What is the origin of the words Secretary and Personal Assistant?
Secretary originated in 1387 as a "person entrusted with secrets". Personal in 1387 meaning "aimed at some particular person". Assistant in 1225 to mean "stand by, help".
So today in our modern world we still provide the same meaning to our clients. We aim our service to particular persons, our clients. We are always on stand by to help and we can be trusted with your confidences.
What are the costs for SecretaryPA office management services?
An experienced full time executive secretary, office manager or administrative assistant salary ranges from $50,000 to $70,000 plus superannuation and other on costs. Add payroll expenses and benefits administration plus additional office space and you will see that hiring a virtual assistant is most economical right from the start.
Bookkeeping normally costs $45 to $70 per hour.
SecretaryPA provides discounted hourly or retainer based virtual office management services. Please see our Fees
What can SecretaryPA do for me?
You can request projects for your Thesis, Research Papers, Reports, Monographs, Brochures, Website editing/content rewriting, Resumes and cover letters. Also you can request Virtual Secretary to do telephone answering service, take appointments for you, electronic transcription etc.
What can I expect from SecretaryPA?
You request us to assist you in your project and we will assist you in expressing your message in a clear and concise manner, with grammatically correct English and appropriate document style and format. Our service is the most professional in the market at a competitive cost, representing great value for money.
Is my information confidential?
We keep your records confidential and we refer you to our privacy policy below.
How do we communicate?
Communication is via e-mail, toll free fax and toll free phone.
How do you receive the work you've requested?
Delivery of work is done via e-mail or other sources depending on the task.
What Software applications do you use?
We use various industry standard software solutions including Microsoft Office, MYOB, Quicken for example or we can use software specific to your business if you desire.
How is time tracked?
A timer with task lists is created for each project on an hourly basis; to be sure you will be invoiced only for the work performed.
How is the payment made?
Payment is made upfront through the Paypal Payment Gateway. You can pay using your credit card account or if you have a Paypal account you can use it instead. Regular customers can pay by direct debit.
What if I am not satisfied with your work?
You can rate the work undertaken for your project. We appreciate your feedback in order to continually improve our performance.
Can I cancel my request at any point?
You can cancel your request before you pay for the project.
Can I edit my request at any point?
You can edit your request before proceeding to payment. After payment is made then any changes to your request may result in further cost.
How can I become a Regular Client and do I have to pay every time?
When registering for the service, you can fill in the credit card details or you can fill the DDA (Direct Debit Authorization) and authorise us to directly debit either from your Bank Account or from your credit card for the service utilised.
Can't I proofread my copy myself?
Unfortunately, for all of us, proof reading our own work can be very difficult, and in some cases, pointless. This is because the same mental processes that went into composition are the ones you will use to correct your work.
But, when a proofreader examines your work with the fresh impartial eyes, it is a better way to guarantee the grammatical accuracy of your work.
I have a spell checker on my computer. Why do I need you?
A spell checker is just a tool. It doesn't know the difference between "two" and "too," or between "they're," "there" and "their." It cannot determine whether a particular spelling is the correct one for the context. But the people reading your work do. A properly proof read and formatted document protects your reputation and projects a professional image - qualities that you can't rely on a spelling checker to protect.
Do you accept work from Non-English speaking countries?
Yes, we accept work from any country. However your request must be in English and our work is only produced in English at this point of time.
What will it cost?
It is impossible to provide pricing without knowledge of your business however, once we complete our overview we will provide an estimate for your review.
Will there be price increases?
All costs are detailed in the agreement prior to commencing services.
What business services can I outsource?
Any administrative function currently completed in-house can be outsourced. Under our back office support service we can provide as much, or as little of your administrative support services as you require.
Outsourcing of services can also be done in stages with timeframes that suit your business.
What Management savings are realized?
Time spent by managers completing plans for Annual, sick leave, progression planning is estimated to be 25-40% of a managers time. This time can be channelled to planning business growth and developing sales opportunities.
Who will be doing the work?
We only employ’s qualified professionals including, but not limited to: bookkeepers, accountants, business analysts, data entry operators, administration professionals, researchers, credit personnel and software developers.
Our Managers have combined over 50 years of Line Management experience and 20 years of Outsourcing experience.
Our Sydney based Client Services team are able to respond to any concerns should they arise.
How confident can I be you will perform the functions to the same standard of my existing staff?
Your business will have our trained staff and/or agreed to any process and procedures used by them.
During the handover phase any areas not covered in the procedures such as “Tribal knowledge” not documented, should be flushed out and documented into the procedures after your approval.
This should lead over time to an improved service to your clients or customers while you are comforted in the knowledge that your costs are substantially reduced.
My business is unique. What if there are procedures that you have not experienced before?
Every business is unique in its own way. We are exceptionally flexible and will mould our service to meet your specific business needs.
Can you guarantee that it will be error free?
Unfortunately no organisation could ever guarantee that the work performed will be without error, not even yours!
We undertake to provide a premium service and in the rare event of an error the procedure and staff are reviewed to prevent reoccurrence.
All the processes we undertake, including the processes specific to your business are analysed over time to ensure they continue to be efficient.
What do I do with my current staff performing the processes?
We encourage our clients to redeploy their staff in positions that generate income, and where not possible, to plan knowledge transfer to our staff.
Security
Is my data secured?
Our staff will view your files through a secure set of protocols and procedures defined to control them in a standardised manner.
We continuously upgrade our security protocols of best practice standards and ensure efficient, accurate and timely processing & delivery of data.
Our facility is designed and operated to international standards combined with modern infrastructure with electronic secured access.
What happens if Your systems fail?
We have in place a Business Interruption Recovery Plan which is continually reviewed and we also observe industry standard file back up protocols.
How will you perform work using my current systems?
You can further discuss this as required with your IT area which may involve access to your systems with the correct level of access rights.
Generally read only access is provided to any third party sites that we may be required to access.
What happens if a Virus attacks my files? Is my data Virus Protected?
We protect your data using industry standard Anti Virus Management and protection Systems.
What security precautions do you take?
Our security measures include:- Employees undergo background checks and sign nondisclosure & confidentiality agreements of client information.
- Thumb print access for entry and exit
- Credit card read only access
- Removal of paper from the offices is prohibited
- VLAN – based access restrictions between different teams
- Regular reporting on printer logs if used
- Floppy drives and USB ports disabled
- BS779 certification for accomplished international security standards
- 128 – bit encryption technology for all data exchange
- Secure VPN connection
What cards should I use online?
American Express are good for frequent flyers and that, as well as other credit cards, are useful if you have to reverse unauthorized credit card charges. However, debit cards can take months to recover unauthorized deductions of funds. What are the common mistakes I can make in delegating work to someone online?
The common mistakes are as follows:
- Looking to blame someone else, rather than assuming that most problems are your fault to start with.
- Imprecise directions.
- Giving them too much time to waste.
- Setting the deadlines too far out.
- Not breaking larger tasks into smaller sets of tasks with shorter time frames.
- Not giving priority to your tasks.
What do I have to do to have my questions answered, that are not covered here?
Please feel free to Contact Us and we will be happy to answer any questions you might have.