Question 1

What is a Philippines virtual assistant?

Accepted Answer

A Philippines virtual assistant is a remote team member based in the Philippines who works for your business, handling marketing, admin, customer support or specialist work. They work your hours or close to them, learn your business over time, and act as part of your team rather than a one-off freelancer.

Question 2

Why hire a virtual assistant from the Philippines?

Accepted Answer

Three reasons, mostly: strong English, a deep and experienced remote workforce, and a time zone close to Australia. English is an official language there, the country has decades of outsourcing experience, and Manila sits only two to three hours behind Sydney, so coordinating day to day is easy. For Australian service businesses, it's the practical default.

Question 3

What roles do you place?

Accepted Answer

We place marketing talent for founder-led service businesses: marketing executive assistants, digital marketing assistants, paid ads managers, marketing automation and platform specialists, content creators, and lead generation specialists. If you're not sure which role fits, we help you work that out before you hire.

Question 4

What's the difference between a VA and a dedicated team member?

Accepted Answer

A typical VA juggles several clients and fits you into their schedule. A dedicated team member works set hours for you alone, learns your business, and becomes part of how things run. We place dedicated talent, because marketing that compounds needs someone who builds real context, not a rotating freelancer.

Question 5

Can I hire part-time or full-time?

Accepted Answer

Both. Part-time is around 20 hours a week and full-time around 40. Many businesses start part-time to prove the fit, then move to full-time as the workload grows. We help you size the role to the actual work.

Question 6

What does a marketing virtual assistant actually do?

Accepted Answer

A marketing VA runs the recurring execution behind your marketing: creating and scheduling content, sending emails, updating your website and CRM, chasing leads, and reporting. They turn your direction into published, measurable work, while you keep the strategy.

Question 7

What is a marketing executive assistant?

Accepted Answer

A marketing executive assistant blends executive support with marketing execution. They run your inbox, calendar and admin, and also handle social media, simple Canva design, website updates and your newsletter. For a founder who's the bottleneck on both fronts, it's often the most useful first hire. See our page on hiring a marketing executive assistant at /marketing-executive-assistant-philippines.

Question 8

Can I hire a specialist, like an ads manager or a HubSpot expert?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alongside generalists, we place specialists: paid ads managers for Meta and Google, marketing automation experts for platforms like HubSpot and GoHighLevel, content creators for blogs, podcasts and LinkedIn, and lead generation specialists. A specialist suits a specific channel you want run properly. See our role pages for each.

Question 9

I don't know which role I need. Can you help?

Accepted Answer

Yes, that's part of the process. Before any placement, we help you scope the role around your goals and where the gaps are, so you hire the right person rather than guessing. Getting the role right upfront is what makes the hire work.

Question 10

How is Scale Up Staff different from a regular offshore agency?

Accepted Answer

Most agencies place a person and step back. We place the talent and build the system around them, the briefs, frameworks and quality oversight, so the hire actually produces. The gap that sinks most offshore arrangements is the missing system, and closing it is the whole point of how we work.

Question 11

What does building the system mean?

Accepted Answer

It means documenting the inputs a VA needs to do good work, your ideal client, your offer, your voice and your brand, then giving them proven content frameworks and a quality check before anything ships. Talent plus that system is what produces consistent, on-brand output instead of generic work.

Question 12

How does onboarding work?

Accepted Answer

Two ways. You can build your foundation documents yourself through our guided process, or send us what you already have, like your website, emails and recordings, and we extract the structure and come back with targeted questions. Either way, you finish with the documented foundations your VA works from.

Question 13

Do you provide onshore oversight?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Placements come with onshore strategic oversight and quality checks, so the work meets a standard before it reaches you or your clients. You're not left to manage quality on your own.

Question 14

How much does it cost to hire a marketing VA through Scale Up Staff?

Accepted Answer

Part-time placements (around 20 hours a week) run $1,500 to $2,000 a month, and full-time (around 40 hours) $2,000 to $3,000 a month, plus the cost of the tools they use. Specialist roles sit toward the upper end. Exact pricing depends on the role and seniority.

Question 15

Is there a minimum commitment?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a minimum three-month partnership. Offshore hires take a few weeks to ramp and reach full stride by around the three-month mark, so a shorter term rarely gives the role a fair run.

Question 16

What if the person doesn't work out?

Accepted Answer

If a placement doesn't meet the agreed standard within 60 days, we replace them at no extra cost. Because your foundations and systems stay in place, the replacement ramps fast. The system carries over, and only the person changes.

