating. It’s not that they’re bad at it. They just skipped the parts that make it work. So here’s how to delegate tasks in a way that survives the first mistake.

Why learning how to delegate tasks is hard for owners

It’s worth being honest about this, because the reasons are mostly about you, not the other person.

• You’re fast at it. You’ve done this task 500 times. Anyone new will be slower at first.

• The steps live in your head. You know the unwritten rules. Nobody else does.

• Your standards are high. That’s partly why the business works.

• Letting go feels risky. If it goes wrong, it’s your name on it.

All fair. None of them is a reason to keep doing $20-an-hour work forever. They’re just problems to solve.

Step 1: Pick the right first task

Don’t start with your most important task. Start with the most repeatable one.

A good first task happens at least weekly, takes more than an hour a week, and follows roughly the same steps every time. Invoicing, scheduling, inbox sorting, data entry and social posting are common first picks. Our guide on what to outsource first has a simple scoring test.

Save the judgement-heavy, relationship-heavy work for later. Delegation is a skill. Build it on easy tasks first.

Step 2: Explain the task once, properly

Most delegation fails here. “Can you handle the invoices?” isn’t an instruction. It’s a guess waiting to happen.

Give the person four things:

1. A recording. Share your screen and do the task once while talking through it. Five minutes.

2. What “done” looks like. “All invoices sent by Friday 3pm, with the PO number in the subject line.”

3. The exceptions. “If a client is marked ‘on hold’, don’t invoice them. Ask me.”

4. Where to ask questions, and how fast you’ll answer.

It feels like extra work. It is, once. Then you reuse it with every future person who does this task.

Step 3: Decide how much authority to give

This is the part most owners never say out loud, and it causes most of the frustration. For each task, pick a level:

Start new tasks at level 1 or 2. Move up as trust builds. And tell the person which level they’re on. “Handle it” means very different things to different people.

Step 4: Check the work, then check less

In week one, check everything. In week two, check most things. By month two, check a sample.

Put one short check-in on the calendar each week, even 15 minutes. It’s where small issues get fixed before they become big ones. And it saves the constant “quick question” messages that eat both of your days.

Step 5: When it comes back wrong, fix the instructions first

This is the moment that decides whether you keep delegating.

When something comes back wrong, ask one question before anything else: was it clear what I wanted? Usually the answer is “not quite.” The fix is a line added to your instructions, not taking the task back.

Then give specific feedback. “The tone in this email was too formal for this client. They like first names and short sentences.” Not “this isn’t quite right.”

Of course, sometimes the person isn’t a fit. If the same mistake happens after clear instructions and clear feedback, that’s a different conversation. But give it two or three rounds before you decide.

What delegating looked like for one owner

Ben runs a four-person bookkeeping firm in Raleigh. Ironically, his own admin was a mess. He’d tried handing off client onboarding twice, and both times took it back after a few weeks.

The third time, he did it differently. He recorded the onboarding process once (22 minutes, start to finish), wrote a one-page checklist, and set it at level 3: decide and tell me. He checked every onboarding for two weeks, then one in three.

It stuck. What changed wasn’t the person. It was the handoff. (Ben is an illustrative example.)

What you shouldn’t delegate

Some things stay with you, at least for now:

• Decisions only you can make: pricing, hiring, strategy

• Key relationships your best clients expect you to handle personally

• Final sign-off on money

• Anything confidential you can’t secure properly, like access to sensitive accounts without controls in place

For everything else, the question isn’t “can someone else do this?” It’s “have I explained it well enough that they can?”

FAQ

How do I start delegating if I’ve never done it?

Pick one repeatable task, record yourself doing it, and hand it off for a month with a weekly check-in. One task done well teaches you more than ten handed off at once.

What if I don’t have anyone to delegate to?

You don’t need a team to delegate. Many solo owners start with a part-time virtual assistant for a few hours a week. Here’s what a virtual assistant can do if you’re not sure.

How do I stop micromanaging?

Agree on what “done” means and the authority level up front. Then check the result, not the process. If the result is right, the way they got there matters less than you think.

How long does it take for delegation to save time?

Usually two to four weeks per task. The first week costs you time. After that, the hours come back every week.

What’s the biggest delegation mistake?

Handing off a task you haven’t explained, then taking it back after the first error. Fix the instructions, not the person, at least the first couple of times.

Try it with one task

Pick one task from this week that you’ve done a hundred times. Record it, write down what “done” looks like, and hand it off.

If there’s no one to hand it to yet, IncludeWork can help. You get 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Start your free hours.

“I’ll get to it this weekend.”

“It’s faster if I just do it myself.”

“Once things calm down, I’ll sort out the invoices.”

If you’ve said any of these more than once this month, keep reading. They’re some of the most common signs you need to hire help, and they’re easy to ignore, because each one on its own feels like a busy week.

Below are 12 signs, grouped by where they show up. After each one: what kind of help it usually points to. Because “hire help” doesn’t always mean a full-time employee.

Signs you need to hire help in your calendar

1. Admin fills your best hours

If your first two hours every morning go to email, scheduling and paperwork, your clearest thinking is going to your lowest-value work.

Points to: a part-time administrative assistant, remote or in person.

2. You work most evenings and weekends, and it’s not a one-off

A launch or a busy season is one thing. Three months of it is a pattern.

Points to: Track one week of evening work. Whatever repeats is your first thing to hand off.

3. You haven’t taken a real day off in months

If the business can’t run for one day without you, it depends on you in a way that’s risky for the business and for you.

Points to: writing down how key tasks work, then training someone to cover them.

Signs in your money

4. Invoices go out late

Every week an invoice sits in drafts is a week you’re lending your customer money for free.

Points to: bookkeeping help. This is one of the easiest tasks to hand off.

5. You don’t know your numbers

If someone asked for last month’s profit and you’d need a day to work it out, the books are behind.

Points to: a bookkeeper or a VA who keeps your accounting software updated weekly, with your accountant reviewing.

6. Your hourly rate is higher than the tasks filling your week

If you bill $100 an hour and spend 15 hours a week on $20-an-hour tasks, that’s an expensive way to get admin done. The math usually favors paying someone.

