How to Track Corporate Minutes

1. The Essentials →
2. The Procedure →
3. Conclusion →
4. Further Information →

The official documentation of business meetings, conferences, and legal procedures is often referred to as the corporate minutes, the record, or the journal. As they serve as the formal record of various corporate proceedings, they are often composed by professionals who have intimate knowledge of the subjects in discussion, as well as strong writing or typing skills for logging the meeting's topics and conclusions in an efficient manner.

Documenting the Minutes: The Essentials

While the degree of specificity that the minutes recorder applies to his or her documentation depends on a number of variables, there are several key factors that should always be registered.

All corporate minutes should include, but are not limited to, the following factors:

1) Name of the assembly.
2) Date and location.
3) Whether the chairman and his or her secretary is present or absent and, if so, their respective substitutes.
4) Fact of previous minutes' approval.
5) Type of meeting - regular, special, adjourned regular or adjourned special.
6) Hours/time of initiation and adjournment.
7) All primary motions and points of appeal, including those lost or withdrawn.

Documenting the Minutes: Procedure

As mentioned above, the content and detail of the minutes depends on the frequency of meetings, the parties involved, intent to publish, points of discussion and reference, as well as the wishes of the principals themselves.

Because corporate minutes are official documentations of an organization's proceedings, it is essential that the constituents determine how thorough they shall be, as they may ultimately be used in legal proceedings as proof of corporate actions.

Most often, the minutes will feature the accomplishments, agreements and all other relevant points of reference addressed in a specific meeting. They do not usually feature verbatim transcriptions of the proceeding's dialogue, though such practices may be requested or featured in audio or video recordings, particularly in public hearings intended for eventual publication.

As meetings often include voting procedures, the minutes should include tallies of all votes, as well as the name and motion of each participant.

Documenting the Minutes: Conclusion

For serial gatherings, the minutes of the previous meeting should be read, approved or at least addressed upon commencement. The proceedings for this process often depends on the frequency of the conferences.

When the minutes are reviewed, any due amendments or adjustments should be noted. It is customary that minutes not be approved until they have been read and reviewed by all members.

Assigning certain tasks or "actions" is a common practice in business meetings and should be appropriately noted in the minutes by reference to "placing an action."

Any relevant committee or officer reports, registered motions, pieces of correspondence or any other objects of documentation referenced in the proceedings should be included - through photocopying, transcription or any form of notation - within the minutes themselves.

The minutes should be typed and prepared as such for subsequent meetings. If no further meetings are to be held, they should be prepared for transmittal via email, direct mail or other methods of correspondence.

Once approved by all necessary parties, the word "approved" should be noted along with the date of the final approval.

Finally, the minutes should be thoroughly filed or registered in a corporate minutes book at the company headquarters or any appropriate private location.