The problem
A virtual assistant's day is full of 5-minute jobs: a diary change, an invoice sent, an email answered from a client's inbox. Most never get written down. If 6 retainer clients each have 2 hours a month of these that go unrecorded, at $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour that's $479£360€428A$691C$677 a month of work done for free.
What the AI does
Toggl Track has timers on desktop, browser and phone, so you start a timer against the client the moment a task begins, even from your phone. Its Starter plan adds billable rates and project estimates, so each client's retainer hours show as a budget with what's used and what's left. At month end, the report per client becomes the backing for your invoice and a list of what you did.
A worked example
A virtual assistant in Shrewsbury works alone for 6 small business owners, each on a monthly retainer of 10 to 20 hours. They set up one Toggl project per client with the retainer as the estimate and a timer on their phone and browser.
Before
About 12 hours a month of small tasks across 6 clients never recorded or billed
After
All 12 hours timed against the right client, with each retainer's hours used shown as they go
What it's worth
About $479£360€428A$691C$677 a month billed that was previously given away: 12 hours at $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour, counted in full because it is work already done. Toggl Track Starter is $9 (about $9£7€8A$13C$13) a month with the annual toggle or $12 (about $12£9€11A$17C$17) monthly for one user; the free plan tracks time but lacks billable rates and estimates.
How to set it up
- Create a project in Toggl Track for each client, with their retainer hours as the estimate and your hourly rate.
- Install the browser extension and phone app, and start a timer before each task, however small.
- Write a short description on each entry so the client can see what it was.
- Check each client's hours used every Friday and warn them before they run over the retainer.
- Send the month's report with your invoice, and agree in your terms how overruns are billed.
What goes wrong
- A forgotten running timer bills a client for your lunch. Check the day's entries before you finish.
- Clients may question time they didn't expect. Agree in advance whether small tasks are billed in minimum blocks.
- Starter is priced per user; associates you subcontract to need their own seats.
- Task descriptions can include your client's customers' names. Keep them short and general in reports you share.