How to Calculate the Fully Loaded Cost of an Assistant (Illustrative Worksheet)

When leaders compare hiring options, they often compare a salary to a monthly fee. That's not a fair comparison. A salary is one line in a larger cost; a managed service fee bundles many of those lines together.

This guide gives you a worksheet to build an honest comparison using your own numbers. We won't quote market salary figures — they vary widely by city, role and seniority, and your own recruiting data or a reputable salary survey is a better source. For a local benchmark, many people start with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for "Secretaries and Administrative Assistants" and adjust for their market.

Part 1: Local hire, fully loaded

List each cost for a local hire. Fill in your own figures.

Total annual cost = sum of the above. Divide by 12 for a monthly figure.

Two items deserve extra attention:

• Recruiting and turnover. If you use an outside recruiter, the fee can be significant. If the hire leaves, you pay much of it again, plus the cost of the gap.
• Management time. Your own time has a cost. Even a rough estimate — hours per week multiplied by an hourly value — makes the comparison more honest.

Part 2: Managed offshore assistant (ExecWing)

ExecWing's published monthly prices for a dedicated, full-time assistant:

• Core: $1,900/month
• Growth: $2,300/month
• Executive: $2,700/month

Bookkeeping: $2,100 or $2,600/month dedicated; fractional $450, $850 or $1,400/month.

What's bundled in the fee:

• Recruiting and vetting
• Payroll and contractor administration in the Philippines
• The assistant's equipment and internet setup requirements
• Weekly quality checks
• Back-fill if the assistant leaves or isn't a fit

What's not bundled:

• Software licenses for your own tools (you'd pay these for any hire)
• Your management time (lower than for a direct hire, but not zero)

Part 3: An illustrative comparison

The following is a hypothetical example to show the method, not a market claim. Suppose a company estimates its local fully loaded monthly cost for an experienced assistant at a figure it calls L, using Part 1. It compares L against ExecWing's Growth plan at $2,300/month plus an estimated $100/month in additional software seats.

• Monthly difference = L − $2,400.
• Annual difference = (L − $2,400) × 12.

If L is well above $2,400 — which it often is once benefits, taxes and overhead are added — the managed option frees budget. If L is close to $2,400 in your market, the decision should turn on other factors: overlap hours, how much in-person work the role needs and your management preferences.

Part 4: Factors the spreadsheet misses

Cost isn't the only variable. Be honest about trade-offs:

In favor of a local hire:

• In-person tasks: physical mail, office management, errands.
• Same-time-zone overlap without overnight shifts.
• Cultural and local context for certain client-facing roles.

In favor of a managed offshore assistant:

• Faster start (typically one to two weeks).
• Month-to-month flexibility.
• Replacement and quality management included.
• Ability to add a second role without a new recruiting cycle.

Part 5: The value side

Cost comparisons are only half the decision. The other half is what the assistant's time is worth to you. A simple approach:

1. Estimate the hours per week you'll delegate.
2. Estimate what those hours are worth if redirected to your highest-value work.
3. Compare that value to the monthly cost.

Keep estimates conservative. Our ROI scorecard guide explains how to track whether the value actually shows up.

Where to find local figures

For the local side of the worksheet, use sources you trust and can explain to your finance team:

• Salary: your own recent offers, a reputable salary survey, or the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for your metro area.
• Payroll taxes: your payroll provider can show the employer share for your state.
• Benefits: your benefits broker or current plan invoices.
• Recruiting: your recruiter's fee schedule or the job-board costs from your last hire.
• Overhead: your finance team's per-employee figures for equipment, software and space.

Common errors in the comparison

• Leaving out benefits and payroll taxes. This is the most common reason a local salary looks closer to a managed fee than it is.
• Ignoring recruiting time. Your time screening resumes and interviewing has a real cost, even without an outside recruiter.
• Forgetting the replacement scenario. If a hire doesn't work out, the cost of a second search belongs in the model.
• Overstating savings. If the role genuinely needs in-person presence, the comparison isn't like-for-like. Be honest about that.

Putting it in front of your finance team

Present the worksheet with sources for every local figure, ExecWing's published prices from the pricing page, and a short list of qualitative trade-offs. Finance teams respond better to a transparent model with conservative assumptions than to a single headline savings number.

Quick answers

Why don't you publish local salary comparisons? Local pay varies widely by market and seniority, and we don't want to cite numbers we can't stand behind. Your own data or a reputable survey gives a more honest comparison.

Is a managed assistant always cheaper? Not always. It depends on your market, the role and how much in-person work is needed. The worksheet is designed to show you the real answer for your situation.

The bottom line

Compare fully loaded costs, not salary to fee. Use your own market data for the local side and our published prices for the managed side. Then weigh the non-financial trade-offs honestly. If you'd like help building the comparison, book a fit call — we'll walk through it with your numbers. See pricing.