Points to: hand off whatever is cheapest to replace first.

Signs in your customers

7. You’re turning work away

Saying no because you don’t have time, not because it’s a bad fit, means capacity is now your limit.

Points to: depends on the work. If it’s your core service, you may need an employee or contractor who can do it. If it’s everything around the service, an assistant frees you to take more.

8. Replies are getting slower

Customers notice when a same-day reply turns into three days. Some of them won’t say anything. They’ll just buy elsewhere next time.

Points to: customer support help with written answers to common questions.

9. Small mistakes are creeping in

A wrong price on a quote. A missed follow-up. A double-booked appointment. Tired people make errors, and customers remember them.

Points to: taking repetitive, detail-heavy tasks off your plate so you can focus on the ones that need you.

Signs in your growth

10. Marketing keeps getting pushed to “later”

No posts for a month. The newsletter hasn’t gone out since spring. Marketing is often the first thing to slip, and the slip shows up in sales a few months later.

Points to: a marketing assistant to handle scheduling and execution once you’ve set the plan.

11. You have ideas you never get to

New services, new markets, a better process. They sit in a notes app because you’re stuck in the day-to-day.

Points to: help with the day-to-day, so your time goes to the ideas.

12. You’re the bottleneck

Your team, or your contractors, are waiting on you for approvals, answers or files. Work stops when you’re busy.

Points to: handing off coordination and setting clearer rules for what doesn’t need your sign-off.

What one owner’s list looked like

Jordan runs a small physical therapy clinic in Sacramento with two therapists. When he read a list like this one, he checked seven of the twelve: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 12.

He’d assumed he needed a third therapist. But almost everything he checked was admin: insurance paperwork, scheduling, invoicing, returning calls. He hired a part-time office coordinator for the front desk and a remote assistant for billing follow-ups and scheduling. The third therapist came six months later, once he had time to hire properly. (Jordan is an illustrative example.)

How many signs is too many?

There’s no official number. But as a rough guide:

• 1–3 signs: You’re busy. Fix the systems first. Write things down and cut what isn’t needed.

• 4–6 signs: Time to hand something off. Start part-time with your most repeatable tasks.

• 7 or more: You’re past due. Pick the help that covers the most signs at once, and start this month.

What’s stopping you (and whether it should)

Most owners who check several of these signs still wait. Usually for one of these reasons:

“I can’t afford it.” Maybe. But look at sign 6 first. Part-time help for a few hours a week often costs less than the work you’re not getting to. We broke down what a virtual assistant costs compared with an in-house hire.

“Training someone takes longer than doing it.” For the first week, yes. After that, you get those hours back every week.

“No one will do it the way I do.” Probably true, at first. Write down how you do it, and most people will get close. Close is often good enough for tasks that aren’t your core work.

“I don’t have time to hire.” That’s the most common one, and it’s the clearest sign of all.

FAQ

When should a small business hire its first employee?

When the extra work has lasted three months or more, needs someone on site or full-time, and your cash flow can cover it. If the overload is mostly admin, part-time or remote help usually comes first. Our first employee checklist covers the steps.

What should I hand off first?

The task you repeat most, that takes over two hours a week, and that you could explain in a five-minute video. That’s usually inbox, scheduling, invoicing or data entry.

Is it better to hire an employee or a virtual assistant?

It depends on the work. Physical, core or full-time work usually needs an employee. Repeatable admin that can be done remotely often suits a virtual assistant for less money and less commitment.

How do I know if I’m ready to delegate?

If you can explain a task clearly, you’re ready to hand it off. If you can’t yet, write it down first. That’s step one of delegating well.

Start with one sign

Pick the sign on this list that costs you the most, and fix that one first.

If it’s one of the admin signs, try handing it off before hiring anyone. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Start your free hours and see what an hour back each day feels like.

Your first hire changes your job title.

Until now you’ve been the person doing the work. The day someone starts, you’re also an employer, with tax filings, paperwork and a person who depends on you for a paycheck. None of that is hard. But there’s a lot of it, and most of it has to happen in a specific order.

So here’s the order. This checklist covers hiring your first employee in the US, from “can I afford this?” to the end of their first week. Tick things off as you go.

Hiring your first employee, part 1: before you decide

• ☐ Know the full cost, not just the wage. The BLS found that benefits made up 30% of what private employers spent per worker in June 2026. Add payroll taxes, insurance and equipment on top of pay.

• ☐ Check your cash. Can you cover this person’s pay for three to six months even if sales dip? If not, wait or start part-time.

• ☐ Write down the work. List the tasks and the outcomes you expect after 90 days.

• ☐ Confirm it needs an employee. A few hours a week of admin, or a one-off project, may suit a contractor or virtual assistant better. We compared all three in employee vs contractor vs virtual assistant.

Part 2: Before you post the job

Do these first. Some take a couple of weeks. And you don’t want a new hire sitting at home waiting on paperwork.

• ☐ Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. The SBA lists this as the first step in hiring.

• ☐ Register for state and local taxes. Most states require a state withholding account and an unemployment insurance account. Check your state’s tax agency.

• ☐ Get workers’ compensation insurance. Most states require it once you have employees. Rules vary, so check yours.

• ☐ Choose how you’ll run payroll. A payroll service handles withholding, deposits and filings for you. Doing it by hand is possible but easy to get wrong.

• ☐ Decide pay, schedule and benefits. Include holidays, vacation and sick leave. Some states and cities require paid sick leave.

• ☐ Check your state’s employment rules. Minimum wage, overtime, breaks and required workplace posters all vary by state.

Part 3: Finding and choosing the person

This deserves its own guide, and it has one: how to hire the right employee. The short version:

• ☐ Write a job post with specific tasks, pay range and one small application instruction

• ☐ Ask every candidate the same interview questions and score them right away

• ☐ Give finalists a short, paid work sample

• ☐ Call two references

• ☐ Make the offer in writing: role, pay, schedule, start date

Part 4: Before their first day

• ☐ Collect Form W-4 so you know how much federal income tax to withhold.

• ☐ Complete Form I-9 to confirm they’re eligible to work in the US. The employee fills in their section by their first day of work, and you check their documents.

