How to Get Started With Legal Spend Management: A Modern Guide
Why Teams Hesitate (and Why They Shouldn’t)
A lot of GCs and legal ops leads know they need better visibility, but they stall.
Common reasons:
“We don’t have time to build a system right now.”
“Our spend isn’t that big.”
“We’ll just do it manually for a few more quarters.”
The truth? You already have a system - it’s just probably living in your inbox.
And the longer you wait, the harder it becomes to untangle.
Legal spend management doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
It’s about putting a rhythm around what you’re already doing - and using smart tools to handle the repetitive parts.
Step 1: Map Where Your Money Goes Today
Before you can manage spend, you have to see it.
Start with three simple questions:
Who are we paying? List every firm, vendor, or consultant who bills your department.
For what? Identify the broad categories: litigation, contracts, employment, compliance, etc.
How much? Gather 6 to12 months of invoices, even if they’re messy PDFs.
You’re not looking for perfection - you’re looking for patterns.
Which firms get most of the work? Where are costs rising fastest? Which matters always seem to run long?
Modern tools make this step faster by using AI to read invoices and automatically group similar line items. But even a rough spreadsheet gives you a baseline to work from.
Step 2: Define Your Core Policies and Rules
You don’t need a 20-page outside counsel manual. You just need clarity.
Start with a short, friendly document that covers the basics:
Rates: What’s approved for each level (partner, associate, paralegal)?
Expenses: What’s reimbursable and what’s not?
Approvals: Who signs off on what?
Billing cadence: Monthly? Per phase?
Narratives: Require clear work descriptions - AI can’t categorize “miscellaneous advice.”
These policies aren’t there to create bureaucracy.
They create fairness and consistency, and they give you leverage when you need to push back on non-compliant invoices.
Keep it simple enough that your vendors can actually follow it.
Step 3: Set Up a Simple Budget and Forecast Process
A budget isn’t about precision - it’s about expectation.
For each active matter:
Ask your outside counsel for a rough estimate of total expected fees.
Split it into phases if you can (for example, early assessment, discovery, resolution).
Track spend against that number monthly.
Even if your first few budgets are rough, you’ll gain valuable insight.
You’ll start spotting early overruns, understanding seasonal trends, and predicting which matters are likely to need more funding.
Finance will notice - and appreciate the predictability.
Step 4: Build Your Monthly Rhythm
Think of legal spend management as a monthly habit, not a one-time project. A simple cadence makes it sustainable.
Here’s an easy rhythm that works for most teams:
Week 1: Review and approve invoices from last month.
Week 2: Collect accruals (what’s been worked but not yet billed).
Week 3: Update budget-vs-actuals dashboard.
Week 4: Share a quick spend summary with Finance and leadership.
That loop - review → forecast → communicate - is what turns visibility into influence.
When you consistently deliver accurate, timely data, the rest of the organization starts seeing legal as financially mature.
Step 5: Automate the Repetitive Stuff First
Before you try to measure ROI or negotiate new fee arrangements, automate the grunt work.
Look for technology that can:
Ingest invoices automatically (email, portal, or upload).
Use AI to categorize spend by matter or practice area.
Flag non-compliant items (rate overages, admin time, vague entries).
Route approvals automatically based on your internal hierarchy.
Sync with accounting systems to keep Finance aligned.
You don’t need enterprise complexity - just automation that keeps the basics consistent.
Modern legal spend tools, including lightweight options like Poppy, make it possible to start small and scale up as you grow.
Step 6: Track Your First Metrics
Once data flows cleanly, start measuring a few simple indicators.
Don’t drown in dashboards - focus on progress you can see.
Total external spend: Month-over-month and year-over-year.
Spend by vendor or matter type: Where’s the bulk of activity?
Budget accuracy: How close were forecasts to actuals?
Invoice cycle time: How long from submission to approval?
Compliance rate: What percentage of invoices pass the first review automatically?
The goal isn’t to chase perfection; it’s to establish a baseline and improve from there.
Step 7: Communicate Your Wins
When you start delivering reliable numbers and cleaner forecasts, share the results.
Finance will love you for it. Leadership will start asking for more. And your outside firms will adjust their behavior when they see you’re paying attention.
Examples of quick wins worth highlighting:
Reduced invoice processing time from weeks to days
Identified 5 to 10 percent in avoidable costs
Improved accrual accuracy and forecasting
Increased predictability for Finance
Visibility builds credibility - and credibility gets you resources.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
A few lessons learned from teams who’ve been through it:
Trying to do too much at once.
Start with one business unit or region, then expand.
Over-engineering policies.
If your billing rules require a decoder ring, vendors will ignore them.
Ignoring change management.
Even small process changes need communication and buy-in from attorneys.
Skipping data cleanup.
Messy vendor names or duplicate matters will break your dashboards later.
Forgetting Finance.
Loop them in early - your accruals process depends on it.
Keep things simple, consistent, and transparent. Complexity is the enemy of adoption.
A 30 / 60 / 90-Day Roadmap
This is a practical way to roll out legal spend management without overwhelming your team.
Days 1 – 30: Foundation
Inventory all current vendors and active matters.
Gather invoices from the past 6 to12 months.
Draft short billing guidelines.
Define who approves what.
Pilot one simple budget.
The goal: visibility. Know what’s coming in and from whom.
Days 31 – 60: Structure
Create a consistent monthly review rhythm.
Begin automating intake and invoice routing.
Launch your first spend dashboard.
Set up accruals tracking with Finance.
Start talking about data instead of anecdotes.
The goal: control. You’re no longer reacting; you’re managing.
Days 61 – 90: Optimization
Expand automation rules and approval flows.
Review vendor performance and discuss expectations.
Identify early opportunities for alternative fee arrangements.
Refine budgets based on real data.
Report your first quarter’s progress to leadership.
The goal: confidence. You now have a process that runs itself.
How Modern Tools Make This Easier
The difference between “manual spend tracking” and modern spend management is automation.
AI now does what humans used to - reading invoices, classifying work, spotting errors, and surfacing insights.
That means less time collecting data and more time using it.
Platforms built for the new era (like Poppy) help teams:
Centralize all invoices in one place
Automate invoice review and rule enforcement
Generate real-time spend analytics
Provide Finance with instant accrual updates
Give the GC visibility without spreadsheets
You don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to get the benefits. Even a lean legal team can have enterprise-grade control with modern tools.
When You’ll Start Seeing Results
Most teams notice an impact within the first quarter:
Invoices move faster.
Finance stops chasing numbers.
Matter budgets become predictable.
Surprise costs shrink.
Within a year, you’ll have enough clean data to benchmark vendors, negotiate smarter, and experiment with creative fee structures.
At that point, spend management becomes less about catching mistakes and more about optimizing strategy.
Final Thought: Make Progress Visible
The best legal spend programs don’t look like giant transformations. They look like a series of small, consistent improvements that compound over time.
Start where you are. Track a few metrics. Automate one workflow.
Then share the story of how legal became a disciplined, data-driven partner to the business.
That’s modern legal spend management.
