You are a founder or CEO looking to hire an executive assistant for your company. In that case, you might wonder how many principals each EA should handle at a time.
The EA should undertake most administrative roles, including scheduling, email communication, and calendar management, to help executives reclaim their time. This aligns with a recent Harvard Business Review report showing that CFOs can reclaim up to 20 hours per month by delegating reports, reconciliations, and unnecessary meetings.
Additionally, the EA should maintain seamless workflows for each executive, ensuring that no tasks slip through the cracks.
So what is the ideal client-to-assistant ratio for personalized support? The answer lies in the level of support each client needs.
TL;DR – What’s the Ideal Client to Assistant Ratio for Personalized Support?
Quick Answer: It depends. But as a 2025 Inc. 5000 company (ranked No. 2,466) with years of experience supporting C-suites, ProAssisting found that about 85% of executives can receive responsive, personalized support when in a 3-to-1 client-to-assistant ratio.
Factors that influence the ideal client-to-assistant ratio include:
- Level of support, i.e., administrative vs. personalized assistance
- Number of hours required weekly per client
- Complexity of the tasks, i.e., basic email management vs. tasks with strategic impact
- Technology and automation levels
Looking for an EA service that assigns several clients per assistant without compromising on support quality?
ProAssisting limits the client-to-assistant ratio to 3:1, allowing its fractional EAs to support each executive’s performance multipliers by functioning as a business partner, project manager, chief of staff, scheduler, and personal assistant.
The company follows a rigorous vetting process, accepting less than 5% of applicants. Also, all fractional executive assistants have at least 5 years of experience supporting executives at globally recognized brands such as J.Crew, Fidelity, and JPMorgan Chase.
Schedule your consultation to learn the ideal client-to-assistant ratio for your team.
Why 1:1 Isn’t the Only Model for Personalized Support
Many executives assume that they need a dedicated, full-time 1:1 arrangement with an EA to get truly personalized support. However, based on ProAssisting’s experience supporting C-suite executives at global brands like Oracle and JPMorgan, data shows that principals benefit more from streamlined workflows than from exclusive 1:1 arrangements.
Here’s why executives should reconsider the 1:1 support model:
- Honest Assessment of Actual Needs: Unless you’re running a Fortune 500 company while also sitting on multiple boards, you likely don’t need 40 hours of EA support, but rather 20 to 30.
- EA Work Includes Natural Downtime: The truth is that EAs have hours when they are “idle” as they wait for your feedback or say, guests to confirm attendance, when they can be supporting another principal.
- The Engagement Factor: An EA supporting only one executive can become disengaged after prolonged periods of downtime, losing their focus or perspective on best practices. This can result in the most routine tasks falling through the cracks.
overthebridge65 shared on Reddit about their struggle with prolonged downtime:
“I struggle when I’m in the office, I’ve taken to listening to podcasts or opening up a book on my browser. I hate having to look busy when I’ve nothing to do ☹️”
- The Economics of 1:1 Support: A 1:1 arrangement means paying a full EA salary, which can be anywhere between $65,000 and $120,000 annually. For many executives, this investment is difficult to justify, especially when the company has established structures, such as setting specific times for executive meetings across the board.
What Real Personalized Support Looks Like
Personalized support means getting what you need when you need it to optimize your performance multipliers. It requires a strong executive-assistant partnership, and your EA has executive-assistant superpowers that enable them to anticipate and address your needs without disrupting your schedule or productivity.
In the real world, personalized EA support requires the following:
- Understanding Your Communication Preferences: You should have a tiered communication system that instantly signals you or the EA whether an issue is urgent (SMS and call) or can wait for the next day (email and Slack).
- Effective Calendar Management: Your EA should be a pro at playing calendar Tetris, scheduling high-stakes meetings or deep work when you are sharpest, and time-blocking to let you unwind.
- Executive Support Perception: Exceptional EAs stay two steps ahead by anticipating their principals’ needs and finding solutions before the executive needs them.
- Omniscience: Elite EAs work with their principals to create or refine their workflows so that nothing falls through the cracks. An example is making a daily checklist for the executive assistant that outlines all the administrative tasks they should undertake.
- Translation: Personalized support requires mastering the “velvet no,” where EAs can refuse to take up more requests for the principal in a way that the person asking doesn’t feel dejected.