• ☐ Report the new hire to your state. The SBA notes this must be done within 20 days of the hire date.

• ☐ Add them to payroll with their pay rate and bank details.

• ☐ Set up their tools: email, logins, keys, uniform, equipment.

• ☐ Plan week one on paper, including who answers their questions.

Part 5: The first week

• ☐ Day one: introductions, a tour or walkthrough, tools working, one small real task done before they leave

• ☐ Days two to four: one or two core tasks with fast feedback

• ☐ End of week one: a 15-minute check-in. What’s clear? What isn’t?

• ☐ Book your 30-, 60- and 90-day check-ins now, so they actually happen

Part 6: What keeps going after the hire

This is the part many first-time employers forget.

• ☐ Run payroll on schedule and make tax deposits on time

• ☐ File payroll tax reports quarterly and annually, as the SBA outlines

• ☐ Keep employment records. The IRS says to keep employment tax records for at least 4 years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later

• ☐ Send a W-2 to your employee each January

This is general information for US businesses, not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by state, so a quick call with an accountant before your first payroll is money well spent.

One owner’s first hire

Omar runs a small café in Minneapolis. For two years it was him and his sister. When the morning rush started turning customers away, he decided to hire.

But the part that surprised him wasn’t finding someone. It was the paperwork. He hadn’t registered for a state unemployment account, didn’t have workers’ comp, and his first-choice candidate accepted another job while he sorted it out. The second time around, he did Part 2 before posting. His next hire started nine days after the offer. (Omar is an illustrative example.)

Is it time, or is it just a busy month?

Be honest with yourself about this one. A first employee is a long-term commitment. It’s also a change in your role: you’ll spend real hours training, managing and supporting them, especially at first.

Signs it’s time:

• The extra work has lasted three months or more, not one busy season

• You’re turning away customers or work

• The tasks need someone on site or full-time

Signs it might not be:

• The overload is mostly admin, inbox and paperwork

• It’s 10 or 15 hours a week, not 40

• Your cash flow is uneven month to month

If it’s the second list, a part-time remote assistant can take the admin load while you wait for the business to clearly support an employee. Many owners find that frees up enough time to sell their way to that first hire.

FAQ

How much does it cost to hire your first employee?

More than the wage. Plan for payroll taxes, workers’ comp, any benefits you offer, equipment and a payroll service. Using BLS figures, benefits alone averaged 30% of total employer costs for private-industry workers in June 2026.

Do I need an LLC to hire an employee?

No. Sole proprietors can hire employees too. You’ll need an EIN either way.

How long does it take to set up to hire your first employee?

Allow two to four weeks for registrations, insurance and payroll setup. Doing it before you post the job means your new hire can start as soon as they accept.

Can I hire a friend or family member?

Yes, but the same paperwork applies. Put the role, pay and expectations in writing. It protects the relationship as much as the business.

What’s the most common mistake when hiring a first employee?

Hiring before the paperwork is ready, or hiring for a role that’s really 10 hours a week of admin. Both are fixable. The first is a timing problem. The second is a question of who you hire.

Not ready for an employee yet?

If the checklist made you realize the pressure is mostly admin, try handing that off first. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, no credit card and no contract, so you can see how much time you get back before making a bigger commitment. Start your free hours.

Short on time? Here’s the answer for most people.

If your accountant already uses a particular tool, pick that one. If they don’t have a preference, QuickBooks Online is the safe default for US small businesses. Xero is a strong choice if several people need access. And if you’re very small and watching every dollar, start with Zoho Books’ free plan or Wave.

That’s the short version. Below, we compare nine of the best accounting software options for small business on price, free plans, user limits and the catch with each one. We haven’t run these tools through formal testing. The comparison is based on the features and pricing each company publishes.

Prices as of September 2026, in US dollars, at regular monthly rates. Most of these companies run discounts for new customers, so you’ll often pay less for the first few months.

Quick comparison

9 best accounting software for small business: the details

1. QuickBooks Online: best overall for US small businesses

QuickBooks is the tool many US accountants and bookkeepers already work in. And that alone makes year-end easier.

• Plans: Free ($0, 1 user, 2 invoices a month), Simple Start ($38, 1 user), Essentials ($85, 3 users), Plus ($140, 5 users), Advanced ($340, 25 users). Each paid plan also allows access for your accountant.

• Good at: automated bookkeeping, bill pay, reports, and inventory and project profitability on Plus

• Free plan or trial: a limited free plan, plus a 30-day free trial

• The catch: the price climbs quickly. Adding users or inventory tracking means jumping to $85 or $140 a month.

QuickBooks pricing

2. Xero: best for teams that need several users

Xero doesn’t charge per user, which makes it good value once three or four people need access.

• Plans: Early ($25, up to 20 invoices and 5 bills a month), Growing ($55, unlimited invoices and bills), Established ($90)

• Good at: clean bank reconciliation, a large app marketplace, free setup help

• Free plan or trial: no free plan. Watch for new-customer discounts.

• The catch: the Early plan’s limit of 20 invoices and 5 bills a month is easy to outgrow. Most businesses will need Growing.

Xero pricing

3. FreshBooks: best for service businesses that invoice clients

FreshBooks started as an invoicing tool, and it shows. If you bill clients for time or projects, it’s one of the easiest to use.

• Plans: Lite ($23, 5 billable clients), Plus ($43, 50 clients), Premium ($70, unlimited clients), Select (custom pricing)

• Good at: invoices, time tracking, expense tracking, client payments

• Free plan or trial: 30-day free trial, no credit card

• The catch: client limits on the lower plans, and each extra team member costs $11 a month. Payroll is an add-on at $40 a month plus $6 per person.

FreshBooks pricing

4. Zoho Books: best free plan for small businesses

Zoho Books has a real free plan for businesses earning under $50,000 a year, not just a trial.

