The order is not optional
The product enforces a fixed sequence because most of the steps are legal requirements, not workflow preferences. You cannot skip ahead, and buttons for later steps stay unavailable until the earlier ones are done.
The sequence
From the client’s detail page, top to bottom:
- 1. Deliver the Consumer Credit File Rights disclosure.
- 2. Capture the disclosure signature.
- 3. Capture the contract signature.
- 4. Wait out the cooling-off period, then Activate enrollment.
- 5. Start round 1 and import the credit report.
- 6. Run the AI audit.
- 7. Select the items to dispute, then draft letters.
- 8. Approve the letters for mailing. An owner or admin has to do this.
- 9. Wait for the reinvestigation window, then re-import the report so the diff can verify what changed.
Where people get stuck
Step 4 is the usual one. The cooling-off period is a waiting period required before you may begin work, and the date is often later than people expect. See "Why cooling-off ends later than you expected".
Step 9 is the other. Until a round is completed and its results are verified against a re-imported report, there is nothing you are allowed to bill for. See "When you can charge a client".