Planning calculator

Outsourcing cost calculator

Estimate the first-month and ongoing cost of an offshore role before you hire. Start with simple assumptions, then use the role table below to catch scope, tools, training, and review costs that owners often miss.

Role cost estimate

Pick a role and estimate the monthly cost.

Choose the role that is closest to what you need. Then adjust hours, pay, tools, setup time, and review time to fit your situation.

These are planning numbers, not promises. Replace them with your own rates, hours, and tool costs when you have them.

Showing 4 of 15 matching role presets.
Compare two role presets before you decide
Preset comparison

Compare common first roles.

Choose the closest role, then adjust the hours, review time, setup work, and risk.

These are planning examples, not salary promises.

Admin assistant

Scheduling, inbox help, simple research, CRM cleanup, and weekly admin tasks.

Weekly hours
20
Review time
Light to medium review
Risk to plan for
Vague tasks, inbox access, and missed details.
First-month setup
Task list, examples, and calendar or inbox rules.
Ongoing/month
$1,526
First month
$1,901
Read the role guide

Ecommerce customer support assistant

Ticket sorting, saved replies, order checks, refund routing, and escalation flags.

Weekly hours
30
Review time
Medium review
Risk to plan for
Refunds, angry customers, and bad replies.
First-month setup
Reply templates, escalation rules, and sample tickets.
Ongoing/month
$2,507
First month
$3,107
Read the role guide

Scheduling, inbox help, simple research, CRM cleanup, and weekly admin tasks.

Ongoing monthly estimate$1,526
First-month estimate$1,901
Offshore pay: $693Manager review: $650Tools/access: $45Risk buffer: $139First-month setup: $375
Copy this estimate

Use the same numbers when you ask for quotes.

Paste the summary into your role brief or provider email so every option prices the same work.

No data is saved. The summary only goes to your clipboard.

Next step before provider quotes

Turn this estimate into a role brief.

Use the same hours, tools, setup time, and review rules when you ask providers for quotes. That makes the replies easier to compare.

A planning review checks scope, review time, access, and assumptions. It does not turn this estimate into a quote.

Calculator assumptions

What the estimate includes, and what it does not promise.

The calculator is a planning tool. It helps you see the full first-month budget before a provider call, job post, or role-design sprint. It does not promise salary savings, hiring speed, or a perfect offshore match.

Input
How to use it
Watch for
Offshore hourly rate
Use the pay or vendor rate you expect to approve. If you do not have a quote yet, treat the preset as a rough planning number and replace it before hiring.
Low rates usually need more training, tighter SOPs, or more review time.
Weekly hours
Estimate only the repeat work the role will own in the first month. Leave future projects out until the first scope works.
A broad role with too few hours often creates slow replies and skipped quality checks.
Tools and access
Add paid seats, shared inbox tools, password managers, help-desk software, CRM seats, and any data-cleanup tools.
Free access can still carry risk if permissions are too wide or nobody reviews changes.
Manager review time
Price the time your internal reviewer spends checking work, answering questions, fixing misses, and updating SOPs.
The first month needs more review than month three. Do not pretend the handoff is fully hands-off.
Setup hours and buffer
Add one-time setup for SOP cleanup, examples, account access, training calls, and a buffer for rework or slower ramp time.
The buffer is not padding. It is a reminder that first-month handoffs rarely run perfectly.

If the estimate looks too low, check the scope before you cut the rate. Most first-role mistakes come from vague tasks, missing examples, weak access rules, or too little review time. Use the offshore review-load map before lowering the manager-review assumption. If timezone overlap changes the plan, compare the LATAM outsourcing guide before treating a rate as final.

Start with a common role

Pick a starting point, then adjust the details.

These presets give you a starting budget shape. Change the hours, tools, training, and review time to match the work you actually need done.

