Board Meeting Minutes Overview

A board meeting is a formal meeting of the Board of Directors for a company. It may include invited guests and other stakeholders. Most organizations conduct board meetings at regular intervals, ensuring there is consistency in monitoring key points of business. Board meetings are a time to review the company’s performance, consider any necessary or planned policy changes and updates, address the business’s problems or challenges, and handle any legal business necessary by the group.

What Are Board Meeting Minutes?

Board minutes are the notes taken by the designated secretary for a board meeting. A person typically will document what is discussed and decided upon during the meeting. This person is responsible for preparing minutes, writing notes, and otherwise documenting what occurs at the meeting itself. Using a board meeting notes template, it is possible to gather all necessary information in one location.

Board meeting minutes must be completed properly to ensure that the Board of Directors complied with all state laws and that the organization’s own bylaws and decision making was conducted in the proper manner.

The Purpose of a Board Meeting Minutes Template?

A board meeting minutes template is a tool used to gather all of the necessary data and details from the board meeting in one location. A template makes it easier for you to follow the necessary requirements to ensure that the board meeting agenda is fully documented and recorded for later use.

How Do You Write Board Meeting Minutes?

Meeting minutes are a time consuming process but are a very important tool for accounting for board discussions. Meeting minutes are an official and legal record of what occurs at this meeting. They can be used to track progress, detail future plans, and as a reference point down the road.

Important Tips

The minute taker is responsible for creating the meeting agenda. They also take notes during the meeting and, after, share those notes with all members. Board meeting minutes templates help to provide a way to organize and record those details.

Be sure to be as thorough as possible throughout this process.

Deloitte notes, “One strategy for directors to consider is to adapt their approaches to preparing for board meetings by focusing not just on company-specific reporting and decisions, but also by acting as the “eyes and ears” for management on key issues for the company.”

What’s inside this Board Meeting Minutes Template:

1Meeting details

Note the meeting details here. This includes the type of meeting, the date and time of the meeting, and any other details, such as the purpose of the meeting. Ensure that the meeting name is as descriptive as possible to ensure it can be easily referenced later. The meeting details section should provide any specific details needed.

• Name of meeting:
• Date:
• Time:

2Roll call

The roll call section of the template enables you to document who is in attendance, which may be a requirement for any Board of Directors meeting. The roll call not only notes who is in attendance but also the roles they play. This may include documenting:

• Chairperson:
• Secretary for the meeting:
• Presiding officers:
• Absent board directors:
• Other guests or staff members present:
• Make a note of any changes made to these positions from the previous meeting.

3Old business

Use this portion of the board meeting template to outline all old business. This should include any key meeting minutes from the previous meeting. Also, outline any decisions made from the last board meeting as a refresher for all in attendance.

There should then be approval of the previous meeting’s minutes, which is an agreement that the information provided is accurate.

Then, address any unresolved action items from the previous board meeting. This may include any tasks that needed follow up.

Key meeting minutes or decisions from the last board meeting.

• Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes
• Unresolved action items from previous board meetings

4New business

Use this portion of the board meeting template to outline all new business. This should include any key meeting minutes from the current meeting. Also, outline any decisions made for all in attendance.

Include reports from officers, committees, or different board directors.

• Agenda item 1
• Agenda item 2
• Agenda item 3

5Action steps

In this section of the template, document any solutions or decisions that are discussed. Outline all of the next steps, including what those steps are, who is responsible for them, and the expected timeframe for completion of them. Be sure to document specific assignees as well as any specific requirements of the tasks.

Note any solutions or next steps discussed, with specific assignees and an approximate timeframe for completion.

6Closing

The closing of the board meeting is documented in several ways. This includes recording the date and the time of the next board meeting. It is then important to document the time in which the meeting adjourns. There should be a signature or notation of the secretary’s approval as well as one for the chairperson of the meeting listed. This ensures that the meeting notes and minutes are accurate as recorded.

End the board meeting by documenting the following information:

• Date and time of the next board meeting
• The time when the meeting adjourns
• Secretary approval:
• President/Chairperson approval: