You’re paying for executive assistant support, but something feels off. 

The hours don’t add up. Your assistant seems rushed to hit a time quota instead of actually helping you. Or maybe you’re the one providing EA services and wondering why clients keep leaving after a few months.

What’s the best way to structure a retainer for executive assistant services? 

The answer lies in building a partnership that rewards efficiency and quality over time tracking.

TL;DR – What’s the Best Way to Structure a Retainer for Executive Assistant Services? 

Structure your retainer around resources and value, not hours worked. We recommend a fixed monthly retainer based on a fractional commitment (like one-third of an assistant’s capacity) rather than tracking billable hours.

This approach does three things:

  • First, it gives you predictable monthly costs. 
  • Second, it encourages your assistant to work smarter, not slower. 
  • Third, it builds long-term relationships because your assistant earns a consistent income without chasing hours.

Pay your assistant fairly – ideally, 70-75% of the retainer should go directly to them. This ensures you’re working with experienced professionals who stick around.

Transparency matters. Both you and your assistant should know exactly how compensation breaks down.

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Why Businesses Prefer Retainer-Based Executive Assistant Services

Retainer-based services give you financial predictability.

When you pay a fixed monthly rate, you can plan your annual budget without surprises. Your January costs match your July costs. No unexpected spikes when projects get busy or dips when things slow down.

According to a Harvard Business Review study, corporate budgeting processes consume a large amount of executives’ time, forcing them into endless rounds of meetings and negotiations.

Retainers solve this problem by providing cost certainty.

But the real benefit goes deeper than budgeting. Retainers shift the focus from counting hours to delivering results.

Think about it. When your assistant bills by the hour, what’s their incentive? To work more hours. When they figure out how to book your travel in 20 minutes instead of an hour, they just cost themselves money.

A retainer changes this dynamic completely. Your assistant can focus on getting better, faster, and more valuable – without worrying that efficiency will hurt their paycheck.

Resource-based retainers work especially well because they value three things that hourly billing ignores:

  1. Experience: A seasoned executive assistant brings 10-15 years of knowledge to your business. That expertise doesn’t show up on a timesheet.
  2. Exclusivity: When an assistant limits their client load to two or three people, you get dedicated attention. Your needs don’t compete with a dozen other clients.
  3. Legacy Knowledge: Over time, your assistant learns your preferences, your business patterns, and your communication style. This accumulated knowledge makes them exponentially more valuable. But it’s invisible in an hourly model.

We structure our retainers at ProAssisting around these principles. Our clients get fractional access to an experienced professional who knows their business inside and out. 

If you’re ready to experience high-level support without the overhead of a full-time employee, explore how ProAssisting can work for you.

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Key Elements of a Retainer Agreement for Executive Assistant Services

A solid retainer agreement protects both parties and sets clear expectations. Your agreement should cover the essentials while leaving room for the partnership to evolve naturally.

Here are the elements every retainer agreement needs:

  • Scope of Services: Define what your assistant will handle across the five performance multipliers – business partner, chief of staff, project manager, assistant/scheduler, and personal assistant duties. Be specific enough to set boundaries but flexible enough to adapt as needs change.
  • Resource Commitment: Specify whether you’re working with one-third, one-half, or full-time capacity. At ProAssisting, one-third capacity means your assistant dedicates roughly that portion of their total client load to you, not a strict hour count.
  • Communication Standards: Set response time expectations. We guarantee one-hour responses during business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, Monday through Friday). Clarify how after-hours support works – typically for travel situations or atypical needs, not daily occurrences.
  • Payment Terms: Document the monthly retainer amount, due date (typically the first of each month), and payment methods. Include provisions for mid-month starts and late payment consequences. Payments should be non-refundable since you’re reserving capacity, not buying hours.
  • Resource Adjustment Clause: Address what happens when the workload consistently exceeds the agreed capacity. If you exceed your fractional commitment by 10% or more for two consecutive months, both parties should discuss either scaling back or increasing the retainer.
  • Expense Reimbursement: Clarify which expenses fall outside the retainer. Office supplies, vendor payments, shipping costs, and similar items typically get billed separately. Set a threshold (like $50) above which your assistant needs written approval before incurring costs.
  • Termination Notice: Both parties need an exit strategy. A 20-day notice period works well – if you provide notice with less than 20 days before the next billing cycle, the following month’s payment becomes due as you wrap up and transition.
  • Confidentiality and Data Security: Your assistant handles sensitive information. Include non-disclosure provisions and data handling protocols to protect both parties.
  • Client Access Requirements: Specify that you’ll provide delegate access to your email, calendar, and contacts systems. Your assistant can’t provide proper support without access to your information.
  • Review Schedule: Build in quarterly or annual check-ins to assess the partnership and make adjustments. Regular reviews help maintain a healthy and productive relationship.
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How to Decide the Right Retainer Model 

