The modern executive's day is a constant battle for time. Our 2024 Executive Productivity Report puts this challenge into perspective: 53% of executives need help with administrative tasks.
Yet for many businesses, hiring a full-time executive assistant isn't the answer. Salary and benefits are a hefty investment, and many executives don't need 40 hours of consistent support each week. This is where fractional executive assistants come in — a cost-effective solution that's helping businesses of all sizes get the administrative support they need when they need it most.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about fractional executive assistants — what they are, what they do, and how they can elevate your business.
Table of Contents
- What is a Fractional Executive Assistant?
- What Does a Fractional Executive Assistant Do?
- Benefits of a Fractional Executive Assistant Service
- Who Can Benefit from Fractional Executive Assistants?
- When Fractional Support Isn’t the Right Choice
- Introducing Prialto
What is a Fractional Executive Assistant?
A fractional executive assistant is a specialized form of outsourcing. Essentially, it’s an outsourced assistant who manages all of your executive administrative work.
Typically, fractional EAs work with C-suite executives, VPs, team leads, and entrepreneurs on a part-time basis to support their businesses. They usually work with 2-3 different busy executives, giving them dedicated attention throughout each workday. This is where the term "fractional" comes from – you're getting a fraction of their time rather than a full 40-hour workweek.
Less hours doesn’t mean less dedicated, though. Fractional executive assistants aren't temporary helpers or your average run-of-the-mill virtual assistants. They are experienced professionals with unique skill sets who build long-term relationships with their clients. Just like an in-house EA would, they get to know your business, understand your preferences, and deliver consistent, high-quality support over time. Many executives work with their fractional assistants for years – the only difference from a full-time assistant being the number of hours worked per week.
It’s the ideal solution for busy professionals who are overwhelmed with admin work, but don’t need full 40-hour-a-week support.
Understanding the Vocabulary
The world of administrative support can feel like alphabet soup. Here’s a quick breakdown of some key vocabulary you’re likely to encounter:
- Business process outsourcing (BPO): Think of this as the big umbrella. It covers everything from executive assistant services to IT support. It's basically any business function you can delegate or outsource to external experts.
- Virtual assistants: These are your digital-age administrative assistants. Working remotely, they can be either full-time or fractional. They're masters of getting things done from anywhere with an internet connection, from calendar management to data entry and more.
- Fractional executive assistants: These are the specialized players in the virtual assistant world. They focus specifically on executive support, bringing high-level expertise to the table on a part-time basis. While they usually work virtually, some fractional executive assistants can work in the office too.
Your options for outsourcing admin support are as varied as your needs. Some assistants work per task (typically the least engaged option). Some are managed services (like Prialto!) where you get a primary assistant, backup support, and access to an Engagement manager. The option that’s right for your business will depend on your unique business processes and needs.
What Does a Fractional Executive Assistant Do?
Fractional executive assistants perform many of the same tasks as full-time, in-person executive assistants. Their job is to help executives stay organized, manage their time, and focus on high-value work. Here are some of the many tasks they can handle:
- Calendar management
- Email inbox management
- Travel planning
- Expense management
- Bookkeeping
- Meeting preparation
- Document creation and management
- Project coordination
- CRM and campaign management
- Data entry
- Research and data analysis
- Personal task management
- Time management
- And more
Your fractional virtual assistant (at least at Prialto) integrates directly into your systems and workflows, working as an extension of your team. They get to know your preferences and processes so they can make your life easier.
Beyond direct executive support, they can also provide admin support to your sales, marketing, and HR teams—really they can help anywhere admin work builds up and starts to negatively impact productivity.
Benefits of a Fractional Executive Assistant Service
Fractional support offers numerous benefits to your productivity and even to your bottom-line. Here’s just a few of the ways they can positively impact your business:
- Financial benefits: Want executive-level support without executive-level costs? That's the beauty of going fractional. You get top-tier expertise without the full-time salary, benefits, and overhead.
- Time management: Imagine getting hours of your day back. No more getting lost in email threads or wrestling with your calendar. Your fractional EA handles the details so you can focus on strategic initiatives.
- Flexibility: Business needs change, and your support should too. Fractional services flex with you – scale up during busy seasons, scale down when things are quieter.