Question 17

Do you cap how many clients you take on?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on purpose. We don't mass-scale accounts, because quality oversight doesn't survive that. Once capacity is full, new clients join a waitlist.

Question 18

How do you vet your talent?

Accepted Answer

We source from networks rather than open job boards, test skills against tasks close to the real work, check communication and reliability, and screen for red flags like people secretly holding several full-time jobs. You make the final call after meeting candidates.

Question 19

How do you keep work quality consistent?

Accepted Answer

Through the system around the VA: clear briefs, frameworks to follow, and a quality check before anything ships. Consistency comes from structure, not from hoping a good hire stays good on their own.

Question 20

How do you protect my data and IP?

Accepted Answer

Access is limited to what the role needs and run through tools you control, so it can be switched off instantly, and it's covered by confidentiality and IP terms in the contract. Australian businesses carry a privacy layer too, since you stay accountable for personal information handled offshore, so we set placements up with that in mind. General information, not legal advice.

Question 21

What hours will my VA work?

Accepted Answer

Whatever you agree. Manila is only two to three hours behind Sydney depending on daylight saving, so you can have your VA online through your working day with plenty of overlap, or run an async pattern for production work. We set the hours to suit the role.

Question 22

How will we communicate?

Accepted Answer

Through a simple stack: a chat tool for day-to-day, a project tool to track work, and short screen recordings for briefing. We keep it lean so nothing falls between apps, and help you set the rhythm of check-ins.

Question 23

Do I have to manage them myself?

Accepted Answer

Less than you'd expect. With documented foundations, clear briefs and our oversight, the day-to-day management stays light. Heavy management usually signals a missing system, which is the thing we put in place.

Question 24

What is an Employer of Record (EOR)?

Accepted Answer

An Employer of Record is a third party that legally employs your offshore team member on your behalf in their country, handling payroll, taxes, statutory benefits and local employment compliance, while you direct the day-to-day work. It lets you employ someone in the Philippines without setting up your own entity there.

Question 25

What is a Contractor of Record (COR)?

Accepted Answer

A Contractor of Record engages and pays your offshore worker as a contractor on your behalf, handling the contractor agreement, payments and classification compliance. It's the contractor equivalent of an EOR, used when the relationship is genuinely a contract rather than employment.

Question 26

Do you offer EOR and COR services?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We offer both Employer of Record and Contractor of Record arrangements, so you can engage your offshore hire compliantly without standing up a foreign entity or carrying the local employment risk yourself.

Question 27

Why does EOR or COR matter when hiring in the Philippines?

Accepted Answer

Because worker classification carries real risk. If you engage someone as a contractor but control how and when they work, Philippine law can treat them as an employee, which makes statutory benefits owed and claimable. An EOR or COR handles classification, payroll and local compliance properly, so that risk sits with a party set up to carry it. General information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your situation with a professional.

Question 28

Do I have Australian tax or superannuation obligations for an offshore hire?

Accepted Answer

Generally no super or PAYG withholding applies for a genuine non-resident contractor doing all their work overseas, which reflects the ATO's stated position. Classification is judged on the substance of the relationship, so it's worth getting right, and we can structure placements through EOR or COR to keep it clean. General information, not tax advice. Confirm with your accountant.

Question 29

Who handles 13th-month pay and local benefits?

Accepted Answer

Under an Employer of Record arrangement, the EOR handles statutory requirements like the Philippine 13th-month payment and mandatory contributions as the legal employer. That's part of what takes the compliance load off you. Confirm current requirements, since rates change.

Question 30

Do I need to set up a company in the Philippines to hire there?

Accepted Answer

No. Using an Employer of Record or Contractor of Record means you don't need your own Philippine entity. The EOR or COR is the legal employer or contracting party of record, which is what makes compliant offshore hiring simple for a business that just wants the talent.

Scale Up Staff: Virtual Assistants that actually deliver

Why Most Offshore Hires Fail

The recruiter who walks

The giant agency with a junior

The gap nobody fills

We do the opposite.

How It Works

Strategy Map

The Match

The Toolkit

The Community

Not sure what to hire for?
Build your Position Description in 5 minutes.

Roles We Fill

Digital Marketing

Marketing Automation

Lead Generation

Customer Success

Software/Platform Admin

Frequently asked questions

Getting started: hiring a virtual assistant in the Philippines

The roles we place

How Scale Up Staff works

Cost and commitment

Quality, trust and risk

Time zone, hours and communication

Employer of Record, Contractor of Record and compliance