Form with which the board of directors of a corporation records the contents of its first meeting.
Form with which the board of directors of a corporation records the contents of its first meeting.
Legal requirements for board meeting minutes include the name of the company, date and location, names of present and absent directors, and a record of all the proceedings during the meeting. Legal documents and reports must come as attachments.
Board meeting minutes are an objective record of what took place during a board meeting. The minutes are typically used for internal purposes like record-keeping and for posterity. Minutes can serve to inform future meetings and recall what was discussed, agreed upon or dismissed by a company's board members.
In most cases, the meeting secretary will sign the approved copy of the minutes, while some boards require all present board members to sign the approved minutes.
Board meeting minutes should be prepared and distributed in a timely manner after each board meeting. Ideally, minutes should be circulated to board members for review and approval within a reasonable timeframe, such as before the next scheduled meeting.
Understand who can access minutes: In many cases, meeting minutes are considered public records, which means others can view them. Make sure you understand who can view the meeting notes, and keep that audience in mind when deciding what information to include.
What information do board meeting minutes contain? Meeting date, time and location. Type of meeting. Names and titles of attendees and guests. Any absent board directors. Quorum. Notes about directors who left early or re-entered the meeting. Board approvals, resolutions and acceptance of reports. Overview of discussions.
Meeting minutes don't need to capture discussions word by word, but they should effectively summarize key items and decisions to provide a clear and concise record of the meeting. Know that it's perfectly acceptable to write “a discussion of the options ensued.” If you need clarification on anything, be sure to ask.
Robert's Rules (Section -16) state that “the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members.” Minutes are not transcripts of meetings; rather, the document contains a record of actions taken by the body, organized by the meeting's order of business (agenda).
Who should be responsible for taking these notes? At a board meeting the answer is the company secretary. Taking minutes doesn't just mean summarising the meetings, as minutes provide the board members with an understanding of actions to be taken from the written records.