How Virtual Assistants Can Assist with Bookkeeping and Accounting

Bookkeeping and accounting are vital yet time-consuming tasks for any growing business. Virtual assistant services – whether staffed by humans or powered by AI – are increasingly popular for handling these functions. By leveraging both skilled remote assistants and emerging AI tools, companies can ensure accurate financial records while freeing up leaders to focus on strategy. In this post, we’ll explore how a blend of human and AI-powered virtual assistants can streamline bookkeeping and accounting. We’ll look at the kinds of tasks they can perform, the strategic benefits (like cost reduction, flexibility, and scalability), and examples from tech, e-commerce, and professional services companies.

What Are Virtual Assistants in Bookkeeping & Accounting?

A virtual assistant (VA) in this context is a remote professional or AI-powered tool that helps manage finance-related tasks. In practice, this can mean a human bookkeeper working offsite or software with conversational intelligence. Human VAs can handle a wide range of tasks from routine data entry to specialized accounting work. For example, a remote executive assistant might update ledgers and process invoices, or a remote CFO consultant could prepare financial reports. Some VAs specialize in bookkeeping and accounting, while others are generalists who learn your systems. On the AI side, modern tools (like ChatGPT-based assistants or accounting software with AI features) can automate transaction categorization, anomaly detection, and even answer finance-related questions.

By combining human expertise with AI tools, businesses get the best of both worlds: the judgment and oversight of an experienced bookkeeper, plus the speed and accuracy of machine learning. In fact, 71% of financial professionals say AI will substantially change the industry 5 Best AI in Accounting Software Guide | Pipedrive. Companies like QuickBooks now include AI assistants (e.g. Intuit Assist) that monitor cash flow and suggest actions 5 Best AI in Accounting Software Guide | Pipedrive. Meanwhile, services like Sigrid pair each client with a dedicated virtual assistant, supported by in-house accountants, to maintain solid bookkeeping practices Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant.

Key Point: Virtual assistant services for bookkeeping combine remote human staff with AI-driven tools. They can take over administration (invoicing, expense processing, payroll, etc.) so leaders can focus on growth How to Hire the Perfect Virtual Assistant for you and your business.

Key Bookkeeping & Accounting Tasks for Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants can handle almost every routine bookkeeping task. Examples include:

• Recording Transactions: Entering sales, purchases, expenses, and receipts into your accounting system. VAs ensure every transaction is logged accurately in ledgers or software. Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant. Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant.
  
  
• Bank and Credit Reconciliation: Matching your records to bank/credit card statements to spot errors. A VA will reconcile accounts regularly, so you always know your true balance Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant.
  
  
• Invoicing and Billing: Generating and sending invoices to clients or customers on schedule. VAs can create and follow up on invoices promptly to maintain cash flow Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant. Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant.
  
  
• Accounts Payable/Receivable: Tracking bills and customer payments. The VA records incoming payments and outgoing bills, and can send reminders or handle collections Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant.
  
  
• Payroll and Benefits: Processing payroll data, calculating withholdings, and preparing pay stubs or contractor payments. VAs keep payroll on time without the expense of an in-house HR team.
  
  
• Tax Preparation: Organizing receipts, calculating taxes, and preparing year-end documents. Many VAs have expertise in filing sales taxes and preparing tax paperwork, reducing audit risk.
  
  
• Financial Reporting: Generating profit-and-loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports on a weekly or monthly basis. These reports help leadership make informed decisions How Virtual Personal Assistant Services Can Help You Manage Your Life.
  
  
• Expense Management: Reviewing and categorizing company expenses (travel, subscriptions, etc.). VAs ensure receipts are tracked and budgets are followed.
  
  
• Data Cleanup: Regularly ensuring data accuracy (no duplicate entries, correct categories, etc.). AI-powered tools can flag anomalies, which a human VA then reviews.
  
  
• Special Projects: Such as setting up new accounting software, migrating records to the cloud, or preparing budgets. Many virtual assistants have experience with popular platforms like QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant, and can train your team on best practices.
  
  

By delegating these tasks, companies keep financial records current and compliant without burdening executives. For example, a Sigrid virtual assistant will ensure bills are paid on time and year-end documents are organized, smoothing the tax process Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant, Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant. In short, VAs become an extension of your finance team, maintaining clean books so you always have a clear view of your financial health.

