Meeting Minutes Template

Overview

While running an important company or organization meeting, it can be easy to forget to record minutes. It’s time-consuming, challenging and requires someone with a knack for detail. However, recording your meeting minutes is such an important way to log decisions and provide evidence of issues discussed and resolved amongst board members.

If you’re looking for an easier way to get your minutes recorded, our meeting minutes template will help you take note of all the important pieces of information for each meeting you hold.

What Are Board Meeting Minutes?

Board meeting minutes or corporate meeting minutes are a record of the discussions and decisions made during a meeting between board members or shareholders. It’s effectively an outline of what took place during the meeting, including the decisions and changes adopted by the board.

Why Should You Take Meeting Minutes?

Recording major decisions during board meetings is an ideal way to keep track and document changes for any organization or company. It provides a historical log that you can refer back to and understand what and how decisions were made.

However, meeting minutes are also a legal requirement in most states. Most state laws require C Corps and S Corps to take meeting minutes whenever the shareholders or board of directors meet. The exceptions to this rule include Delaware, Kansas, Nevada, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

Regardless of whether recording minutes is legally required of your corporation, it can still be a smart move to record decisions made during meetings for future reference.

What to Include in Your Meeting Minutes Template

While the content will change with each meeting, you can use a meeting minutes template to make recording all the information a lot easier and simpler.

The main sections and information you should include in your template are:

Organization or corporation name
Date and time of meeting
Board members or directors in attendance and those absent
A statement about previous minutes and whether they were accepted or require following up

Tips for Taking Board Meeting Minutes

You don’t have to include a word-by-word script of what was said, only a descriptive summary of the actions discussed.

Finalize and share the board meeting minutes with attendees as soon as possible so they have a written record of the meeting.

As a general rule, it’s a good idea to keep the minutes impersonal and not include specific members’ names when mentioning votes or opinions.

Use a meeting minutes example or template to make recording the minutes easier for the secretary or note taker.

Download Our Meeting Minutes Template

For some corporations, taking meeting minutes is legally required by the state. However, it’s good practice for any company to record major decisions in board meetings for future reference.

With our meeting minutes template, you can help make the recording of actions easier and simpler by having it kept in a logical and consistent way from meeting to meeting. Find other resources in our template library and get inspired to grow your business with insights from our blog.