Practical Contracting & Approval PowerPoint Guide

Project Title:
Design and Develop a Practical Contracting & Approval Guide (PowerPoint) for Business Users (Non-Lawyers)

Project Overview:
We are seeking an experienced professional (or team) to design and develop a comprehensive, highly practical contracting and approval guide in PowerPoint format for internal business users with no legal background.

The objective is to create a self-explanatory, decision-driven operational tool that enables employees to confidently:
- Determine when a contract is required
- Identify the correct type of agreement
- Understand key legal and governance risks
- Follow the appropriate internal approval, signing, and escalation processes

This guide must go beyond theory. It should function as a standalone, day-to-day decision-making tool, reducing risk while enabling efficient business operations.

Legal Framework Requirement (Important):

This guide must be developed with reference to a common law legal system (Australia).

While not jurisdiction-specific, the underlying concepts must align with common law principles, including:
- Offer and acceptance
- Consideration
- Intention to create legal relations
- Binding vs non-binding arrangements

The guide must avoid reliance on civil law concepts that may create confusion.
Content should prioritise practical accuracy and usability over legal theory.

Scope of Work:

The contractor will be responsible for both:
1. Structuring and simplifying legal and governance concepts into practical guidance
2. Designing a highly visual, intuitive PowerPoint experience

The final output must function as an operational playbook, not just a presentation.

Key Deliverables:
1. PowerPoint Contracting & Approval Guide
- No fixed slide limit – content must be as detailed as required to be self-explanatory
- Professionally designed, clean, and intuitive
- Structured for easy navigation and real-world use
- Suitable for ongoing internal deployment

2. Mandatory Structural Components
A. Decision Trees / Flowcharts (Critical Requirement)
The guide must include clear, visual decision-making tools such as:
- “Do I need a contract?”
- “Which agreement should I use?”
- “Do I need approval or escalation?”
- “Who is authorised to sign?”

Requirements:
- Step-by-step logic with clear “Yes/No” pathways
- Designed so users can follow independently without legal input

B. Process Workflows
End-to-end contracting lifecycle, including:
- Request → Drafting → Review → Approval → Execution → Record keeping
- Roles and responsibilities (high-level)
- When Legal/Compliance must be involved

C. Scenario-Based Guidance
Include practical, real-world examples such as:
- Engaging third parties or consultants
- Sponsorship or funding arrangements
- Use of email vs formal agreement
- Urgent requests without contracts

Each scenario must clearly explain:
- Risks
- Correct approach
- What not to do

3. Common Agreement Types (Mandatory)

The guide must include a clear breakdown of commonly used agreements, covering both binding and non-binding arrangements.

A. Binding Agreements (Examples):
- Services / Consultancy Agreements
- Sponsorship / Funding Agreements
- Confidentiality Agreements (NDAs)
- Supply / Purchase Agreements
- Event or Education Support Agreements
- Third Party / Distributor Agreements

For each:
- When to use
- Key risks
- Practical example

B. Non-Binding Arrangements:
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
- Letter of Intent (LoI)
- Heads of Agreement / Term Sheets

For each:
- Purpose and appropriate use
- Clear explanation of non-binding nature
- Risks (including risk of becoming binding through conduct)

C. Comparison and Decision Support:
- Clear visuals comparing binding vs non-binding arrangements
- Direct linkage to decision trees and workflows

4. Governance, Approvals and Escalation (Critical)

The guide must incorporate clear, practical governance guidance.

A. Delegation of Authority (DoA)
- Explain DoA in simple terms
- Show how monetary value impacts approval and signing authority
- Instruct users to refer to internal DoA frameworks
- Include practical examples

B. Signatory Responsibilities
- Signing is a formal accountability step, not administrative
- Clarify who should sign vs who owns the business relationship
- Risks of incorrect signatory selection

C. Pre-Signature Communication (Mandatory Practice)
Include a structured “Key Summary for Signature” approach:
- Purpose of the agreement
- Key obligations
- Financial value / exposure
- Key risks
- Duration and termination

It must be clear that sending agreements for signature (e.g. via DocuSign) without context is not acceptable.

D. Escalation Framework
Define when escalation is required, including:
- High-value arrangements
- High-risk or sensitive engagements
- Non-standard terms
- Situations involving uncertainty

E. Escalation to Managing Director (or Equivalent)
Provide principle-based guidance on escalation to senior leadership, including:
- Significant financial commitments
- Strategic or reputational risk
- Deviations from standard processes

Guidance should include risk-based judgment, not only fixed thresholds.

F. Integration into Decision Tools
Governance must be embedded into:
- Decision trees
- Workflows

Users should clearly understand:
What to do → Who approves → Who signs → When to escalate

5. Visual Design Requirements

- Strong emphasis on clarity over text-heavy content
- Use of:
- Flowcharts
- Decision trees
- Icons
- Step-by-step diagrams
- Clean, modern corporate design
- Consistent formatting and visual hierarchy
- Designed for non-legal users (“for dummies” clarity, without being simplistic)

Target Audience:
- Sales teams
- Marketing teams
- Business managers
- Non-legal corporate staff

No legal background should be assumed.

Key Requirements:

- Proven experience in:
- Simplifying complex concepts into practical tools
- Corporate training, playbooks, or frameworks
- Strong PowerPoint design capability (essential)
- Ability to create decision-based tools, not just static content
- Strong focus on usability, clarity, and structure

Experience with common law jurisdictions (e.g. Australia, UK) is strongly preferred.

What We Will Provide:
- High-level direction on topics
- Feedback on drafts
- Clarification on internal processes
- High-level Delegation of Authority principles (to be adapted into flexible guidance)

What We Expect from You:
- Proposed structure (including decision flow concepts)
- First draft (content + design)
- Iterations based on feedback
- Final polished PowerPoint ready for internal use

Timeline:
- Structure proposal: 3 days
- First draft: 1 week
- Final delivery: 2 weeks

To Apply, Please Include:
- Examples of similar work (PowerPoint guides, workflows, playbooks)
- Description of your approach to building decision trees and process flows
- Confirmation you can deliver both content and design

Important Note:
This project requires more than visual design. The output must function as a practical contracting and approval playbook that business users can rely on in real situations.

Clarity, usability, governance integration, and logical structure are critical to success.