• Plans: Free (under $50K revenue, 1 user plus your accountant), Standard ($20 monthly or $15 billed yearly, 3 users), Professional ($50 / $40, 5 users), Premium ($70 / $60, 10 users), Elite ($150 / $120), Ultimate ($275 / $240)

• Good at: strong features for the price, and extra users are cheap at $3 each a month

• Free plan or trial: free plan, plus a 14-day trial on paid plans

• The catch: six plans make choosing harder than it should be. It’s most useful if you already use other Zoho apps.

Zoho Books pricing

5. Wave: best free option for solo owners

Wave’s Starter plan lets you send unlimited invoices and keep your books for free.

• Plans: Starter (free), Pro ($19 a month or $190 a year), Wave Advisors bookkeeping service (from $149 a month)

• Good at: unlimited estimates, invoices and bills at no cost

• Free plan or trial: yes, the Starter plan

• The catch: automatic bank imports and transaction matching come with Pro, not the free plan. Card payments on Starter cost 2.9% + $0.60 each.

Wave pricing

6. Patriot Software: best budget pick for US businesses

Patriot keeps things simple and cheap, with just two accounting plans.

• Plans: Accounting Basic ($20), Accounting Premium ($30)

• Good at: unlimited customers and invoices, bank imports and reconciliation, even on Basic

• Free plan or trial: 30-day free trial

• The catch: estimates, recurring invoices and payment reminders need Premium.

Patriot Software pricing

7. Puzzle: best for startups tracking burn and runway

Puzzle is built for startups. It puts cash, burn rate and runway on the dashboard, and uses AI to categorize transactions.

• Plans: Starter ($30, 1 seat), Core ($72, 5 seats), Complete ($120, unlimited seats), Scale ($360). Expert Reviewed adds a bookkeeper who closes your books each month for $171, for companies with up to $10K in monthly expenses.

• Good at: real-time startup metrics, automatic categorization, cash and accrual books

• Free plan or trial: Starter is free for 2 months

• The catch: a traditional small business with simple books will likely pay for features it doesn’t need.

Puzzle pricing

8. ZipBooks: best for simple invoicing and books

ZipBooks is a no-frills option with a free plan and low-cost upgrades.

• Plans: Starter (free), Smarter ($15, up to 5 team members), Sophisticated ($35, unlimited users)

• Good at: unlimited invoices on the free plan, payments through Square and PayPal

• Free plan or trial: free Starter plan, trials on paid plans

• The catch: account reconciliation is only on the $35 plan, and the free plan connects just one bank account.

ZipBooks pricing

9. Sage 50: best for established businesses with inventory

Sage 50 suits businesses with more complex needs, like inventory, budgeting and multiple companies.

• Plans: Pro Accounting ($128.67, 1 user), Premium Accounting ($182.50, 1–5 users), Quantum Accounting ($271.17, 1–40 users). All require a one-year commitment.

• Good at: inventory, advanced budgeting, multi-company consolidation

• Free plan or trial: no free trial. There’s a test drive and a full refund within 30 days of purchase.

• The catch: the most expensive option here, with a yearly commitment. Overkill for most businesses under a few employees.

Sage 50 pricing

How to choose the right accounting software

Five questions will narrow this list down fast:

1. What does your accountant use? Ask before you pick. Sharing one system saves hours at tax time.

2. How many people need access? If it’s more than two or three, check user limits and per-user fees. Xero and Zoho Books are cheaper as teams grow.

3. How do you get paid? If you invoice clients for time or projects, look at FreshBooks. If you sell products, check inventory features.

4. Do you need payroll? Most of these offer it as a paid add-on. Price the full package, not just the base plan.

5. What’s your budget after the discount ends? Compare regular prices. Promotions end.

A quick example. Nadia runs a two-person interior design studio in Portland. She was deciding between QuickBooks and FreshBooks. She bills clients by project, and mostly needed invoicing, time tracking and clean records. Her accountant used QuickBooks but said either would work. She went with FreshBooks Plus for the invoicing, and exports reports for her accountant each quarter. If she’d been selling furniture and needed inventory, the answer would’ve been different. (Nadia is an illustrative example.)

The honest part: software doesn’t do the bookkeeping for you

Every tool on this list makes bookkeeping easier. None of them makes it happen on its own.

Someone still has to categorize transactions the software isn’t sure about, attach receipts, chase unpaid invoices and reconcile accounts each month. Skip that for a few months and the software fills up with a mess your accountant has to untangle, usually at an hourly rate.

You also need to keep your records. The IRS says to generally keep records for 3 years, and employment tax records for at least 4 years, with longer periods in some situations. Good software stores the records. But the receipts still need to get in there.

This is often the first thing owners hand off. A virtual assistant can handle weekly data entry, receipts, invoicing and reconciliation in whichever tool you choose, while your accountant keeps oversight. IncludeWork’s VAs do this kind of finance and bookkeeping support for small businesses.

This article is general information, not financial or tax advice.

FAQ

What is the easiest accounting software for a small business?

For invoicing-heavy service businesses, FreshBooks is usually the easiest to pick up. For general bookkeeping, QuickBooks Online and Xero are both designed for non-accountants, though both take a few hours to set up properly.

Is free accounting software good enough?

For a solo owner with simple finances, often yes. Zoho Books is free for businesses under $50,000 in revenue, and Wave and ZipBooks have free plans. But expect limits on users, bank connections or automation. Most businesses upgrade once they hire or grow.

QuickBooks or Xero: which is better?

It depends on your team. QuickBooks is more widely used by US accountants. Xero doesn’t charge per user, so it often costs less once several people need access. We compare them in detail in QuickBooks vs Xero.

Do I still need an accountant if I use accounting software?

Yes, for most businesses. Software keeps the records. An accountant handles tax filings, advice and anything complex. Good software just makes their job, and your bill, smaller.

Can I switch accounting software later?

Yes, but it takes work. Most tools can import data from the big names, and switching at the start of a new financial year is easiest. Pick carefully up front so you don’t have to.

Pick one, then keep it tidy

Choose the tool that fits your accountant, your team size and how you get paid. Then make a plan for who keeps it up to date every week.

If the answer is “me, on Sunday nights,” there’s an easier way. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Hand over a month of receipts and invoices and see how it goes. Start your free hours.

Most cost-cutting advice starts with the coffee. Switch brands, skip the office snacks, print less.

