I do pretty much what Todd does. Peghead is shaped and finished, inlays in, Neck is rough tapered, heel contour and cheek contour and taper done, tenon routed, and neck set. Fretboard does not go on until the neck alignment and cheek to body fit is what I want. Here's what they look like before gluing the fretboard. The truss rod slot is good for checking the center line alignment. I have a fretboard surrogate that keys in the truss rod slot and can be clamped for checking neck angle and fit or you can use your fretboard.
Ready to glue.
After gluing the fretboard, shape the neck to final shape and then level the board and fret. When you carve the neck you can stress relieve the wood and a previously level fretboard may not be level anymore
Some great builders fret before gluing the board but they know from experience what's going to happen. For most of us leveling and fretting as the last step is more foolproof. You can also fret to 10 and then support the peghead and add 6lbs of weight to each shoulder and check your dropoff over the body. You can still sand more in if needed before fretting the extension.
