How much does task requests for virtual assistants cost?

It can be run for free, on the free plans of the tools it uses.

About £120 a month in time saved: 4 hours (300 minutes down to 60) at an assumed £30 an hour. It pays for itself: free to run, in the worked example.

Which tools do I need?

Tally: Online form builder with conditional logic and calculations, file uploads and a Zapier integration, hosted in the EU. Zapier: Automation service that connects apps so that something happening in one, such as a new form entry, triggers an action in another, such as an email or a spreadsheet row. Trello: Task boards with cards and lists for tracking work, with built-in automation and integrations such as Zapier.

How hard is it to set up?

Some setup needed. 5 steps: Create a Trello board for each client with simple lists: to do, doing, waiting, done. Build the Tally form, with the client chosen from a list so each request goes to the right board. In Zapier, start a Zap on each new form submission and create a Trello card with the details and due date. Send every client the link and a short note on why, and bookmark it on their phone with them. Check the boards against form submissions weekly for the first month.

Task requests for virtual assistants: one form into Trello

Clients send tasks through one Tally form, and Zapier puts each on a Trello card for that client with the deadline and details. Free.

At a glance

What it costsFree
Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$160£120€143A$230C$226 a month
Pays for itselfFree to run
Connecting two tools or some setup timeSome setup needed

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked October 17, 2026. How we check prices

The problem

Clients send tasks to their virtual assistant by text, WhatsApp, voice note and email, often without the deadline or the file needed. Finding and clarifying 60 requests a month, at 5 minutes each, takes 5 hours, and the one that slips through is the one the client remembers.

What the AI does

Build one Tally form: client name, task, deadline, priority, links or files, and anything to check first. Tally's free plan includes file uploads, conditional logic and a Zapier integration. A two-step Zapier automation creates a Trello card on that client's board for each submission, with the deadline as the card's due date. You work from the boards, and anything sent another way gets a polite reply with the form link.

A worked example

A virtual assistant in Lancaster supports 8 small business owners, each with a Trello board. They ask every client to send new tasks through the form, about 60 requests a month in total.

Before

60 requests a month at 5 minutes each to find, clarify and log: 300 minutes, 5 hours

After

60 complete requests at about 1 minute each to check: 60 minutes

What it's worth

About $160£120€143A$230C$226 a month in time saved: 4 hours (300 minutes down to 60) at an assumed $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour. Tally's free plan, Zapier's free plan (two-step Zaps and 100 tasks a month) and Trello's free plan (up to 10 boards per Workspace and 10 collaborators) cover 8 clients and 60 requests, so it costs nothing.

How to set it up

Create a Trello board for each client with simple lists: to do, doing, waiting, done.
Build the Tally form, with the client chosen from a list so each request goes to the right board.
In Zapier, start a Zap on each new form submission and create a Trello card with the details and due date.
Send every client the link and a short note on why, and bookmark it on their phone with them.
Check the boards against form submissions weekly for the first month.

What goes wrong

Zapier can fail without telling you. If a card is missing, a task is missed; compare submissions with cards every week.
Trello's free plan allows 10 boards per Workspace; more than 10 clients needs another approach or a paid plan at $5 a user a month billed annually.
Clients will still text you. Reply with the form link rather than logging the task yourself, or the habit won't stick.
Don't let clients put passwords or bank details in the form.

The tools you'll need

Tally
Online form builder with conditional logic and calculations, file uploads and a Zapier integration, hosted in the EU.
Free plan with unlimited forms and submissions, conditional logic and calculations, file uploads (10 MB per file) and the Zapier integration; emails go only to you. Pro is €20 (about £17) a month and adds tailored emails to respondents and larger uploads; Business is €65 (about £56) a month. Yearly billing gives 2 months off.
Visit Tally
Price checked Oct 17, 2026
Zapier
Automation service that connects apps so that something happening in one, such as a new form entry, triggers an action in another, such as an email or a spreadsheet row.
Free plan with 100 tasks a month. Pro starts at $19.99 (about £15) a month billed annually, or $29.99 (about £22) a month billed monthly, for 750 tasks.
Visit Zapier
Price checked Oct 17, 2026
Trello
Task boards with cards and lists for tracking work, with built-in automation and integrations such as Zapier.
Free for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, with up to 10 boards and 250 automation command runs a month. Standard is $5 a user a month billed annually ($6 monthly); Premium $10 ($12.50 monthly). Prices in US dollars.
Visit Trello
Price checked Oct 17, 2026

Prices are in the vendor's own currency. Confirm before you buy.

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Last updated October 17, 2026.