Fine. But in most small businesses, coffee isn’t where the money goes. It’s in the software nobody logs into, the insurance policy that hasn’t been re-quoted since you signed it, and the hours you personally spend on $15-an-hour work.

So this is about how to reduce business costs in the places that actually move the total. And about what to leave alone, because some cuts cost more than they save.

Step one: find out where the money actually goes

You can’t cut what you haven’t looked at. Before changing anything, spend one afternoon on this:

1. Export the last three months of transactions from your bank and business cards.

2. Sort every line into a bucket: people, software, rent and utilities, suppliers, marketing, fees, insurance, other.

3. Total each bucket and rank them.

Most owners are surprised by at least one number. Usually it’s software or fees, which grow quietly in small amounts.

Then, for each bucket, ask a simple question: if I were starting today, would I sign up for this at this price? Anything that gets a “no” or “not sure” goes on your review list.

How to reduce business costs: 10 places to look

1. Software subscriptions

Subscriptions are easy to start and easy to forget. Tools added for one project. Seats for people who left. Two apps that do the same job.

Go through every recurring charge. Cancel what nobody uses, downgrade plans that are bigger than you need, and remove users who’ve left. Then ask about annual billing for the tools you’re keeping. Many software companies discount annual plans compared with monthly ones.

2. Payment processing fees

If you take cards, you’re paying a percentage on every sale. Look at your statements for the effective rate, meaning total fees divided by total card sales. Then compare it with what other processors quote for your volume. Even a small percentage adds up across a year of sales, and processors will often negotiate if you ask.

3. Insurance

Premiums tend to creep up at renewal. Get quotes from two or three other providers or an independent broker every year or two. Check you’re not paying for coverage you no longer need, like equipment you’ve sold or a vehicle you don’t use for work.

4. Suppliers and vendors

Ask your main suppliers three things: Is there a discount for paying early? For ordering larger quantities? For a longer commitment? Then get one competing quote. You don’t have to switch. A real alternative is often enough to get a better price from the supplier you already like.

5. How your hours and your team’s hours are spent

This is usually the biggest cost in a small business, and the one people look at least.

Employees cost more than their wages. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that benefits made up 30% of what private employers spent per worker in June 2026. So every hour your skilled staff spend on admin is expensive admin.

The fix isn’t necessarily cutting people. It’s making sure expensive hours go to expensive work. Repetitive tasks like data entry, scheduling, invoicing and inbox sorting can often go to a part-time remote assistant at a much lower hourly cost, so your team spends their time on the work clients actually pay for.

6. Office space

If your team is partly remote, look hard at your square footage. Smaller space, shared space or a co-working membership might cover what you actually use. Check your lease terms before you plan anything, though. Breaking a lease early can cost more than it saves.

7. Marketing you can’t measure

Every marketing dollar should have a way to tell whether it worked. Ads with no tracking, sponsorships with no follow-up, listings nobody clicks. Pause anything you can’t measure for a month and watch whether leads actually drop. If they don’t, you’ve found savings.

8. Late payments

Money owed to you isn’t a cost on paper. But slow payers mean you borrow, dip into savings or pay your own bills late. Tighten your terms: invoice the same day the work is done, send automatic reminders, and offer an easy way to pay online. Some businesses also ask for deposits on larger jobs.

9. Energy and utilities

Check your utility rates, especially if your area lets businesses choose an energy supplier. Smart thermostats, LED lighting and switching equipment off overnight are small changes. They add up over a year, particularly for shops, kitchens and workshops.

10. Taxes you’re overpaying

Many small businesses miss deductions they’re entitled to, like home office costs, business mileage, equipment and software. A good accountant usually pays for themselves here. This is general information, not tax advice, so check what applies to you with a qualified professional.

What one owner found in an afternoon

Kofi runs an eight-person IT support company in Charlotte. He did the three-month export expecting to cut marketing. What he found instead:

• 23 software subscriptions, including four for tools nobody had opened in months

• An insurance policy that hadn’t been re-quoted in five years

• His two senior technicians spending roughly a day a week each on ticket logging, scheduling and invoice follow-ups

He cancelled the unused tools, re-quoted the insurance, and moved the admin work off his technicians’ plates. Marketing stayed as it was. The biggest saving wasn’t a line item he cut. It was getting two senior people back on billable work. (Kofi is an illustrative example.)

What not to cut

Some savings come back to bite you. Be careful with:

• Quality your customers notice. Cheaper materials or rushed service can cost you repeat customers, and winning new ones is rarely cheap.

• Your best people. Replacing someone good usually costs far more than keeping them.

• Security and backups. Saving a few dollars a month on these looks smart right up until something breaks.

• Customer support response times. Slow answers turn small problems into refunds and bad reviews.

• Legal and tax compliance. Penalties cost more than doing it right.

A good rule: cut what your customers would never notice. Keep what they would.

FAQ

What is the fastest way to reduce business costs?

Cancel unused software and subscriptions. It takes an hour, needs no negotiation and the savings show up on next month’s statement.

How much should a small business try to cut?

There’s no universal number. Start with the review above and act on the clear waste first. Then decide on bigger changes, like space or staffing, based on what the numbers show.

Is outsourcing a good way to cut costs?

It can be, for repeatable tasks that don’t need to be in-house. You pay only for the hours used, with no benefits or equipment. It’s not a fit for your core product or key client relationships. Our guide to outsourcing for small business covers what to hand off first.

How often should I review my expenses?

Do a full review once or twice a year. Do a quick scan of subscriptions and fees every quarter. Put it on your calendar, or it won’t happen.

Should I cut marketing when money is tight?

Cut the marketing you can’t measure. Keep what’s clearly bringing in customers. Cutting everything often shrinks next quarter’s revenue more than it saves this quarter.

Start with the afternoon

Block three hours this week and do the export in step one. Three hours from now, you’ll know more about your costs than most owners learn in a year.

And if part of what you find is expensive people doing low-cost tasks, that’s a quick fix. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA to test it. No credit card, no contract. Start your free hours, or compare what a virtual assistant costs against an in-house hire first.

Don’t outsource the task you hate most. Outsource the one you repeat most.

