Account-based marketing has become the strategy of choice for B2B organizations targeting enterprise accounts. According to ITSMA's 2025 ABM Benchmark Study, 87 percent of B2B marketers report that ABM delivers a higher return on investment than other marketing initiatives, and specialist ABM agencies are capturing a growing share of enterprise marketing budgets. But as ABM programs grow in scope — encompassing larger target account lists, more complex content personalization, and multi-channel orchestration — the operational demands on agency teams are intensifying. In 2026, virtual assistants are the operational solution that ABM agencies are turning to for billing accuracy and account administration.
The Data-Intensive Nature of ABM Billing
ABM agency billing is unusually data-intensive. Many agencies bill on a per-account or tiered-account model, where billing rates vary depending on whether a target account is in a Tier 1 high-touch program, a Tier 2 programmatic program, or a Tier 3 awareness program. Calculating the correct invoice amount requires cross-referencing the live account list against the billing tier structure and any mid-month additions or removals — a reconciliation task that is prone to error when handled informally.
Virtual assistants managing ABM agency billing maintain the billing-tier account roster, reconcile changes to the target account list against billing records at the start of each billing cycle, prepare itemized invoices that reflect the current account distribution, and create audit-ready documentation that B2B enterprise finance teams require for invoice approval. They also track payment status and follow up on outstanding invoices with the appropriate client finance contacts.
Forrester Research's 2024 B2B Marketing Services Billing Study found that ABM agencies with documented, systematic billing reconciliation processes experience 38 percent fewer invoice disputes with enterprise clients than those relying on informal billing workflows.
Target Account List Administration
The target account list is the operational foundation of any ABM program, and its maintenance is a continuous administrative responsibility. As accounts move through the buying cycle, win/lose determinations are made, new target accounts are researched and added, and firmographic data needs to stay current for personalization purposes. Virtual assistants take on the routine maintenance of ABM account databases: updating contact records, adding newly identified target accounts, removing converted or disqualified accounts, and refreshing intent data from platforms like Bombora or TechTarget.
They also manage the account research requests that arise when ABM strategists need background intelligence on a new target account — coordinating with junior researchers, compiling publicly available information, and preparing structured account profiles that strategists can use for campaign personalization.
McKinsey's B2B Marketing Excellence Report found that ABM programs with well-maintained, current target account data outperform those with stale data by an average of 23 percent on pipeline contribution metrics.
Campaign Coordination and Deliverable Tracking
ABM campaigns involve simultaneous activity across multiple channels — display advertising, LinkedIn targeting, direct mail, personalized email sequences, and sales outreach coordination — all aimed at the same target accounts. Coordinating the delivery of assets and content across these channels for multiple B2B clients requires systematic tracking.
Virtual assistants maintain campaign delivery trackers, coordinate asset handoffs between creative teams and media execution teams, confirm campaign launch readiness against agreed timelines, and compile performance data from each channel into unified reporting dashboards. For B2B clients who want to see account-level engagement data across all their ABM touchpoints, VAs aggregate that data from multiple platforms into the reporting format the client has approved.
HubSpot's ABM Benchmarks Report found that ABM programs with a dedicated coordination function are 29 percent more likely to hit their quarterly pipeline targets than those without.
B2B Client Communication and Relationship Management
Enterprise B2B clients running ABM programs are sophisticated buyers who expect their agencies to communicate clearly and proactively about program performance. Virtual assistants manage the administrative layer of these relationships: scheduling regular strategy and performance review calls, preparing pre-meeting account engagement summaries, distributing post-call action item records, and maintaining the shared workspaces where clients access program documentation and reports.
They also handle the administrative onboarding of new B2B clients — coordinating data sharing agreements, setting up reporting access, and ensuring that the client's CRM integration with the ABM platform is correctly configured before campaigns launch.
Gartner's 2024 B2B Marketing Agency Study found that organized onboarding and communication processes are the strongest predictor of long-term contract value in ABM agency relationships, as they set the operational tone for the entire engagement.
Scaling ABM Operations Efficiently
The ABM agencies that are expanding their enterprise client rosters most rapidly in 2026 are those that have built scalable operational infrastructure. Virtual assistants provide the account administration, billing management, and campaign coordination capacity that allows agencies to grow without proportionally growing their senior team headcount.
ABM agencies ready to explore virtual assistant support for billing and target account administration can find experienced candidates at Stealth Agents, a platform specializing in remote talent for B2B marketing organizations.
Sources
- ITSMA, ABM Benchmark Study 2025
- Forrester Research, B2B Marketing Services Billing and Dispute Analysis (2024)
- McKinsey & Company, B2B Marketing Excellence and Account Data Quality (2024)
- HubSpot, ABM Benchmarks and Pipeline Attainment Report (2024)
- Gartner, B2B Marketing Agency Client Relationship and Contract Value Study (2024)