Role
Work scope
Costs to include
Readiness check
Admin or virtual assistantPlan this first VA role
Inbox help, scheduling, CRM cleanup, simple research, and weekly admin reports.
Part-time or hourly pay, tool access, SOP setup, and a few review blocks each week.
Best when you can name the first 5 to 8 tasks and show what done looks like.
Executive assistant supportPlan EA support
Inbox triage, calendar prep, meeting packets, vendor follow-up, draft replies, and weekly owner briefs.
Limited inbox and calendar access, owner review time, privacy rules, meeting-prep examples, and access setup.
Best when sensitive replies, money, legal, hiring, travel, and relationship decisions stay with the owner.
Customer support assistantPlan ecommerce support
Ticket sorting, first-draft replies, order-status updates, return intake, and risky-case flags.
Coverage hours, help-desk seats, store access, saved replies, training calls, and sample-ticket checks.
Best when reply templates, refund boundaries, escalation rules, and support examples already exist.
Technical support specialistPlan technical support
Tier-1 tickets, setup questions, bug-note cleanup, help-center links, and clear escalation notes.
Help-desk seats, product walkthrough time, access limits, saved replies, QA samples, and engineer review time.
Best when the rep can separate repeat setup help from bugs, outages, billing issues, and engineering decisions.
Software development supportPlan software support
QA notes, bug intake, release checklist updates, docs cleanup, backlog prep, and access handoff notes.
Repo or project-tool access, staging seats, QA tool costs, senior review time, setup calls, and rework buffer.
Best when code ownership, architecture, security, merge approval, and final deploy decisions stay with technical leads.
Finance / admin assistantPlan finance admin scope
Invoice prep, receipt matching, payment tracking, data entry, and finance admin follow-up.
Limited accounting access, approval rules, review time, documentation cleanup, and manager-owned payment controls.
Best when payments, payroll, tax, and bank access stay controlled while the assistant prepares records for review.
Bookkeeper support specialistPlan bookkeeper support
Receipt sorting, invoice prep, vendor notes, month-end packet cleanup, and finance inbox follow-up.
Accounting seat access, approval limits, sample checks, reviewer time, and month-end documentation cleanup.
Best when final books, tax, payroll, payments, and bank changes stay with a qualified reviewer.
Accounts payable support assistantPlan accounts payable support
Invoice intake, duplicate checks, three-way-match prep, vendor-record cleanup, approval packets, and exception lists.
Limited accounting access, invoice volume, source-document setup, reviewer time, sample checks, and a first-month buffer.
Best when payments, bank changes, tax calls, overrides, credits, write-offs, and final invoice approval stay with the finance owner.
Procurement operations support assistantPlan procurement support
Purchase-request checks, quote logs, supplier files, purchase-order drafts, delivery follow-up, renewals, and exception notes.
Limited purchasing access, request volume, quote rules, buyer review time, sample checks, tool seats, and a first-month buffer.
Best when supplier selection, negotiation, contracts, purchase approval, bank changes, order release, and payments stay with named owners.
Vendor master data support assistantPlan vendor data support
Supplier intake, required-field checks, duplicate candidates, document follow-up, change packets, and exception reports.
Limited vendor-system access, intake volume, source rules, secure document storage, finance review time, and sample checks.
Best when supplier approval, tax review, bank verification, record merges, activation, ownership, and payments stay with named owners.
Accountant support assistantPlan accountant support
Tax packet prep, close checklist support, source-document gathering, exception notes, and review-ready schedules.
Restricted accounting access, source-document rules, reviewer time, month-end examples, and approval boundaries.
Best when tax, payroll, journal entries, payments, filings, and final accounting judgment stay with the owner or accountant.
Payroll admin supportPlan payroll admin scope
Timesheet checks, payroll packet prep, employee record lists, benefits document chasing, and exception logs.
Payroll or HRIS access limits, reviewer time, approval rules, sensitive-data handling, setup checks, and error-review buffer.
Best when final payroll approval, pay changes, tax filings, bank changes, and compliance decisions stay with qualified or internal owners.
Legal admin assistantPlan legal admin support
Intake cleanup, file organization, document checklists, calendar drafts, billing packets, and status notes for review.
Restricted tool access, SOP setup, confidentiality rules, reviewer time, sample checks, and change-log review.
Best when advice, filings, deadlines, privilege, final client messages, and money decisions stay with the firm.
Healthcare admin support assistantPlan healthcare admin scope
Scheduling support, intake prep, records cleanup, billing follow-up prep, and patient-message sorting.
Limited system access, privacy training, SOP setup, approved scripts, audit checks, and manager review time.
Best when clinical, billing, privacy, and patient-facing decisions stay with approved healthcare staff.
CRM or sales ops assistantPlan CRM sales ops scope
Lead-list cleanup, CRM updates, follow-up reminders, pipeline notes, and simple reports.
CRM seats, list volume, required fields, follow-up rules, review time, and data cleanup time.
Best when pipeline stages and handoff rules are already written.
Revenue operations support assistantPlan revenue operations support
Source checks, cross-system reconciliation, locked report refreshes, correction logs, and owner exception queues.
CRM and reporting seats, source setup, matching rules, owner review time, sample checks, and a first-month buffer.
Best when metrics, sources, formulas, cutoffs, matching keys, and report templates are approved before the role starts.
HR or recruiting coordinatorPlan HR support
Candidate scheduling, resume tagging, interview reminders, onboarding packet checks, job-post updates, and recruiter CRM cleanup.
ATS seats, calendar access, template setup, recruiter review time, interview-volume swings, and compliance boundaries.
Best when hiring decisions, compensation, employment rules, and final candidate judgment stay with the business.
Content operations assistantPlan marketing admin
Post formatting, asset uploads, link checks, brief prep, and publishing checklist updates.
CMS access, editor review time, asset sources, publishing volume, and checklist setup.
Best when the editor owns final approval and the assistant has examples to follow.
Social media support assistantPlan social support
Approved post scheduling, asset matching, comment sorting, inbox triage, and weekly status notes.
Scheduler seats, asset folders, reply rules, channel count, UTM checks, review time, and limited access setup.
Best when brand voice, final captions, sensitive replies, ad spend, and account settings stay with the owner.
Paid-search reports, search-term notes, landing-page QA, UTM checks, screenshots, and campaign QA logs.
Reporting views, screenshot folders, QA checklists, marketer review time, landing-page checks, and access limits.
Best when budget, bidding, targeting, tracking edits, launch approval, and final ad claims stay with the marketer.
Agency operations supportPlan agency systems
Report prep, CRM updates, lead-list cleanup, content uploads, and client handoff tasks.
Weekly task volume, tool access, templates, reviewer time, and any client-risk work.
Best when one service process is already clear and someone owns final review.

Not sure which role fits? Start with the outsourcing roles directory to compare scope, readiness, and risks before estimating cost.

These are planning examples, not salary promises. Local pay, offshore rates, hours, seniority, industry risk, tools, training, and review time all change the final budget.

Before you calculate

Answer four questions first.

  • Which repeatable work will the role own in the first 30 days?
  • How many examples or SOPs can the new hire follow on day one?
  • Who reviews risky output, and how often does that review happen?
  • What result would make the role worth keeping after 30 days?
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