GC/Board Reporting Checklist
A checklist for preparing legal department reporting for board and executive audiences — where the standard for accuracy and framing is higher than internal reporting requires.
Board and executive reporting gets read differently than an internal dashboard. Numbers get cross-checked against other departments' reporting, questions get asked in the room, and there's rarely a second chance to correct a figure once it's presented.
How to Use This Checklist
Run through this before finalizing any report headed to the board or executive leadership — not as a one-time setup step, but as a recurring check each reporting cycle, since the details that slip are rarely the same ones twice.
Accuracy
- Do the figures reflect current data, not a snapshot from several weeks ago?
- Have spend figures been reconciled against accrued as well as invoiced amounts?
- Do the numbers match what other departments are reporting for shared metrics, such as headcount or budget?
- Has anyone outside the person who built the report checked it for errors?
Framing
- Does the report lead with what the audience actually needs to know, not just what was easiest to pull?
- Is context provided for any number that looks unusual without it — a spike, a dip, a one-time cost?
- Are comparisons to prior periods or budget included, rather than a number presented in isolation?
- Is the reporting format consistent with what this audience has seen before, so changes don't require re-explanation?
Anticipated Questions
- If spend is up, is there a ready explanation for why?
- If cycle time or service levels have slipped, is there a plan already in motion to address it?
- If a number looks unusually favorable, is the reason understood well enough to explain if asked?
- Is there a clear owner in the room who can answer a follow-up question on any given metric?
The core issue
An unexplained number in a board deck reads as a red flag whether or not it actually is one. The fix isn't hiding the number — it's making sure someone in the room can speak to it before it becomes a question mark.
Prepare the answer before the question is asked
The best board reporting sessions are the ones where nothing in the deck surprises the presenter. Anticipating the two or three hardest questions in advance is worth more than polishing the slide design.
Where This Fits in the Reporting Model
Board reporting draws on the same underlying data as every other view in this hub — the KPIs the department already tracks and the spend figures reconciled elsewhere. The difference at this level is scrutiny, not data. If this checklist keeps surfacing the same accuracy gaps cycle after cycle, that's usually a sign the underlying reporting infrastructure needs attention, not just the final report.
Board reporting doesn't require different numbers. It requires the same numbers, checked more carefully, and explained before anyone has to ask.