Procurement teams tend to lead their board reporting with savings, and boards tend to discount it. The scepticism is earned: the number is self-reported, methodologically flexible, and rarely reconciles to anything in the accounts.
Lead with risk exposure
Boards are accountable for risk in a way they are not accountable for unit costs. Single points of failure in the supply base, concentration in unstable geographies, suppliers in financial distress, and contractual liabilities the organisation has accepted are all things a board needs and cannot get elsewhere.
Report cost as the business feels it
Where a savings number is reported, it is far more credible expressed as its effect on the actual cost base — unit cost trend against volume, or spend growth against a relevant index. That framing survives contact with finance.
Say what you cannot currently do
The most useful thing a functional leader brings to a board is an honest account of capability gaps, because those translate directly into decisions about investment and risk appetite. It is also the section most often removed before the pack is circulated.