Key Takeaways
- Executives who spend their time on administrative tasks are losing time and energy on strategy work that could grow their firm.
- Hiring an executive assistant protects an executive’s time, focus, and energy while helping them maximize their output.
- Hiring an executive assistant requires conducting due diligence on their qualifications, skills, experience, and reference checks.
Signs You Need to Hire an Executive Assistant
You and your team are burned out
Accountants are no strangers to burnout. Things like the talent shortage and busy tax season can often lead to it. If you and your team are constantly stressed out from managing intense workloads under tight deadlines, you’ll start to feel exhausted, unmotivated, and even resentful. Without mitigation, it can lead to serious health issues. Having a remote executive assistant can help ease the burden and prevent burnout.
You’re neglecting high-value work
Constantly handling administrative tasks takes time away from doing strategic, high-value work. If you find that you run out of hours in the day to focus on actual client delivery, then you may need a remote executive assistant to offload the admin work to.
You have a hectic calendar
If you’re shuttling from meeting to meeting and business trips, you may need an EA. When you’re managing a hectic calendar, it’s easy to overbook or double-book yourself. Having an EA can streamline your calendar, organize your priorities, and manage your time wisely.
You turn down business opportunities
If you spend all your time managing your work instead of actually doing it, this eats up your capacity. When you’re at capacity, it can be difficult to take on new client engagements or partnerships. By offloading administrative work to an EA, you free up your time and energy to focus on nurturing new relationships that can benefit your firm.
Why Hire an Executive Assistant?
Burnout pushes your best people to leave. When this happens, you don’t just lose capacity. You also lose client continuity, mentorship, and quality control—especially when the person who leaves is a senior accountant. Studies suggest the cost of turnover can reach 150 percent of an employee’s salary, including recruitment costs and lost productivity.
Streamline administrative workflows
By delegating your administrative workflows to an EA, you free up your time for leadership and strategy. They can handle things like accounts payables and receivables, expense management, data entry and reconciliation, and support financial reporting.
They can also centralize information sources into a single database for easier reference. They can maintain document libraries, manage digital files, track deadlines, and coordinate internal communications across teams. This reduces time spent searching for information and ensures tasks move forward efficiently.
EAs help accounting firms create smoother internal workflows, reduce administrative bottlenecks, and keep projects and client work moving on schedule.
Bridge communications and collaborations
Executive assistant responsibilities also include bridging communications and collaborations between you and others. For example, they can function as your main point of contact so that they can screen who really gets your in-person time versus replying to an email.
They can also attend meetings on your behalf if decisions don’t have to be made. They can take that information and disseminate it to other executives for consistent messaging. This provides clarity across teams and ensures proper task execution.
Lastly, they can enhance collaboration between departments by coordinating meetings, tracking projects, and eliminating bottlenecks that hinder collaboration.
Scale the organization
As you grow your firm, the complexity of your operations also grows. With a virtual executive assistant to help, scaling your organization becomes more manageable. They’re able to coordinate larger teams, leadership, documentation, and support onboarding processes. Keeping track of all of these helps the organization scale without running into problems.
How Executive Assistants Support Executives
Executive assistants are excellent at organizing, reporting, streamlining operations, and even handling communications. Executive assistant duties include but are not limited to:
| Managing your calendar | Scheduling meetings and conferences |
|---|---|
| Arranging travel | Preparing reports, presentations, and other business documents |
| Filtering/prioritizing emails and phone calls | Taking meeting notes and minute |
| Triaging and answering questions | Directing enquiries to the appropriate person or department |
| Drafting/editing business documents | Assisting with ad hoc tasks and special projects |
Differences Between Executive Assistants and Administrative Assistants
While both roles are essential, the differences between executive assistants and administrative assistants become clear when comparing their scope, responsibilities, and level of impact.
| Category | Executive Assistant | Administrative Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Support | Supports executives and senior leadership | Supports teams, departments, or middle management |
| Scope of Role | Broad and strategic; extends beyond admin tasks | More defined and task-focused |
| Task Complexity | Handles complex, high-level tasks and coordination | Handles routine administrative and operational tasks |
| Decision Involvement | May assist in decision-making and prioritization | Limited involvement in decision-making |
| Supervisory Responsibilities | May oversee other support staff or coordinate teams | Typically does not supervise staff |
| Communication Role | Acts as a gatekeeper for executives; manages sensitive communications | Handles general communication and coordination |
| Focus | Protects executive time, focus, and productivity | Supports day-to-day operations and team efficiency |
| Level of Impact | Strategic partner to leadership | Operational support across the business |
What Traits Make a Successful Executive Assistant?
When hiring a remote executive assistant, it’s important to identify whether they have the right skills and traits for the job. Successful EAs are:
| Organized | They know how to create structure to protect your time, energy, and focus. |
| Attentive | They anticipate your needs early and address them before you have to ask. |
| Great at time management | They’re able to accomplish their tasks in a timely manner and they can track deadlines accurately. |
| Tech fluent | They understand your tech stack and can streamline it for smoother operations across the firm. |
| Adaptable | They learn new tools quickly, can adjust to changing priorities, and can stay calm under pressure. |
How Could an Executive Assistant Add to Your Organizational Structure?
Depending on the size and needs of your firm, you can have one executive assistant or one per executive member. In either case, there is a lot of flexibility when it comes to adding executive assistants to your organizational structure. Even the addition of just one EA to your team can significantly transform the way you deliver your work and meet your goals.
How to Hire an Executive Assistant
Define the role and responsibilities
Make sure you know exactly what you’re hiring an executive assistant for. The most common mistake that people make is that they think an EA will just do everything for them. Some things to clarify include:
- Which executive they will work for
- The responsibilities they will own
- The degree of decision-making power they will have
- The level of communication they’re expected to conduct
It also helps to audit what administrative tasks are eating up your time on a daily basis. These are the tasks you can delegate to your executive assistant. Make sure to include these in the job description, too.
Write and Publish an Executive Assistant Job Description
A high-quality job description attracts the right candidates. Strong EAs have excellent communication skills and appreciate specific, concise descriptions. Your job description should also mention how the EA can make an impact in the company, your workplace culture, and your company values.
Determine Their Experience, Skills, and Qualifications
Interview your candidates to assess their experience, skills, and qualifications. For example, you may want to hire someone with some years of experience working with other C-Suite executives. You may also want to hire an EA with a relevant bachelor’s degree, or someone familiar with accounting software. The more diligent you are with the assessment, the more likely you are to find the right EA for your needs.
Check For References
An integral part of hiring is checking a candidate’s references. This gives you helpful insight into what it’s like working with a potential candidate. Try to talk to at least three references, including a boss and a peer. Some questions you can ask them include:
- What was it like working with this person?
- How does the candidate work under pressure?
- What are their greatest strengths and areas of improvement?
- Would you rehire this person?
Get Expert Help Hiring a Remote Executive Assistant
Hiring a remote executive assistant takes time and effort that you may not be able to spare. Eliminate the overwhelm with TOA Global. TOA Global helps connect accounting firms like yours with top-qualified remote EAs, accountants, and bookkeepers. Find your executive assistant today by booking a chat with us.
