Resources & Tools
Rise Up & Lead Well
How Leveraging An Assistant Will Change Your Life & Maximize Your Time
A new ebook to eliminate the uncertainty and get a clear plan for how to effectively use an assistant. This isn’t fluff, theory, or pure inspiration. It’s battle-tested tactics directly from our CEO.
Book
One Next Step Podcast
The Small Business Mentor You've Always Wanted
Are you ready to get more done and see more results? One Next Step is the most practical business podcast in the world. We aim to provide takeaways and actionable insights for you every single week so you can affect change in your business as soon as possible.
Podcast
Juggle Less
How To Maximize Your Inbox
Learn how to manage your email efficiently and effectively with some of our most tried-and-true tips, tricks, features, and tools to help you regain control of your inbox.
Course
Ultimate Virtual Assistant Master Class
Learn all things essential to becoming a rock star virtual assistant. We’re talking nuts-and-bolts, nitty-gritty, everything-you-need-to-know kind of information to equip you to become a virtual assistant with the confidence to pursue your dreams.
Course
Managing Remote Teams
Be the best at managing people who work remotely. Productivity does not have to wane. Culture does not have to suffer. Employee engagement does not have to dwindle. In fact, they can all thrive while working remote– and you can have fun, too! Successful remote leadership is possible. And this course shows you how.
Course
The Ultimate Guide to Working with a Bookkeeper
There are so many questions our clients have when they first start working with a Bookkeeper. We compiled the most often asked questions and concerns and addressed them here for you to gain a better understanding of what a Bookkeeper does (and doesn’t do).
Resource
The Ultimate Guide to Working with a Virtual Assistant
Life has a sneaky way of getting in the way of our best intentions. We know what we’re supposed to do – but often, we just can’t quite figure out how to do it. But as with any struggle or obstacle in life, the first step is admitting you have a problem: You may not have everything under control.
Resource
Your Personal Guide to a Productive Work Week
What does it mean to be productive?
Let this be the year you finally make the most of those precious 24 hours – both personally and professionally.
Resource
Case Studies
Listen. We think we’re pretty great, and that how we serve our clients is extraordinary. But you don’t have to take our word for it — take it from our clients!
Resource
Fresh from the BELAY Blog
Bri McKoy
Bri McKoy is an accidental home chef-turned-food blogger, kitchen teacher, and cookbook author.
Perfect Pairs: Success Stories from BELAY's Matchmaking
Finding the right specialist can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Businesses often struggle to identify the specific skill set they need, wade through countless resumes, and invest precious hours in interviewing â all with the looming uncertainty of whether or not this person is the perfect fit.
Pants Optional: How to Zoom Your Way to Your Best Hire
As leaders, few decisions carry a price as hefty as hiring the wrong person. It costs us time, money, productivity, morale, and, in extreme cases, relationships with clients and team members.
Say Yes To The Best: How To Hire The Right Accounting Professional For Your Business
In business, the role of a proficient Accounting Professional cannot be overstated. And finding the right match for your financial needs is a crucial step toward ensuring the success and sustainability of your enterprise.
Got a question? No problem.
Our team is here to help!
Well, that depends on you. It takes time to onboard your new team member. Your commitment to training them and giving them what they need will greatly impact how quickly they’re up and running. For most of our clients, it takes about 90 days.
We get it. Handing over the decision on who will work with you is a tough one. But what we also know, after helping people just like you, is that you don’t have time to devote to screening and setting up interviews. We have a customized system to match you to someone equipped to handle everything you need accomplished.
Your contractor’s hours can “ebb and flow” throughout the month. We just shoot to come in at the contracted amount at the end of the month. If they go over, we simply bill the extra hours, but they do not roll over to the next month. We track and report on those during on-boarding to make sure you are at a good amount of hours for the work needed.
Yes, you should set them up with a company email address. Having everyone on your team have the same email domain shows inclusion and builds trust. It’ll show they are acting on your behalf, too, if you have a Virtual Assistant who will be setting meetings for you.
Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. The more you set clear expectations and give feedback, the more your contractor can learn and understand the way you work. If you commit to sharing what you have going on, they will be able to find additional ways to better assist you.
Your Virtual Assistant is not a bookkeeper, however, he or she might be able to perform light expense and invoicing duties for you. We are happy to talk through our Virtual Bookkeeping service line with you to discover if this will be of benefit to you and your organization.
We’ve had clients introduce their new team members in many different ways. Consider having your contractor write up a short bio and send a photo for you to email out to your existing team. You can share how the contractor will be supporting you and the team, and include his/her bio and photo. It’s really important to include your contractor to your team calls/meetings, even if it is a live meeting and they join by Zoom.
Onboarding your new team member will take a commitment from you to invest time into their training. This includes training sessions with you and your contractor, transferring information you have about the projects or tasks they’ll be handling, and helping to connect the big picture to the day-to-day work.
You should over communicate – the more information you give, the faster your contractor can understand what is expected of them. Delegate and trust quickly – share log-ins and passwords. If you’re using a Virtual Assistant, give them access to your email and calendar right away.
Commit to make your Client Success Consultant check-ins and Calibration Calls a priority to assess progress, identify areas to tweak, celebrate wins, and talk through what’s next.
On average, a Contractor placement takes two weeks after the Discovery Call.
Train your Contractor, trust quickly, let go and delegate, share real-time feedback, celebrate and recognize when something is done well, make weekly 1:1s a priority, and treat your Contractor as part of the team.
We have a very thorough vetting process to ensure a great fit for BELAY and for you as our client. If you want the peace of mind from a background check, you have the option of running your own upon kick-off. Because of the scope of what our Bookkeepers do, they have a background check on file.
We do not do personality assessments, but we are confident in our matching magic to place a Contractor that complements your personality and communication style. If you want that extra layer to better understand how you both can collaborate and communicate, you are welcome to have your Contractor take one post kick-off.
While our Contractors come to BELAY very qualified and have extensive professional backgrounds, it takes time and intentionality on the client’s end to thoroughly onboard to ensure the engagement is set up for success. Example: While your Contractor may have had Salesforce experience in a previous role, they will still need training from you on how to utilize Salesforce in your company.
BELAY understands how important it is to protect you and your sensitive financial information. For our Bookkeepers, we have processes in place to properly vet each bookkeeper including conducting background checks and talking with their references to be sure we are placing a trustworthy bookkeeper with your organization. We have internal checks for compliance ensuring everything remains above board. If you have any additional questions about this, please ask! We can connect you with the people who have all the answers.
This is a common request and, yes, many Contractors assist with personal tasks as well as business. Be sure to mention what type of tasks you have in mind to your Client Success Consultant so we are sure to match you with a Contractor who has experience in those areas.