The fastest way for a general counsel to lose the CFO is a surprise invoice, followed by a forecast that moves the week before close. Finance does not need perfect numbers. It wants to know what drove the spend, which costs legal could have steered, and what decision is needed now.
The practical bits are good: split committed spend from estimates, write down your assumptions, update big matters before finance closes its books, and pull the CFO into panel reviews and tech purchases early instead of at approval. Explaining variance is a skill, and it is one that separates a lawyer from a GC or chief legal officer. If you are working toward becoming a general counsel, learn to talk budget like finance does.
“Finance does not expect every legal cost to be predictable. It does expect Legal to explain what is driving expenditure, which costs can be influenced and how resources support business priorities.”