Resource-based retainers beat hourly models every time.

Here’s why. When you structure a retainer around hours (say, 30 hours per month at $60 per hour), you create problems for everyone.

Hourly models create three major issues:

  • Time Tracking Becomes a Burden: Your assistant tracks time obsessively. Did that email take three minutes or five? Should they round up or down? The administrative burden alone wastes valuable time.
  • Efficiency Gets Punished: When your assistant gets more efficient, they earn less money. Found a better system for managing your calendar? Great, that just cost them billable hours.
  • Unused Hours Disappear: What happens when they only work 28 hours in a month instead of 30? Most companies pocket the difference. Your assistant doesn’t see it, and you don’t get a refund. The service provider just made money for work that didn’t happen.

Resource-based retainers eliminate these issues.

You pay for access to a portion of your assistant’s capacity: one-third, one-half, or full-time. The exact hours fluctuate based on what you need that week, but the monthly cost stays consistent.

Some weeks, your assistant might put in 20 hours because you’re launching a major project. Other weeks, it’s only eight hours because you’re traveling. Over time, it balances out.

This model works because it values results over time spent. It allows executive assistants to add real value by focusing on solving your problems efficiently rather than stretching tasks to hit a quota.

The exclusivity factor matters too. When you structure retainers around resources, your assistant naturally limits their client load. They can’t take on 12 clients at one-third capacity each. The math doesn’t work, and the quality would suffer.

We limit our ProAssistants to a maximum of three clients. This ensures each client gets dedicated attention and the assistant doesn’t burn out trying to serve too many people.

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How to Price Executive Assistant Retainer Packages 

Pricing should reflect the assistant’s experience, not just market rates.

Many companies play a dangerous game. They charge clients premium rates – sometimes $60 to $100 per hour – then pay their assistants $20 to $30 per hour. The company keeps 50-70% of the revenue.

This creates massive problems:

  • Experienced assistants won’t work for low wages: The ones who do are either inexperienced or won’t stick around. Your assistant churns out after six months, and you’re back to square one.
  • Fair compensation attracts top talent: We pass more than 75% of the retainer directly to the assistant. Our current pricing is $3,300 per month for one-third of a ProAssistant’s capacity. The assistant receives approximately $2,475 of that. This compensation model attracts and retains truly experienced professionals – people with 10-15-20 years of executive-level support experience.
  • The math makes sense when you consider what you’re really buying: An in-house executive assistant with comparable experience typically costs $75,000 to $100,000 annually, plus benefits, office space, equipment, and overhead. That’s roughly $6,250 to $8,333 per month for full-time support.

For one-third capacity at $3,300 monthly, you’re paying less than half what a full-time assistant would cost. And you’re getting someone who brings experience from multiple industries and executives.

Fair compensation creates stability. When assistants earn appropriate wages, they don’t leave for better opportunities. They stay, learn your business deeply, and become exponentially more valuable over time.

When pricing your packages, start with what an experienced assistant should earn. Then add a reasonable margin for overhead, matching services, and business operations. 

We keep our margin around 25%, which covers our costs. Assistants are also paid what they deserve.

Don’t race to the bottom on price. You’ll end up with inexperienced assistants who view your engagement as a stepping stone, not a career.

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How to Create Transparent Payment Terms 

Transparency builds trust. Both you and your assistant should know exactly how compensation breaks down.

Most service providers hide these numbers. They don’t want clients asking why the assistant only gets 30% of the retainer. They don’t want assistants knowing that other companies pay better.