That sounds backwards. The task you hate is the one you want gone. But the most-hated tasks are often the messy, judgement-heavy ones: the difficult client, the tangled spreadsheet only you understand. Hand those over first and the handoff fails. Then you decide outsourcing “doesn’t work for us.”

Outsourcing for small business works when the first thing you hand off is boring, frequent and easy to explain. Here’s how to find that task, what usually makes the list, and what to keep for yourself.

The 4-question test for any task

Take any task on your plate and ask:

1. How often does it happen? Daily or weekly beats monthly.

2. How long does it take? Anything over 2–3 hours a week adds up to a real chunk of your month.

3. Could you explain it in a 5-minute video? If yes, someone else can learn it.

4. What happens if it’s done slightly wrong once? A late social post is fixable. A wrong payroll run isn’t something to hand to a stranger in week one.

The best first tasks get “often,” “long,” “yes” and “not much.” Score your tasks 1 to 3 on each question and start with the highest totals. Ten minutes with a list will tell you more than any article, this one included.

Outsourcing for small business: what usually goes first

Run the test on a typical small business and the same tasks come up again and again. And none of them are glamorous.

Bookkeeping data entry

Entering receipts, sending invoices, matching bank transactions. It’s weekly, it follows rules, and mistakes are easy to catch at month-end. A full-time bookkeeping clerk in the US earns a median of $50,670 a year according to the BLS. Most small businesses need a few hours of this a week, not 40. Your accountant stays in charge of the numbers. Someone else does the typing.

Inbox and calendar

For many owners this is the biggest daily time drain. A remote assistant can sort, flag, draft routine replies and book meetings. You stop spending the first hour of every day in your inbox.

Customer support basics

Order status questions, simple returns, “what are your hours?” These follow a pattern. Write your answers down once and someone else can send them, while anything unusual still comes to you.

Social media scheduling

Not the strategy. The posting, the formatting, the replies to routine comments. A social media assistant can run the calendar once you’ve agreed on the voice and themes.

Lead lists and CRM updates

Researching prospects, finding contact details, logging calls. Sales depends on this work, and most owners do it late at night, badly, or not at all.

Data entry and cleanup

Moving information between systems, fixing duplicates, updating product catalogs. Tedious for you, routine for someone who does it every day.

What to keep in-house (for now)

Some things shouldn’t leave your hands, at least not early on:

• Anything that defines your product. The work customers actually pay you for.

• Key relationships. Your biggest clients expect to hear from you.

• Final money decisions. Someone can prepare payments. You approve them.

• Strategy. Pricing, positioning and hiring decisions.

• Tasks you can’t explain yet. If it changes every time, document it first. Outsource it later.

But this list isn’t forever. As you write down how things work, more tasks move from “keep” to “hand off.” But start with the easy wins.

How one owner picked her first three tasks

Aisha runs a six-person marketing agency in Atlanta. She thought she needed a project manager. Then she tracked her own week and scored every task with the four questions.

The highest scores went to three tasks: pulling weekly ad reports for eight clients (about 5 hours), scheduling client social posts (4 hours) and chasing invoices (2 hours). All weekly, all explainable, all low-risk. That’s 11 hours a week, most of it on Mondays and Fridays.

She handed those three to a remote assistant. The project manager hire went on hold. It turned out she didn’t need more management. She needed fewer small tasks. (Aisha is an illustrative example.)

The downsides nobody mentions

Outsourcing moves work. It doesn’t make it disappear. Be ready for:

• Setup time. Recording steps and answering questions takes a few hours in the first two weeks.

• Oversight. Someone still has to check the work. Less over time, but never zero.

• Quality swings. A new person gets things wrong at first. Start with low-risk tasks so early mistakes are cheap.

• Access and security. You’re giving someone logins. Use a password manager, limit permissions, and get an NDA signed.

• Dependence. If one freelancer disappears, their knowledge goes with them. Keep your written steps up to date so anyone can pick up.

This is also where the choice of provider matters. A single freelancer gives you one person. An agency like IncludeWork adds a project manager and quality checks, and swaps in a replacement if someone doesn’t work out. That costs some control but removes a lot of the oversight burden. Which fits depends on how much managing you want to do.

A simple way to start

1. List every task you did last week.

2. Score each with the four questions.

3. Pick the top three.

4. Record a short video of each one.

5. Hand them off for one month, then review.

That’s it. Most owners who try this end up handing off more within three months, because once the first three tasks run without them, the next three are obvious.

FAQ

What is outsourcing in a small business?

It means paying an outside person or company to handle work you’d otherwise do in-house, like bookkeeping, IT support, customer service or admin. You pay for the work or the hours, without adding an employee.

Is outsourcing cheaper than hiring?

Usually, for part-time needs. You skip benefits, payroll setup and equipment, and you only pay for the hours you use. For full-time, core work you’ll need for years, an employee can work out better. We broke down what a virtual assistant costs compared with an in-house hire.

Can I outsource if my business is tiny?

Yes. Some of the biggest gains are for solo owners, since every hour they get back goes straight into sales or the core work. Start with a few hours a month.

What shouldn’t I outsource?

Your core product, your key client relationships and final decisions on money and strategy. And anything you can’t explain yet. Write that down first.

How do I know outsourcing is working?

Check two things after a month. Did you get the hours back? And is the work done to a standard you can live with? If yes to both, add the next task. If not, look at the instructions before you blame the person.

Try it with one task

Pick the top-scoring task from your list. Then hand it to someone else for a few hours and see what happens. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Start your free hours, or browse the tasks our VAs handle to see where yours fits.

Most VA hires don’t fail in the first week. They fail around month three.

By then you’ve written the job post, sat through the interviews, shown someone your systems and paid for weeks of work. Then it quietly stops working. Tasks come back half-done. You start doing them yourself again “just this once.” And you’re back where you started, minus the time.

The good news: most of those failures trace back to a handful of decisions made before the VA even starts. Here’s how to hire a virtual assistant in a way that holds up past month three.

Step 1: Write down the tasks before you look for anyone

Don’t start with a job title. Start with a list.