Why We Stand Behind the 3:1 Client to Assistant Ratio
ProAssisting’s 3:1 principal-to-assistant ratio isn’t arbitrary, but from experience leading teams of executive assistants across diverse organizational contexts. The 3-to-1 model was the sweet spot when balancing support quality, assistant sustainability, and executive satisfaction in at least 85% of cases.
And unsurprisingly, even executive assistants who are not affiliated with ProAssisting feel the same.
CounterproductiveArt shared their experience on Reddit about supporting three clients:
“I have 3, they’re all senior and very visible leaders at my company. I think it’s the perfect amount with all the usual cal/travel/expenses plus a handful of special projects and constant events/offsites. If one is on PTO I have more drop focus time, but this summer I was down to two since I was waiting for a backfill to start for my third and I was ready to pull my hair out from boredom over the 4 months lol.”
Here’s how the 3:1 client-to-assistant ratio sets ProAssisting’s business model apart:
Other Ratios Rarely Work
Through experience, ProAssisting has learned that higher client-to-assistant ratios (4:1, 5:1, 6:1, or 7:1) only work when executives need minimal day-to-day support, such as calendar management, without aiming to reclaim their time.
In contrast, there is only a one in 10 chance that an executive needs an EA’s 40 hours of support weekly, unless they have complex professional and personal relationships, or just like the idea of having their own assistant.
Download “The 29-hour Workday” to discover how the 3 to 1 EA model ratio enables deep personalization, proactive anticipation, and strategic partnership between principals and assistants, allowing the executives to reclaim up to 15 hours weekly.
The Attention Economics
Responsive executive support requires the EA to learn each executive’s Bible by heart, including their :
- Communication preferences
- Relationship dynamics with key stakeholders
- Calendar patterns
- Decision-making style
- Current strategic priorities
ProAssistants can master up to three clients’ executive support preferences, current priorities, and strategic focus at a time, without compromising on support quality.
Maintaining a Balanced Workflow Rhythm
Most executive workflow cycles operate on different rhythms, with some being busy in the morning, midday, or the late afternoon.
With three clients, fractional EAs can maintain consistent engagement during their shifts without getting bored (because of few clients) or overwhelmed (handling five or six principles simultaneously).
Tiered Bandwidth Model
Executives require different EA capacity, which can be grouped as ⅓, ½, or ⅔.
ProAssisting understands that executive demands aren’t static, so the 3:1 model isn’t set in stone. It only caps the number of clients an EA can support simultaneously.
For example, an executive who requires ⅔ of an EA’s capacity can share the assistant with only one other principal who requires ⅓ of the EA’s capacity.
The Ratio Attracts Elite EAs to ProAssisting
Some assistant services try to assign up to six clients per EA, without proportional compensation. This affects the EAs’ job satisfaction and motivation, which undermines the support executives receive.
ProAssisting’s 3:1 client-to-assistant ratio demonstrates that the company values its EAs’ well-being by fostering an environment where they can flourish. Additionally, ProAssistants retain up to 75% of the $3,300 monthly retainer. This means a ProAssistant at full capacity earns about $89,000 annually, which is 28.5% higher than the average EA salary in the United States, currently at $69,280.
Why a fractional EA?
The fractional model offers the best option for most executives, as they can enjoy exceptional EA support without the burden of paying a full-time EA’s salary. You can later increase your support bandwidth as your professional and personal life demands increase.
Boost your productivity with a fractional executive assistant.
How to Know It’s Time to Adjust Your Support Ratio
Your executive support needs are expected to evolve as your business grows, your role changes, or your priorities shift. For example, a startup founder might need ⅓ of an EA’s capacity during the early stages, but may require more bandwidth (½ or ⅔ of an EA’s capacity) as they enter into seed rounds.
Conversely, an entrepreneur who needed 30 hours of EA support per week might bring in a managing director, cutting their assistant’s capacity in half.
Signs You Should Increase Your Support Ratio
Here are the telltale signs you don’t need 1:1 executive support:
- Your EA Spends Hours Without Meaningful Work: EA work naturally includes periods of waiting for the executive’s instructions or responses from stakeholders. However, if you EA clears the delegated executive assistant tasks by midday, you are paying for capacity you don’t need and should opt for a 3:1 arrangement.
- Predictable Administrative Needs: If your support needs only require basic email triage and occasional travel arrangements, consider transitioning from a full-time to part-time executive assistant, leaving you without the overhead of paying for 40 hours when you use only half.
