What Is a Virtual Assistant Retainer Agreement?
A virtual assistant retainer agreement sets the commercial terms of an ongoing support arrangement: the monthly fee, the hours it covers, how overage is handled, and cancellation. Most VA work is ongoing rather than one-off, a set number of hours of support each month, so it fits a retainer naturally. Where a scope of work lists the tasks you cover, the retainer agreement governs the hours, the money, and the term.
The retainer is what makes VA income predictable and the hours honest. It reserves your time for the client each month, sets a clear cap, and turns extra requests into a straightforward overage conversation rather than unpaid work.
The Free Virtual Assistant Retainer Template
Here is a complete VA retainer agreement to copy and adapt. It handles the terms that matter for hourly support work: the hour cap, unused hours, overage, and a clean handover of access. Replace everything in [brackets].
2. Monthly retainer fee. [$X,XXX] per month, for up to [20] hours of the services in the attached scope of work.
3. Hours and tracking. The retainer covers up to [20] hours per month, tracked. Time is reported to the Client [monthly / on request].
4. Unused hours. Hours reserved each month do not roll over. The Assistant holds capacity for the Client whether or not every hour is used.
5. Overage. Work beyond the monthly hours is agreed in advance and billed at [$XX] per hour.
6. Availability and response. Available on [business days, agreed time zone], responding to routine requests within [X] hours. Out-of-hours and weekend work is not included.
7. Minimum term and renewal. [No minimum, or an initial [1] month], then continuing month to month, renewing automatically until cancelled.
8. Confidentiality. Both parties keep shared information confidential, and account access is returned or revoked on cancellation.
9. Payment. Billed on the [1st] of each month, due in advance. The first month is paid before work begins.
10. Cancellation. Either party may cancel with [14] days written notice. The final month is worked and paid in full.
Signed: [Assistant] __________ [Client] __________ Date: __________
Reserve the hours, and bill overage cleanly
A VA retainer works when two things are clear: the reserved hours do not roll over, because you hold capacity each month, and work beyond them is billed at an agreed rate. Together they keep the retainer profitable and prevent the quiet drift where a 20-hour client somehow needs 35 hours for the same fee. State both, and the arrangement stays fair.
The Terms That Keep a VA Retainer Fair
A few clauses keep an assistant retainer working for both sides.
Capped, tracked hours. State the hours included and that they are tracked and reported. The hour cap is the core of a VA retainer.
Overage, agreed in advance. Work beyond the hours is billed at a set rate and agreed before it happens, so a busy month is compensated, not absorbed.
Response times, not on call. Define when you are available and how fast you respond, so a monthly retainer is not treated as round-the-clock support.
Access on exit. State that account access is returned or revoked on cancellation, which protects the client’s security and closes the arrangement cleanly.
Bill in Advance, Track the Hours
A VA retainer should pay you predictably and stay within its hours. In AgencyKit, the agreed retainer invoices automatically at the start of each month, and built-in time tracking keeps the hours in view against the cap. It works internationally, and each client keeps one record with their agreement and history. See the best HoneyBook alternative for virtual assistants.
Wrapping Up
A virtual assistant retainer agreement turns hourly support into steady, predictable income with honest hours. Set the fee and the capped hours, keep unused hours from rolling over, bill overage at an agreed rate, define your availability, and return access cleanly on exit. Then bill in advance and track the hours. Copy the template, set your terms, and turn your VA clients into a reliable monthly income.
Pair it with the virtual assistant scope of work template for the tasks, and read what a retainer agreement should include.
Key Takeaways
- A VA retainer sets the fee, the capped hours, overage, and cancellation for ongoing support work
- Cap and track the hours: the hour cap is the core of a fair VA retainer
- Reserved hours usually do not roll over, and work beyond them is billed at an agreed overage rate
- Define availability and response times so a monthly retainer is not treated as on-call support
- Bill in advance, track the hours, and return account access cleanly on exit
Frequently Asked Questions
It is the document that sets the commercial terms of an ongoing VA arrangement: the monthly fee, the number of hours it covers, how overage is billed, availability, confidentiality, and cancellation. It works alongside a scope of work, which lists the tasks, while the retainer agreement governs the hours, the money, and the term of the support arrangement.
The client pays a set monthly fee for up to a capped number of the assistant’s hours, detailed in a scope of work. The assistant reserves that time each month, tracks the hours, and reports them, with work beyond the cap billed at an agreed overage rate. The retainer agreement fixes the fee, the hours, and cancellation. It gives the assistant predictable income and the client reliable, ongoing support.
Usually not, and the agreement should say so. You reserve your time and availability for the client each month, whether or not every hour is used, so unused hours typically do not carry over. Stating this prevents a quiet month from becoming a demand for double the hours later. If you offer any rollover, cap it tightly so your monthly capacity stays predictable.
Agree it in advance and bill it at a set rate. State in the agreement that work beyond the monthly hours is agreed before it happens and billed at a defined hourly rate. This way, a busy month where the client needs more support is compensated rather than absorbed for free, and the client always knows that extra work has a clear, agreed cost rather than being an assumed part of the fee.
It depends on the hours and the type of work, so price it on the hours reserved. VA retainers range widely, from a few hundred dollars a month for a light package up to part-time or full-time equivalents. The important thing is to tie the fee to a specific number of hours, so both sides know what is included and extra work is billed separately at an agreed rate.
It should be returned or revoked cleanly, and the agreement should state this. On cancellation, after the notice period and final payment, the client removes or transfers the access they granted, and the assistant confirms they no longer hold it. This protects the client’s security and closes the arrangement properly, which matters because a VA often holds access to inboxes, calendars, and business tools.
Bill it in advance at the start of each month and automate it, and use time tracking to keep the hours in view against the cap. That makes it easy to report the hours to the client and to flag when they are consistently going over and should move to a larger retainer. In an all-in-one tool the recurring invoice and the time tracking live together, so the admin is minimal.
Sources & References
- U.S. Small Business Administration, contracts and getting paid guidance. sba.gov
- AgencyKit retainers, time tracking & invoicing (2026). agencykit.tech
- AgencyKit features & pricing (2026). agencykit.tech/pricing