- Access to expertise: These aren't entry-level admins. Fractional EAs bring years of experience and best practices from working with multiple executives. It's like getting a productivity consultant and assistant rolled into one.
- Ability to diversify expertise: Do you have multiple different tasks you need to tackle? Payroll and calendar management? Travel planning and CRM management? With a fractional model you can hire multiple fractional virtual assistants to focus on your different admin needs!
- Scalability: As your business grows, your support can grow with you. Start with a few hours a week and expand as needed – no need to jump straight to a full-time hire.
Who Can Benefit from Fractional Executive Assistants?
If you've ever wished for a clone to handle all the administrative stuff while you focus on growing your business, a fractional EA might be your answer. They're not just for CEOs – any leader or team member drowning in administrative work can benefit from this flexible support, including:
- Small business owners
- Startup teams
- Sales and marketing leaders
- Operations managers
- Project managers
They’re also effective for companies of every size, from startup or single-person ventures to enterprise teams looking to focus on high-growth initiatives.
Here are some great case studies featuring companies of different sizes, industries, and needs and how they integrated fractional VAs into their workflows!
- Zus Health – worked with five fractional assistants to save 275 hours a month, accelerate recruiting, and reduce the administrative burden on their staff
- Harvey Public School District – offloaded office tasks from district administrators to empower them to refocus on core responsibilities and engagement with the schools
- Woodruff Sawyer – worked with 19 Prialto assistants to offload process-oriented administrative tasks to focus on their clients and prospects
When Can You Benefit from a Virtual Assistant?
How do you know it’s time to bring in a fractional executive assistant? Here are some common signs:
- You spend 3+ hours daily on email and scheduling: When basic email management and calendar coordination consume more than 15 hours of your work week, a fractional EA can cut that time in half. Watch for signs like regularly missing important emails, double-booking meetings, or spending your evenings catching up on inbox management. Even if you’re getting it done, if email and calendar management is causing you stress, it could still be a big problem.
- Administrative tasks are pushing strategic work aside: Count how many times this week you've postponed important projects or client meetings because of administrative deadlines. If you're consistently choosing between preparing for a board meeting and processing expense reports, or between strategic planning and organizing travel arrangements, it's time for support.
- Your response times are slowing down: If you regularly need more than 24 hours to reply to key stakeholders, or if you're missing deadlines for routine paperwork, a fractional EA can help you stay on top of these commitments.
- You're working nights and weekends on basic tasks: If you're spending evenings and weekends organizing files, updating contact lists, or scheduling meetings, that’s a recipe for burnout. These are tasks a fractional EA can handle during business hours, protecting your work-life balance.
- You need specialized support during specific times: Note which weeks or months your administrative workload spikes. If you need extra help during tax season, annual planning, or quarterly reporting periods, a fractional EA can provide targeted support during these peak times without the commitment of a full-time hire.
When Fractional Support Isn’t the Right Choice
Fractional support isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. You might need a full-time assistant if:
- Your business requires deep, industry-specific knowledge that takes months to learn
- You need more than 30 hours of support per week
- You frequently need someone physically present in your office
- Your operations involve highly sensitive, in-person tasks
If you need full-time support you have three main options: hiring an in-house EA, outsourcing to multiple fractional virtual assistants, or hiring a full-time virtual executive assistant!
Learn more: To explore Prialto’s Full-Time Dedicated Virtual Assistants, schedule a call with our team.
Introducing Prialto
At Prialto, we offer both fractional and full-time executive assistant services to help businesses boost productivity. Our managed service approach includes:
- A dedicated virtual assistant
- Backup support to ensure continuity
- Internal leadership for task prioritization
- An engagement manager for ongoing consultation
Many virtual assistant services are effectively matchmakers—matching executives with freelance virtual assistants. Our model is a little different. All our assistants are full-time Prialto employees with salary, benefits, Prialto-managed technology, and paid time off. This gives us the power to vet, coach, and continuously develop our team so we can provide you with a consistent, reliable, high-quality experience.
Our assistants are trained to deliver proactive, reliable support tailored to your specific needs. We don’t just tackle tasks; we help you manage your processes and maximize your administrative efficiency.
Ready to hire a dedicated virtual executive assistant?