Short answer: make "letter signed" a pipeline stage between won and started, with the letter drafted from your template on the day the client says yes and the reminder drafted at day three. Nothing is scheduled until the stage is passed.
Why it slips
The client is keen, the work is urgent, the letter feels like friction. Then scope creeps, a fee is disputed, or a bill goes unpaid, and there is no signed scope to point to.
The stage
Won: letter drafted from the template with scope, fee and terms. Day 3: reminder drafted. Signed: returned copy filed against the client, job created. The Board shows jobs started without a letter as a red line, because there shouldn't be any.
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Written by Christian Stewart, Stewart Systems, Wollongong. Published 2026-09-29. Records and flags, not legal, WHS or insurance advice; rules change, check the regulator for the current one.