Virtual Assistant vs. Full-Time Employee

A key strategic consideration is “virtual assistant vs. full-time employee.” Hiring a full-time bookkeeper or accountant entails salary, benefits, payroll taxes, training, and office space – often costing $50K–$70K+ annually per employee in the U.S. In-House vs. Outsourced Accounting | Decimal) (Outsourced Bookkeeping Costs: Comprehensive Pricing Guide. In contrast, a virtual assistant (especially from regions with lower labor costs) can perform the same tasks at a fraction of the price. For example, the average salary for an outsourced bookkeeper in Latin America is around $42,000, roughly $13K less than the equivalent U.S. salary Outsourced Bookkeeping Costs: Comprehensive Pricing Guide. And virtual assistants are typically contracted hourly or monthly – you pay only for the time you need, without full-time benefits Outsourced Bookkeeping Costs: Comprehensive Pricing Guide.

Moreover, VAs offer greater flexibility. If business slows, you can reduce hours; if needs grow, you can scale up quickly – an agility that a fixed payroll cannot match. This flexibility is a major factor as companies adapt to fluctuating workloads. According to surveys, 59% of businesses outsource primarily to save costs 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025, and 78% report lower overall expenses by hiring VAs 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025. Meanwhile, 60% of small businesses still use in-house accountants, but that number drops to 43% after five years as firms grow and adopt outsourcing In-House vs. Outsourced Accounting | Decimal. In other words, as companies scale, virtual solutions become more appealing.

In summary, compared to a traditional hire, a virtual assistant offers:

• Lower overhead: No office or equipment costs, and often much lower hourly rates (e.g. $8–$15/hr for offshore VAs vs. $25–$40/hr for onshore bookkeepers 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025).
  
  
• Reduced risk: No long-term payroll commitment; easier to replace or augment without recruiting expenses. (Hiring replacements can cost 50–60% of an employee’s salary In-House vs. Outsourced Accounting | Decimal.)
  
  
• Access to expertise: A VA agency or platform (like MySigrid) often provides vetted professionals with accounting qualifications. You get the benefit of their collective knowledge without searching for each role.
  
  
• Scalability: When transaction volume increases (e.g. a seasonal surge in e-commerce), you can add VA support quickly. This aligns with the trend of scaling with remote teams that many startups pursue to remain agile.

Ultimately, outsourcing bookkeeping frees up capital and management time. As one Sigrid guide notes, executives drowning in details (like logging accounts or sending invoices) can offload those tasks to a virtual assistant How to Hire the Perfect Virtual Assistant for you and your business. That lets founders and C-suite leaders focus on high-impact work – exactly what the business needs for growth.

Strategic Benefits: Cost Reduction, Scalability, Flexibility

1. Cost Reduction. Outsourcing bookkeeping to VAs can dramatically lower expenses. In practice, companies have reported cutting finance-related costs by up to 70–78% compared to in-house staffing 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025. These savings come from reduced salaries and benefits, no office-space requirements, and lower training/overhead. For example, one case study showed a U.S. e-commerce company save ~$26,000 per year in overhead by hiring a Latin American bookkeeper through a virtual staffing firm Outsourced Bookkeeping Costs: Comprehensive Pricing Guide. Even beyond labor, virtual teams don’t require extra desks or licenses. All told, 66% of U.S. businesses outsource at least one department, and financial services in particular see outsourcing as a way to trim budgets 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025.
   
   
2. Scalability and Flexibility. Virtual assistants make it easy to scale with remote teams. When revenue jumps or new projects launch, you can increase VA hours or engage additional assistants without lengthy hiring cycles. Conversely, during slow periods you can scale back. This flexibility is especially valuable for startups and fast-growing companies. A study found 24% of small businesses outsource to improve efficiency and adjust quickly 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025. Outsourcing administrative support frees you from fixed costs – you essentially tap into a global talent pool on demand. As a technology startup grows its headcount, adding a specialized VA (or an outsourced finance team) can be far more straightforward than hiring multiple in-house accountants.
   
   
3. Access to Expertise. Virtual staffing firms typically recruit experienced specialists. By hiring a virtual assistant through a reputable provider, you benefit from their hiring and vetting processes. MySigrid, for instance, pairs each client with a dedicated VA backed by professional bookkeepers Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant. This means you get specialized knowledge (e.g. industry-specific compliance, advanced QuickBooks skills, or even multilingual support for global operations) that a single full-time hire might not cover. For industries like professional services or international e-commerce, this breadth of expertise is a big advantage.
   
   
4. Better Focus on Core Business. Perhaps the most strategic benefit is time. Executives commonly spend 16 hours per week on routine admin tasks; VAs can cut that burden significantly 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025. By freeing leadership from data entry and payroll minutiae, they can concentrate on growth, sales, or customer service – the tasks that drive ROI. In the words of a Sigrid guide: VAs lift the burden of mundane tasks like invoicing and expense management, so leaders can apply their skills where they matter most How to Hire the Perfect Virtual Assistant for you and your business. In practice, this means faster decision-making and more agile business development.
   
