How to move into data work as a VA

Many businesses have data in spreadsheets, CRMs and online stores but no time to make sense of it. A VA who can clean data and build clear reports becomes very hard to replace.

Start with spreadsheets

• Sorting, filtering and removing duplicates.
• Formulas you will use every week: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNTIF, SUMIF, IF and lookups (XLOOKUP or VLOOKUP).
• Pivot tables to summarise thousands of rows in seconds.
• Simple charts that answer one question each.

Clean data habits

1. Never edit the original file. Work on a copy and keep notes of what you changed.
2. One row per record, one column per field, no merged cells.
3. Consistent formats for dates, currencies and names.
4. Check totals before and after cleaning so nothing goes missing.

Your first report

Pick one question a client cares about, such as "which products sold most this month?" Build a one-page answer: a small table, one chart and two sentences explaining what it means and what to do next.

Next steps

Once spreadsheets feel easy, learn a dashboard tool such as Looker Studio or Power BI, then basic SQL. Each one opens bigger, better-paid work.