- You Are Creating New Tasks To Keep Your EA Busy: Over time, you might realize that you don’t have enough high-value work to justify a full-time EA. Consider hiring a remote executive assistant to take administrative tasks off your plate, helping you reclaim at least 15 hours every week.
Signs You Should Reduce Your Support Ratio
Executives currently using ⅓ or ½ of an EA’s capacity might also need to increase their support under various circumstances:
- EA Takes Over an Hour to Respond: At ProAssisting, one of the hallmarks of responsive support is receiving a response within an hour, especially during office hours. So if your EA takes several hours to respond because they are overwhelmed with other tasks, it might be time to bump up your EA capacity.
- Handling Tasks That Should be Delegated: Do you have an EA, but still end up doing some tasks to reduce their workload? If you are using ⅓ of your EA’s capacity, consider adjusting to ½ or ⅔ to reclaim more time for yourself.
- Frequency of Mistakes: Elite EAs don’t just start forgetting to schedule their meetings or get back to a vendor. On most occasions, they are overwhelmed, which should prompt you to increase the number of hours they support you per week.
Optimizing Your Assistant Ratio for Evolving Needs
What makes the ProAssisting fractional model so effective is recognizing that support needs evolve with changes in the executive’s professional and personal demands.
For example, approximately 45% of ProAssisting clients increase their EA bandwidth as the partnership progresses, such as from ⅓ to ½ or from ⅔ to 1:1. This approach allows executives to start slowly and experience the value of partnering with a high-level EA, after which they can scale up or down based on their support needs.
ProAssisting helps you match your EA capacity to your executive needs, so you receive responsive support that enables you to reclaim your time:
- ProAssistant Expertise: All fractional EAs have 5+ years of experience supporting CEOs, startup founders, public figures, and C-suite executives.
- Rapid Responsiveness: EAs maintain a 1-hour communication turnaround time during U.S. business hours and are flexible to accommodate executive requests after hours when needed.
- Fair Pay: ProAssistants retain up to 75% of the monthly retainer clients pay, helping them stay motivated to provide responsive support to their principals.
- Seamless Onboarding: ProAssisting helps clients onboard executive assistants effectively so they can hit the ground running and start reclaiming their time.
Want to see how a resource-based model works? Explore your options here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Below are common questions about the ideal client-to-assistant ratio:
Is a Higher Client-to-Assistant Ratio Less Responsive?
It depends. A higher client-to-assistant ratio can be just as responsive as other EA models, but with the proper guardrails.
For example, clients may not be allowed to use their EAs as personal assistants, which increases responsiveness but reduces the number of hours clients can reclaim.
Is Confidentiality Still Maintained with Multiple Clients?
Absolutely. Exceptional EAs understand the importance of confidentiality in the executive assistant role and adhere to strict protocols established by their principals.
Executive assistants manage confidential information in several ways:
- Using secure channels
- Setting strong passwords
- Taking physical security measures
- Ongoing training
Can I Move From 1:1 EA Support Without Losing Productivity?
Yes. You can move from 1:1 EA support to using ⅓, ½, or ⅔ of an EA’s capacity without losing productivity.
However, you must adjust your expectations to the new model by understanding that the EA will also be supporting one or more principals simultaneously.
Who Benefits Most from the 3:1 Client-to-Assistant Ratio?
The 3:1 client-to-assistant ratio is expected to benefit both parties involved (principals and EAs). On the one hand, clients receive responsive EA support without incurring the cost of hiring an in-house assistant, which often includes a full-time EA salary, additional office space, and equipment.
On the other hand, EAs receive competitive wages and are exposed to diverse work styles, communication preferences, and organizational systems, which help them refine their assistant skills.
Conclusion
The ideal client-to-assistant ratio ensures each executive receives the support they need when they need it. A high ratio overwhelms your EA, increasing their risk of burnout. In contrast, a 1:1 executive-assistant partnership results in underutilized EA capacity, losing your company money.
ProAssisting uses the 3:1 client-to-assistant ratio, which has been proven to be optimal through practice, not theory. Each remote EA can support three principals on a fractional basis, performing up to 95% of the roles an in-house assistant would handle.
Book a personalized call to see if the 3:1 client-to-assistant model is a good fit for you.