   
5. Integration with Remote Teams and Tools. Virtual assistants naturally fit into remote-first cultures. They communicate via cloud platforms (e.g. Slack, Asana, email) and connect to cloud accounting software (like Xero, QuickBooks Online, or Zoho Books Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant). With today’s collaboration tools, a VA can work seamlessly as part of your team, attend virtual meetings, and use your company protocols. They can even serve as a remote executive assistant, managing other admins, scheduling meetings, or coordinating between departments. Plus, many VAs are already adept at using AI tools: they can implement new software, train team members on automation, and continuously improve processes with technology. In this way, hiring virtual support isn’t just outsourcing – it’s building a more flexible, tech-savvy organization.

AI-Powered Virtual Assistants: Boosting Accuracy and Insight

AI is transforming bookkeeping and accounting. AI-powered virtual assistants (like chatbots, machine-learning software, and automated bookkeeping services) handle repetitive finance tasks faster and with fewer errors. For example, AI can “transfer data from invoices to accounting software, categorize transactions, automate approvals, detect anomalies and generate reports” 5 Best AI in Accounting Software Guide | Pipedrive. This means your VA can rely on tools to automatically scan receipts, match expenses to budgets, and flag suspicious charges. As one guide notes, AI in accounting eliminates much of the manual data entry and reduces human error 5 Best AI in Accounting Software Guide | Pipedrive.

Some practical AI tools include:

• Intuit Assist and Xero: These platforms have AI agents that analyze daily transactions, alert you to low balances, and suggest financial actions. You can actually chat with them about your cash flow.
  
  
• OCR Receipt Scanners (e.g., Dext, Hubdoc): Automatically read paper or emailed receipts and import them into your books, saving hours of typing.
  
  
• ChatGPT or Conversational AI: A VA or executive can use ChatGPT to draft emails, summarize complex financial docs, or even answer straightforward accounting questions (e.g. “What was our net profit last month?”).
  
  
• Botkeeper and Automatic Reconciliation: Services like Botkeeper use machine learning to reconcile accounts overnight, assigning hundreds of transactions in seconds. The VA then verifies and focuses on exceptions.
  
  

In larger firms, the Big Four accounting companies are already using AI to automate tax and audit processes 5 Best AI in Accounting Software Guide | Pipedrive. For small and mid-sized companies, combining a human VA with AI tools means faster month-ends and real-time insights. For instance, a VA can set up automated dashboards that show your cash runway or highest customer, enabling proactive decisions. As Deloitte reports, clients using AI tools get real-time reporting on tax commitments 5 Best AI in Accounting Software Guide | Pipedrive, and your small business can too.

The key is synergy: AI handles volume and speed, while the human assistant provides judgement and context. Together, they maintain accuracy and compliance. In practice, an AI might auto-categorize 95% of transactions, and the VA double-checks the rest. Or an AI chatbot could draft a basic financial summary, which the VA refines for leadership. This blend reduces mistakes, detects fraud patterns, and can even boost productivity by 35% 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025.

Industry Spotlights: Tech, E-Commerce, Professional Services

Virtual bookkeeping thrives in industries that scale fast and value agility. Here are a few examples:

• Tech Startups: New tech companies often launch with lean budgets and remote-first teams. A virtual assistant provides flexible support without a long hiring lead time. For instance, a SaaS startup might use a VA to handle subscription billing, expense reports, and licensing fees while the founders focus on product development. In the tech sector, non-core functions are frequently outsourced so the core team can innovate. It's common for tech CEOs to “delegate tasks to a smart worker with clear instructions” How to Hire the Perfect Virtual Assistant for you and your business – in other words, hire a VA for admin so they can lead the company. AI tools also resonate in tech: a software founder can integrate their VA with cloud accounting software via APIs and use AI chatbots on their Slack channels to fetch financial metrics.
  
  
• E-Commerce and Online Retail: Online retailers handle thousands of transactions across platforms (Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, etc.). This creates a bookkeeping headache (inventory costs, sales tax in different states/countries, refunds, shipping fees). A virtual ecommerce bookkeeper becomes invaluable. As one specialist notes, outsourcing ecommerce bookkeeping is “cost-effective” and “scalable” How a Virtual Bookkeeper Can Revolutionize Your Ecommerce Business - Virtual Office Assistants | Executive Personal Assistants & Bookkeepers. A remote bookkeeper with ecommerce experience can reconcile multiple payment processors, ensure inventory is tracked as a cost, and handle multi-currency issues. They understand nuances like sales taxes on international sales. Crucially, a VA can grow with your store: during peak seasons they process hundreds of orders daily, then scale down off-season. And the cost benefit is huge: no need to rent extra warehouse office space for accountants, and you save on full-time benefits How a Virtual Bookkeeper Can Revolutionize Your Ecommerce Business - Virtual Office Assistants | Executive Personal Assistants & Bookkeepers.
  
