A clear client-closing process helps a virtual assistant (VA) and prospective client agree on the work before it starts: qualify the need, send a specific proposal, resolve questions, formalize the accepted terms in an agreement, then follow the agreed payment and onboarding steps. “Proposal first, contract second” is a practical workflow—not a universal legal requirement.
1. Qualify the work before drafting
Start with a discovery conversation. The goal is to understand what the client needs and whether you can deliver it—not to promise a scope before the details are clear.
- Desired outcome: What should be different or completed when the work is done?
- Tasks and boundaries: Which services are requested, and what is outside the request?
- Timing and availability: When should the work start, how urgent is it, and what schedule or response time is realistic?
- Systems and access: Which tools are involved, and what level of access might the tasks require?
- Communication and approvals: Which channel will the parties use, and who can answer questions or approve changes?
Write a short summary of what you heard. Confirm it with the prospect before pricing the work. This catches misunderstandings while the scope is still easy to adjust.
2. Send a proposal that answers “what will I pay and what will I get?”
The proposal is the decision document: it lets the client assess the services, limits, timing, and price before accepting. There is no single mandatory format, but a useful proposal makes the offer concrete enough to accept or revise.
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What to include
- Engagement overview: A brief description of the client’s need and the proposed approach.
- Services and deliverables: State the tasks you will perform and, where relevant, the outputs or timelines. Distinguish included work from exclusions.
- Hours or workload: If the arrangement is time-based, say how many hours are included and how additional time will be handled. For deliverable-based work, describe the expected outputs instead.
- Schedule and expectations: Set out the anticipated duration, availability, and response expectations you can actually meet.
- Price and assumptions: Explain the fee, pricing basis, invoice or payment assumptions, and any conditions that affect the price. If you offer optional additions, separate them from the core scope.
- Next step: Tell the client how to approve the proposal or request a revision. Set a decision deadline only if it reflects your actual policy.
These are practical fields, not universal legal requirements. A VA proposal example from Bonsai includes an engagement overview, scope, hours, and acceptance; BookNox likewise frames a proposal around price and deliverables. Treat these as examples of useful communication, not prescribed forms.
3. Resolve questions and identify the accepted version
Invite questions before asking the client to sign an agreement. If a discussion changes the tasks, timing, hours, or price, revise the proposal so the offer reflects what both sides actually discussed.
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Keep a clear record of which version the client accepted. Silence, a verbal conversation, or an unrecorded scope discussion is not a reliable substitute for a clear acceptance record. A documented sequence—discovery, proposal, agreement, onboarding—is one agency’s stated process, and another service workflow places proposal, e-signature, payment, and booking in that order. These illustrate workable business practices rather than a legally required order for every VA engagement.
4. Make the agreement match the accepted proposal
Use the accepted proposal as the basis for the agreement. The agreement can add the operating and legal terms needed for the relationship, but it should not quietly change the central service, scope, or payment terms the client accepted.
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Terms to consider
- Parties and services: Identify the client and VA, describe the work, and state important exclusions or task limits.
- Hours, deliverables, and fees: Match the proposal’s scope and price. Explain invoicing, payment timing, and how extra work is billed.
- Confidentiality and data: Address confidential information, client data, and relevant handling expectations.
- Access and approvals: Specify how the client will provide access, who approves work, and what the VA should do if access or instructions are insufficient.
- Ownership, where relevant: Clarify rights in work product if the engagement requires it.
- Term and ending the work: State when the engagement begins, how long it runs if applicable, and how either side can end it.
- Changes: Set a written process for changing scope, price, or schedule before the additional work begins.
VA contract guides identify scope, hours, rates, payment terms, confidentiality, ownership, data protection, and termination as issues to address. They are commercial guidance, not legal authorities or ready-made advice for every jurisdiction or engagement. The appropriate terms can depend on the parties, work, and applicable law.
5. Sign and retain a usable copy
For transactions covered by U.S. federal E-SIGN, a record or signature is not denied legal effect solely because it is electronic. The statute says that “a signature, contract, or other record relating to such transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form” (15 U.S.C. §7001(a)(1), Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives).
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That rule is limited: E-SIGN concerns covered transactions in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, preserves other legal requirements, and includes consumer-record provisions and exceptions. It does not require every party to accept electronic records or establish that every agreement is enforceable. Cross-border work, regulated services, consumer transactions, and particular document types may involve additional rules.
Keep the signed agreement in a form that can be retrieved and read. Where applicable law requires retention, an electronic record must accurately reflect the contract and remain accessible and reproducible for the required period. Choose a signing process that gives both parties a clear record and a usable copy; the existence of an e-signature app alone does not settle every legal question.
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6. Follow the agreed payment and onboarding process
Use the payment schedule the parties agreed to. One operational workflow is to collect a deposit or first payment after signing and before starting work; that is a practical approach, not a universal legal rule. Do not substitute an unagreed payment demand for the terms in the proposal and agreement.
Once the required acceptance and payment steps are complete, confirm the start date, priorities, communication channel, and decision authority. Set up only the permissions needed for the work, using separate or delegated access limited to the task where the systems allow it. Record kickoff decisions briefly, and plan how access, records, and client data will be handled when the engagement ends.
Keep the workflow flexible without losing clarity
The point of proposal first, agreement second is to make the offer understandable before formalizing it, then make the signed terms consistent with the accepted offer. If the client asks for extra tasks or a changed price, pause and document the change—by revising the proposal or using a written amendment or addendum—before doing the additional work. An agency workflow describes written scope-change addenda, but the exact method should fit the agreement and applicable law.
Do not rely on the words “independent contractor” in a contract to determine worker status. For U.S. tax purposes, the Internal Revenue Service says, “What matters is that the employer has the legal right to control the details of how the services are performed.” The IRS says classification depends on the facts in each case; a contract label alone cannot settle every tax, labor, or classification issue (IRS, “Independent contractor defined”).
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