Commonly Asked Questions

Parkes BPO Solutions is an outsourcing and offshoring company based in Cebu City, Philippines. We match businesses with outsourced staff and virtual assistants (“VAs”) who can provide accounting, bookkeeping, administrative support, credit support, paralegal, legal support, lead generation, and digital marketing work so you can have more time to focus on growing your business. 

To know more about us, please check out our About page. 

The cost of outsourcing depends on many variables, including the amount and type of work you will need for your business. 

We estimate though that you can save up to 60% when you outsource with us. This will include savings not only on salary but also on infrastructure (I.T., equipment, utilities, and rent) and management costs (HR and accountants) to accommodate your VAs. 

We encourage our clients to be upfront on the work that they need to get done, the goals they want to accomplish for their business, and the budget they have allotted for outsourced service. 

We try to cultivate an honest and open communication with our clients so that no money will be wasted on work that do not produce results. 

Parkes BPO offers our services to small- and medium- businesses, who are looking to save cost on hefty employment salary, office maintenance and rent, and other administration cost in running a business.

Currently, our clients list includes a debt collection agency, a commercial dispute law firm, an ASX-listed financing company, a recruitment specialist, a TV/media company, and an allied health care provider.

Parkes BPO can match you with assistants providing you with accounting, bookkeeping, data entry, admin assist/general VA, paralegal/legal support, lead support, and digital marketing services.

We implement an easy-to-understand outsourcing process:

Parkes BPO has positions available for the following: 

Yes, of course. We often encounter clients, especially small businesses who have been so overwhelmed with process-driven work that they don’t know what kind of support they really need.

We can match an “all-rounder” VA who administers your business affairs while you focus on doing profitable work.

Before hiring a VA, we suggest you consider the following:

1. What is your business goal?
2. What difficulties are your business experiencing?
3. What skills do you need your VA to have?

We try to make the hiring process as painless for you as possible. After we have discussed the projects you need to be done or the roles you want your VA to fulfill, we either review our existing applicant pool or put out a job posting seeking the necessary expertise your business needs. 

We employ a two-step vetting process: (1) initial, to shortlist the applicants with the most appropriate work experience, and (2) final, to shortlist those who pass a standard skill testing. 

Our recruitment process takes 3-4 weeks to complete as we want to select the right candidates with the skill sets required to accomplish your business goals.

Yes, at your option, you can be involved in the hiring process as much as you want so we can select the right VA for you. After you have shortlisted the applicants, we will schedule an interview between you and the candidates via Zoom. We want you to know more about your prospect VA so that you can build rapport which we think is essential in a successful VA relationship.

We encourage you to be hands–on in the training of your VAs. We will schedule the time for you to train them via Zoom or Microsoft Teams or other modes most convenient for you, so you can create a bond and get to know your VA more. 

This is one way to make sure your ways, procedure and workflow are followed by your VA, especially with regards to specified tasks.

We also conduct supplemental trainings at our onsite office in Cebu City, including updating on digital skills, communications, and interpersonal relations. 

We have an onsite manager who oversees the VA and their wellbeing to ensure you of consistent high-quality performance even when you are away.

Our onsite manager will also perform regular performance evaluations and send you the results of these evaluations.

Your VA or outsourced team will work in our office located in an IT hub in Cebu City, with guaranteed Internet connection, power back-up system, and an on-demand tech and IT support. Your VA or team will have a designated workstation equipped with a double monitor, Microsoft tools, and noise-cancelling headset.

At Parkes BPO, data security is something that we take seriously as we understand that setting up a business entails hard work.

In line with this, upon onboarding, your outsourced staff will sign a non-disclosure agreement. At the office, your VA will have sole access to his or her personal computer. We will also install, at your option, BitLocker, an encryption feature, and Crowdstrike Antivirus.

Yes. Most of Parkes BPO’s clients are in Australia and New Zealand, which is two – or three-hours ahead of Cebu, our VAs adjust their working schedule to accommodate the time set or preferred by clients.

Our goal is for you to have a seamless work relationship with your outsourced staff such that they are available especially during the times you need their services the most. With that in mind, your outsourced staff follows the public holidays in your home country.

Parkes BPO cross trains all our employees so that, if your VA is unable to report to work, we have someone else take charge of the task. This is to ensure your business flow is not interrupted at the time of absence.

We also implement a strict company policy punctuality and attendance. We have a one-week advance notice rule for scheduled leaves, and we use Sprout, an HRIS & payroll software, to monitor employee attendance.

We discourage unauthorized absences. However, as we’ve experienced in the past year, there may be unforeseen circumstances that may call for the employee to be absent from work. In these instances, our onsite manager will inform you of the absence as soon as possible and inform you of the substitute VA.

The outsourced staff that we hire are bound by a code of conduct requiring them to embody our values of professionalism, reliability, and excellence. We also allocated the first three months of your contract with us for training and probation so that the VA’s role will be aligned with your values as well.

Should you think that your outsourced staff does not have the right skill set, you can choose to keep the VA or find a more suitable candidate.

Our minimum term is one year. A contract review will then follow for renewals. In any case you are not happy with our services or your circumstances have changed, you can terminate the contract with a one-month calendar notice.

We tried to be as comprehensive as we can, but we understand that each business is different. We do hope our answers eased your worries on hiring your first virtual assistant. 

If you have more questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.