  
• Professional Services (Consulting, Law, Finance): Firms in these industries are usually billing by the hour or project. Accurate bookkeeping is critical for client trust and compliance. Yet partners want to spend billable time selling their expertise, not crunching numbers. Virtual assistants can manage client invoicing, trust account reconciliation, and expense reimbursements. For example, an attorney’s VA may handle billable-hour entry and generate invoices weekly, ensuring cash flow. A boutique consulting firm might outsource its entire accounting function to a VA team, allowing it to expand without hiring a CFO immediately. In professional services, confidentiality and reliability are key, so many firms hire highly qualified VAs who understand professional ethics. Outsourcing makes sense when over 37% of small businesses already outsource accounting functions Finance & Accounting Outsourcing: Key Industry Statistics & Trends, indicating that even companies with sensitive financials see the value.
  
  

Across these industries, common themes emerge: time-zone flexibility (support available even during nights or weekends if needed), and continuous improvement. VAs often implement best practices they’ve seen elsewhere (e.g. standardized invoicing systems or AI audit checks), giving your business an edge. In fast-moving sectors, having real-time books means you can pivot quickly – a VA-driven system provides this agility.

Hiring and Integrating Your Bookkeeping Virtual Assistant

If you’re convinced of the benefits, the next step is how to hire a virtual assistant for accounting. Key tips include:

1. Define Your Needs: List the exact tasks you want to delegate – data entry, month-end closing, payroll, etc. Estimate how many hours per week or month this will take. This helps in choosing the right VA or service level.
   
   
2. Choose a Reputable Service: Platforms like MySigrid, Belay, or specialized accounting VA firms vet candidates and provide training/oversight. This cuts your hiring risk. MySigrid, for example, offers dedicated executive assistants who specialize in bookkeeping Maintain Accurate Transaction Records with Your Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant.
   
   
3. Set Up Clear Processes: Use cloud accounting software and give your VA remote access. Establish reporting routines (e.g., weekly financial summaries). Good communication is crucial; use video calls or chat apps to stay aligned.
   
   
4. Consider AI Tools: Equip your VA with modern tools. For instance, grant access to your QuickBooks or Xero, set up receipt-scanning software, and agree on naming conventions. This way, the VA’s time is spent on analysis, not manual entry.
   
   
5. Monitor and Adjust: In the first few months, review the VA’s work and give feedback. Ask for metrics – did cash flow improve? Are reconciliations on time? Use these insights to refine the arrangement.
   
   

It's worth noting the cost of hiring a virtual assistant is typically transparent. Many VA services charge a fixed monthly fee or hourly rate, often starting as low as a few hundred dollars for basic support 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025. Compare this to the fully-loaded cost of an in-house hire (salaries plus 20-30% for benefits). In most cases, you’ll find the ROI is clear: you pay for exactly what you need, and every dollar goes directly into productive work.

Conclusion: Virtual Assistants Driving Business Growth

Virtual assistants – human or AI-enhanced – are not just clerks; they are strategic partners for growing companies. By outsourcing administrative support like bookkeeping, businesses cut costs (studies show up to a 78% reduction 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025), gain flexibility, and scale faster. Smart startups and enterprises alike use virtual assistant services to maintain real-time finances, reduce errors, and stay agile. As one Sigrid guide emphasizes, a VA understands your priorities and frees you to lead How to Hire the Perfect Virtual Assistant for you and your business.

As AI continues to evolve, the combo of human judgment and machine speed will only strengthen. Today’s virtual bookkeeping might start with a person reconciling your bank feed; tomorrow, an AI agent might do it in seconds with the assistant handling exceptions. The result for your business is the same: accurate books and more time to invest in growth. Indeed, research shows that virtual assistants contribute directly to business expansion – by improving efficiency and productivity, they become catalysts for scaling Virtual Assistant Statistics or VA Statistics in 2025 - Invedus, 51 Virtual Assistant Stats & Trends for 2025.

Are you ready to streamline your bookkeeping and accelerate growth? Learn how MySigrid’s virtual assistant services can transform your finance operations. Connect with our founder Paul Østergaard on LinkedIn and book a consultation to discuss your needs. Embrace the flexibility of remote teams and AI tools – and watch your business thrive.