For one normal week, jot down every task you do that isn’t sales, strategy or the actual work your customers pay you for. Rough notes are fine. “Chased two invoices, 25 min.” “Rescheduled the Thursday call three times.”

At the end of the week, circle the tasks that:

• Happen every week (or every day)

• Take more than 15 minutes each time

• Follow roughly the same steps each time

Those circled tasks are your job description. If you only find two or three hours of them, you may not need a VA yet. That’s useful to know now instead of after hiring. If you’re not sure what’s even possible to hand off, this list of tasks a virtual assistant can take on will jog your memory.

Step 2: Turn your top three tasks into written steps

This is the step people skip. It’s also the one that decides whether the hire works.

Pick the three tasks that eat the most time. For each one, record your screen while you do it and talk through what you’re doing. Five minutes each. Then add a short written checklist underneath: where the files live, what “done” looks like, and what to do when something unusual comes up.

You’re not writing a manual. You’re making it possible for someone else to get it right the first time. And you’ll reuse these recordings with every future hire.

Step 3: Decide how to hire a virtual assistant

There are three common routes. None is right for everyone.

Price matters. But it shouldn’t be the deciding factor. If you want the full breakdown, we compared what a virtual assistant costs across each route.

If you go the agency route, ask how people are screened and who checks the work. At IncludeWork, VAs are trained before they’re matched with clients, and a quality-control team reviews tasks before they’re delivered. Some agencies do this. Some don’t. It’s worth asking every one you talk to.

Step 4: Write a short, specific job post

Vague posts attract vague applicants. “Looking for a reliable VA to help with admin” gets you 200 replies that all say they’re reliable.

Instead, name the actual tasks, the tools and the hours. Something like:

Part-time virtual assistant, 15 hours/week. You’ll manage my Gmail inbox (about 60 emails a day), schedule client calls in Calendly, update deals in HubSpot, and send invoice reminders from QuickBooks. Overlap with 9am–12pm US Eastern on weekdays. To apply, reply with the word “pipeline” in your first line and tell me about one admin process you improved.

That last line does real work. It filters out anyone who didn’t read the post.

Step 5: Use a paid test task, not just an interview

Interviews tell you who’s good at interviews. A test task tells you who’s good at the job.

Pick your two or three strongest applicants and give each the same small, real task. Pay them for it, usually one to two hours of their rate. Use one of the recordings from Step 2 as the instructions. Then look at:

• Did they follow the steps, or improvise?

• Did they ask a smart question when something was unclear?

• Did they deliver on time, without a reminder?

An example. Priya runs a three-person HR consulting firm in Denver. She was stuck choosing between two applicants who both interviewed well. So she gave each a messy spreadsheet of 50 client contacts and a two-minute video explaining how she wanted it cleaned up. One returned it in a day, perfect, with a note about four duplicate records. The other asked no questions and missed the
formatting she’d described. The decision took about ten seconds. (Priya’s a made-up example, but that pattern is common.)

Step 6: Plan the first 30 days on purpose

A new VA needs a ramp, not a flood. Here’s a simple plan:

1. Week 1: One or two tasks, both low-risk. Review everything they do. Answer questions quickly.

2. Week 2: Add a third task. Start checking a sample of the work instead of all of it.

3. Week 3: Hand over something with a bit more judgement, like drafting email replies for you to approve.

4. Week 4: Short review call. What’s working? What’s slow? What should come off your plate next?

And set one fixed check-in time each week, even if it’s 15 minutes. Most problems show up there before they get expensive.

Step 7: Set up access safely

You’re about to let someone into your inbox, your CRM and maybe your accounting software. Take ten minutes to do it properly:

• Share logins through a password manager (1Password, Bitwarden and others have team plans) so you never send a password in a message

• Give each tool the lowest access level that still gets the job done

• Turn on two-factor authentication and keep the codes on your device

• Get an NDA signed before any access is given

• Keep a list of what they can access, so removing it later takes minutes

If you’re hiring someone directly, and especially someone in the US, worker classification matters too. The IRS looks at how much control you have over the work to decide whether someone is a contractor or an employee. Check with your accountant if you’re unsure. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Where VA hires usually go wrong

To be fair, not every failed hire is the VA’s fault. The most common causes are on the owner’s side:

• Handing over tasks nobody wrote down. The VA guesses. Sometimes they guess wrong.

• No feedback for weeks, then frustration. Small corrections early save big ones later.

• Hiring on price alone. The cheapest rate often comes with the most of your time spent fixing things.

• Giving too much, too soon. Ten tasks in week one sets anyone up to fail.

None of these are hard to fix. But they’re easy to fall into when you’re already stretched thin, which is exactly when most people decide to hire.

FAQ

How long does it take to hire a virtual assistant?

Through a marketplace, plan on one to three weeks: a few days for applications, a week for test tasks, then onboarding. An agency can often match you with someone within a few days, since the screening is already done.

Where do I find a good virtual assistant?

Freelance marketplaces, VA agencies and referrals from other business owners are the main sources. Referrals tend to work best when you can get them. A paid test task matters more than where you found the person.

Should I hire a full-time or part-time VA?

Part-time, almost always, to start. Ten to 20 hours a month is enough to find out whether delegation works for you. Scale up once you’re handing off more than you can fill.

What should I ask in a virtual assistant interview?

Ask them to walk you through a task they did recently, step by step. Ask what they do when instructions are unclear. And ask which tools they’ve used day to day, not just “know.” Then let the test task do the real evaluating.

Do I need a contract with a virtual assistant?

Yes. Even a simple one. It should cover the rate, hours, confidentiality, who owns the work, and how either side can end it. Agencies usually handle this for you.

Skip the months of trial and error

If Steps 3 to 5 sound like more hiring work than you have time for, that’s what an agency takes off your hands. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA, with no credit card and no contract. Send them one of the tasks you circled in Step 1 and judge the result. Start your free hours, or browse our VAs first.

$8 an hour. $35 an hour. $69,000 a year.

All three are honest answers to the same question. They just describe very different kinds of help. If you’ve been looking up virtual assistant cost and getting numbers all over the map, that’s why.

