Overview/Reference/The ten rules
The ten rules
These are the non-negotiable operating rules from the agency playbook. They apply across every pillar. Slate enforces them on the server, so they hold even when someone is in a hurry.
The rules
1. All invoices must be approved by the Sales Chief before being sent
Protects: pricing consistency and commercial terms. An unapproved invoice is an unapproved commercial commitment.
How Slate enforces it: the invoice lifecycle includes a mandatory awaiting approval state between draft and send. The send action is unavailable until the Sales Chief role approves. The approval record shows the person and the role they held.
2. No client work begins before the initial 50% payment is received
Protects: cash flow. This is the difference between running an agency and financing your clients.
How Slate enforces it: the work-unlock gate is tied to the accountant marking the invoice paid against attached payment evidence — and the system will not accept the payment without that evidence. A partial payment on the deposit invoice does not open the gate either; the initial 50% has to be received and recorded in full. Downstream creation and scheduling are blocked until it fires, and the client record shows Blocked by payment rather than inviting work.
3. No shoot scheduled before the content plan is approved
Protects: crew time and client time. A shoot against an unapproved plan is expensive rework.
How Slate enforces it: shoot slots are provisioned but cannot be confirmed until the plan's approval window resolves. The blocker names the missing approval and its owner. Genuine emergencies route through the audited urgent-shoot override rather than weakening the rule.
4. No video reaches the client before internal QC and Creative Director approval
Protects: professional credibility. The client should never be the first person to notice a mistake.
How Slate enforces it: internal and client-facing version states are separate objects in the system. A version cannot be released to a client until the quality standards are attested and the Creative Director's approval has been recorded as a decision — being in the quality-control step is not the same as having passed it.
5. Credentials are stored in Slate only — never WhatsApp
Protects: your clients' security, and your reputation if their accounts are compromised.
How Slate enforces it: a dedicated encrypted vault with role-limited reveal, an access log, and rotation reminders. Values never appear in exports, file names, or lists. The vault exists so that the safe path is also the convenient one.
6. Every new client fully on Slate within 24 hours of payment
Protects: the single source of truth. A client who is half-entered forces the team back into spreadsheets and chat.
How Slate enforces it: the activation case is time-bound and starts its clock on confirmed payment. Status is visible as a readiness banner, and the handover to Content Operations cannot be accepted until the checklist is complete.
7. Maximum two revisions per video — production errors only
Protects: margin and predictability, while remaining fair to the client.
How Slate enforces it: every piece of feedback is classified as a production error, a preference change, or a new request. Only preference changes consume entitlement. Production errors are fixed as our responsibility and instead count against internal quality metrics.
8. Our mistake is never charged to the client as a change of mind
Protects: the boundary between our mistake and a client's change of mind. Blur that line and the revision limit becomes meaningless — in whichever direction you blur it.
How Slate enforces it: classification is mandatory before a request affects the revision count, and it is confirmed by a person — Content Operations, with the Creative Director as final authority on disputes. A production error never consumes one of the client's two rounds, and a genuine change of mind always does. Disagreements are settled in the audit trail rather than in a group chat.
9. Feedback always flows through the correct chain
Protects: accountability and speed. Feedback that arrives sideways gets actioned twice or not at all.
How Slate enforces it: comments attach to the specific version and moment in the timeline, and each carries an owner and a state. The chain from client comment to classified task to editor is visible end to end.
10. All client communication via Slate — not personal WhatsApp
Protects: continuity. If a relationship lives in one person's phone, it leaves when they do.
How Slate enforces it: one client timeline per engagement, where messages, documents, approvals, and decisions attach to the relevant object. Each client's portal link opens that timeline for them and nothing else, so the client is looking at the same record the team is. WhatsApp may remain the conversation's comfort — but any decision is logged into Slate the same working day, because the review clocks read Slate and nothing else.
How enforcement actually behaves
The rules are implemented as policy checks evaluated by the server whenever a workflow transition is attempted. Each check returns one of three outcomes, and the difference matters.
| Outcome | What it means | What the user sees |
|---|---|---|
| Allowed | Prerequisites are satisfied. | The action proceeds normally. |
| Blocked | A genuine prerequisite is missing. | What is missing, who owns it, its deadline, and the next action. Never a bare refusal. |
| Override required | An authorised exception path exists. | An explicit override action, available only to authorised roles, requiring a reason and producing a permanent record. |
What each rule protects, at a glance
| Rule | Protects | The failure it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Invoice approval | Commercial terms | Inconsistent pricing reaching clients |
| 2. Payment before work | Cash flow | Financing clients' production |
| 3. Plan before shoot | Time and money | Shooting against an unapproved idea |
| 4. QC before client | Reputation | Clients finding our mistakes first |
| 5. Credentials in the vault | Client security | Account breaches traced back to us |
| 6. Onboarded in 24 hours | Single source of truth | Work split across spreadsheets and chat |
| 7. Two revisions | Margin | Unbounded scope creep |
| 8. Preference changes are not errors | Fairness and clarity | The revision limit becoming meaningless |
| 9. Feedback through the chain | Accountability | Feedback actioned twice, or never |
| 10. Communication in Slate | Continuity | Client relationships living in one phone |