We believe transparency is non-negotiable:

  • Share Compensation Splits Openly: The client knows how much goes to their ProAssistant. The assistant is aware of the client’s payment. At ProAssisting, clients know we pass 75% directly to their assistant.
  • Clarify Payment Schedules: Bill monthly, due on the first. Ensure that both parties are aware of exactly when charges are incurred and when assistants are paid.
  • Address Unused Capacity Upfront: With resource-based retainers, some months are busier than others. You’re paying for access and availability, not just hours worked. Your assistant reserves that capacity for you even during slower periods.
  • Document Everything in Writing: Put payment amounts, schedules, compensation splits, and expectations in your retainer agreement. Don’t rely on verbal understanding. Proper documentation during the executive assistant onboarding process sets clear expectations from day one.

Here’s the question every client should ask before signing: 

How much is the assistant I’m directly partnered with being paid? Not how much am I paying the company, but how much goes to my assistant? 

That answer tells you everything about the quality of support you’ll receive.

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Best Practices to Maintain Long-Term Retainer Relationships

Long-term partnerships create exponential value, but they require intentional effort. 

Here are the practices that turn a working relationship into a genuine partnership:

  • Pay Fair Wages: We can’t stress this enough. When assistants earn fair wages, they stay. When they stay, they learn your business deeply. That accumulated knowledge makes them worth far more than their monthly retainer. We know we’re saying this again and again – but that’s because it’s that important.
  • Communicate Consistently: Schedule regular check-ins—weekly at minimum, daily if possible. Use these conversations to share upcoming priorities, give feedback, and stay aligned. Don’t wait until something goes wrong.
  • Delegate Meaningful Work: Include your assistant in strategic discussions. Ask for their input on projects. Treat them as a business partner. The clients who get the most value are the ones who use their executive assistants in high-level thinking.
  • Set Clear Boundaries, Stay Flexible: Define core working hours and response time expectations, then respect that structure. Don’t send non-urgent emails at 11 p.m. and expect immediate responses unless you’ve discussed after-hours support.
  • Review and Adjust Regularly: Schedule quarterly business reviews to assess what’s working and what needs to change. Your business evolves, your needs shift, and your partnership should adapt accordingly.
  • Share Context Early: Give your assistant information about upcoming projects before they’re urgent. Include them in relevant meetings. The more they understand your business, the more proactively they can support you.
  • Recognize Good Work: A simple “great job on that presentation” or “thanks for catching that mistake” goes a long way. Your assistant is a person, not a service. Treat them accordingly.
  • Honor Your Commitments: Pay on time, every time. Give proper notice if something needs to change. Respect your assistant’s time and boundaries just as you expect them to respect yours.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are answers to common questions about structuring retainers for executive assistant services:

What is the Best Way to Communicate Value in a Retainer Proposal?

Be honest and specific about what you offer. Share real examples of your experience, explain how you’ll integrate into their workflow, and be transparent about compensation. 

Inform prospects about the percentage of their retainer that will be allocated directly to the assistant.

Can a Retainer Be Adjusted Based on Workload Changes?

Yes, and good agreements should include adjustment provisions. 

If your needs change, you can increase or decrease the fractional commitment with proper notice – typically 30 days.

How Do You Measure ROI on Executive Assistant Retainers?

Track the hours you’ve reclaimed and multiply by your hourly rate or revenue per hour. If you bill at $300 per hour and delegate 10 hours weekly, that’s $12,000 in reclaimed capacity each month – far more than most retainer costs.

Generally, outsourcing executive assistants provides greater financial returns over time than hiring in-house.

Conclusion

The right retainer structure is where both parties win.

At ProAssisting, we’ve built our business around these principles. Our ProAssistants bring a minimum of five years of executive-level experience from globally recognized brands (J.Crew, Fidelity, Target, Oracle, and more). 

We’re a 2025 Inc. 5000 company ranked No. 2,466, providing access to elite talent at 50-80% less than hiring in-house. You get exceptional support from a ProAssistant who becomes a true extension of you and your team. 

Schedule your free consultation and discover what a ProAssistant can do for you.