When a company’s board meets to make key decisions, a written record is taken which can then serve as legal evidence.

A company that is looking to operate efficiently and lucratively has to take a number of strategic decisions at board level. The decisions made can affect future profitability and growth, and a written record needs to be kept so that there is legal evidence of how and when key actions were taken.

Adopting a standardised approach to taking board meeting minutes ensures that critical information is recorded in a way that is fully compliant.

What Are Board Meeting Minutes?

Board meeting minutes are a written record of the discussions and decisions taken during board meetings. They serve as a legal document that outlines the company’s actions and can also provide protection for the directors themselves.

A board meeting minutes template can help save time and duplicated effort, provided it meets a strict set of legal requirements.

Board Meeting Minutes Have Legal Requirements

The Companies Act 2006 makes board meeting minutes a legal requirement. This legal requirement comes from the need to:

• Make sure that directors are not unduly profiting from conflicts of interest at the expense of outside investors
• Ensure full transparency on decision-making that can have a profound impact on the profitability of the business 
• Provide personal protection for directors when they are acting in good faith and making decisions to the best of their ability

  Finding a board meeting minutes template UK businesses can rely on becomes simple when you land in the right place.

💡 Remember to store the Board Meeting Minutes, since businesses can be asked to present minutes dating back up to 10 years.

What To Look For in a Meeting Minutes Template

An example board meeting minutes template should include the following key sections:

• Time, date, and location of the meeting 
• Full names of all those in attendance 
• Agenda items outlined at the beginning 
• A detailed account of the key decisions 
• Any action items and the individual assigned 
• Deliverables and timelines agreed by the board 
• The time, date, and location of the next meeting

Using a board of directors meeting minutes template helps ensure that all of the important information is recorded in a highly standardised way.

Additional Sections All Board Meeting Minutes Should Have

As well as the attendees, accurate minutes should also have a list of absentees. This will help show who was and was not present when key decisions were made.

Assigning individuals to specific tasks and action items is essential for understanding the various responsibilities of each board member.

How To Accurately Record Board Meeting Minutes

There is a big difference between using a sample board meeting minutes template to summarise a meeting and producing a verbatim transcript.

While transcripts are sometimes called for, board meeting minutes are a legal obligation for reasons of corporate transparency.

Recording board meeting minutes requires a company to:

• Appoint a designated minute-taker who will be present at all future meetings 
• Use a sample board meeting minutes template to standardise the note-taking 
• Record notes in concise and objective language free from personal remarks

Board Meeting Minutes that are straight to the point and contain only salient information are much more effective than a lengthy transcript.

A concise approach ensures that the nature and timeline of key decisions does not become lost in a lengthy set of minutes. This will make the minutes a valuable record in a variety of different scenarios, such as when applying to terminate a contract.

Clear and accurate minutes of this sort are also essential for achieving compliance.

Read more about Termination of Contract.

How To Ensure Compliance and Confidentiality

Compliance can be achieved by adopting a standardised approach that is based on a board meeting minutes template.

Assigning the same person to take notes during each meeting — and making sure that note-taking is their sole responsibility during that time — will help ensure the accuracy of the minutes.

Meeting minutes are a legal record of what occurred within a business and are not intended for public distribution.

The minutes should be distributed in advance of the next board meeting, allowing stakeholders and attendees to review progress and plan accordingly. They should not be distributed beyond board level without an express reason.

Regularly reviewing the minute-taking process makes sure that key sections are always included.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below you can find frequently asked questions about Board Meeting Minutes.

Can anyone take board meeting minutes?

While there are no formal qualifications for minute-taking, the role is typically best filled by someone with proven organisational skills. A secretary who is familiar with how the company operates on a senior level is a common choice for the role.

Where should I store board meeting minutes?

A document management system that is backed up to the cloud is the most common way to securely store board meeting minutes. They should be backed up periodically because businesses can be asked to present minutes dating back up to 10 years.

What can board meeting minutes be used for?

Board meeting minutes are a legal record of the decisions made within a business and show how the board acted at specific points in time. They can be called as evidence in legal proceedings, used to guide the future direction of the board, and to hold directors and board members accountable.