So here’s the short version first. After that, where each number comes from, what moves it up or down, and the costs nobody puts on a pricing page.

Rates in this article were checked in September 2026.

How much does a virtual assistant cost? The quick answer

Where those numbers come from

A full-time assistant on payroll

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for secretaries and administrative assistants at $48,310 a year, or $23.23 an hour (May 2025 data). Executive assistants sit higher, at a median of $76,590.

But wages are only part of the bill. In June 2026, benefits made up 30% of what private employers spent per worker, according to BLS. Wages were the other 70%.

Apply that split to a $48,310 salary and the total comes to roughly $69,000 a year. That’s still before recruiting, a laptop, software seats and the weeks it takes to fill the role. Your real number depends on your state and the benefits you offer. It’s a fair baseline, though.

A freelancer from a marketplace

On Upwork, virtual assistants typically charge $10 to $20 an hour, with a median of $13. Specialists cost more. Upwork lists $20–$35+ for marketing, customer service or accounting help and $38–$50+ for advanced or executive assistants.

Then there’s the platform fee. Upwork charges clients a marketplace fee of up to 7.99% on its free plan. US clients paying by bank transfer can get that down to 3%.

The hourly rate is low. And you get to pick exactly who you work with. But the hiring, vetting, training and managing are all on you. If your freelancer takes a full-time job next month, you start over.

A virtual assistant agency

An agency bundles the VA with the jobs a freelancer leaves to you: screening, training, supervision, and cover when someone’s out sick. Most price by the hour or by a monthly block of hours.

At IncludeWork, for example, pricing works like this:

• Pay As You Go: $8 an hour, no monthly commitment

• Professional: $250 a month for 40 hours, which is $6.25 an hour, with a project manager and quality control included

• Enterprise: $800 a month for 160 hours, or $5 an hour, roughly one full-time person

Agencies with staff in the US, UK or Australia generally charge more. Mostly because their people cost more to employ, not because the work is different.

What pushes the price up or down

Six things explain most of the gap between a $6 VA and a $50 one.

1. The skill involved. Inbox, calendar and data entry work costs less than bookkeeping, ad management or sales outreach.

2. Where the VA lives. A VA in Dhaka and one in Denver can do the same task well. Their living costs are different, so their rates are too.

3. How many hours you commit. Monthly blocks almost always cost less per hour than ad-hoc work.

4. What’s included. A manager, a second set of eyes on the work and backup coverage all cost money. So does doing them yourself.

5. Working hours. Asking for someone to match your office hours from the other side of the world can raise the rate.

6. Tools. If the VA needs their own seat in your CRM or project tool, that’s another monthly line item.

A quick math check: Dana’s 40 hours

Dana runs a five-person landscaping company outside Columbus, Ohio. (She’s a made-up example, but the math works the same for most owners.)

She tracked a normal week and found about 10 hours going to quotes, invoice reminders, scheduling crews and the inbox. Call it 40 hours a month.

Here’s roughly what those 40 hours would cost her each way:

But what actually changed Dana’s mind wasn’t the rate. It was the 10 hours. She bills $50 an hour for design consults, so those admin hours were costing her about $2,000 a month in work she wasn’t doing. That’s the number to hold the price against.

The costs nobody puts on the pricing page

Whichever route you pick, budget for these:

• Your time at the start. Plan on a few hours over the first two weeks showing someone how you like things done. Short screen recordings of each task cut this down a lot.

• Fees on top of the rate. Marketplace fees, currency conversion and bank transfer charges.

• Turnover. When a freelancer leaves, you re-hire and re-train from zero. Agencies usually swap in someone new, so ask how the handover works before you sign up.

• Software seats. An extra user in your CRM, help desk or project tool.

• Early mistakes. A wrong invoice amount or a missed email in week one. Start with low-risk, repeatable work and add more once it’s going well.

Is a cheap virtual assistant worth it?

Sometimes not. And it’s better to know that before you spend a dollar.

A VA probably isn’t worth it yet if:

• You have fewer than 3–4 hours a week of repeatable work to hand off

• You can’t describe the task yet, because it’s different every time

• The job needs someone physically there

Then there’s the trust question. Letting someone you’ve never met into your inbox or your customer list is a reasonable thing to worry about. You can limit the risk: share logins through a password manager instead of sending passwords, give the minimum access each task needs, and get an NDA signed. Any decent provider will walk you through how they handle this. If they can’t, that tells you something.

“It’s faster if I just do it myself.” For the first week, it probably is. By week three, usually not. The whole point is buying back hours you can spend on the work only you can do.

FAQ

How many VA hours does a small business need?

Start small. Ten to 20 hours a month is enough to test a VA on two or three recurring tasks. Track what you hand off for a month, then decide whether to add more.

Do I have to pay taxes or benefits for a virtual assistant?

Usually not, if the VA is an independent contractor or works through an agency. They handle their own taxes, or the agency does. But worker classification rules can be strict, especially in the US, so check with your accountant before you set anything up. This is general information, not tax advice.

Is a $5-an-hour virtual assistant too good to be true?

Not always. Offshore agencies can get there when you buy hours in bulk. The real question is what’s included. Ask three things: Is there a manager? Is the work checked before it reaches you? What happens if the VA doesn’t work out? If all three answers are no, the low rate may end up costing you your own time.

Is it cheaper to hire a VA or an employee?

For part-time admin work, a VA almost always costs less. You pay only for hours worked, with no benefits, desk or payroll setup. An employee makes more sense once you need someone on site or full time for years, doing work that’s hard to hand off in writing.

What does a virtual assistant actually do?

Most handle email, scheduling, data entry, CRM updates, research, social media, customer support and bookkeeping tasks. Some specialize further, in e-commerce listings or lead generation for example. Here’s the full list of tasks our VAs handle.

Try it before you decide

Make a quick list of everything you did last week that someone else could have done. That list is your real answer to “how much does a VA cost,” because it tells you how many hours you need.

Then test it with no risk. IncludeWork gives you 5 free hours with a trained VA. No credit card, no contract. Hand over one task from your list and see what comes back. Start your 5 free hours, or book a free call and we’ll help you work out which tasks to hand off first.