What are meeting minutes?

Meeting minutes are legal, official records of issues discussed, proposed, or voted on during board meetings as well as records of attendees, action items, reports, and other key elements of the meeting.

Many states legally require records of meeting proceedings to be available to shareholders or to the public. Additionally, meeting minutes serve as a valuable record to ensure that anyone unable to attend the meeting is able to gain an accurate understanding of meeting proceedings after the fact. Meeting minutes are also often used as a reference document when researching historical decisions made by previous Boards of Directors.

By outsourcing your minute taking duties to us, the management team and secretary of the board will be able to freely participate in the meeting without worrying about notetaking. Utilizing a third-party minute taker to draft your meeting minutes is also a great way to ensure that your corporation's records remain unbiased. Some boards prefer to have a minute taker present for the duration of their meeting via phone or teleconference, while other boards prefer to simply submit a recording of their meeting from which the minutes can then be derived. Whatever your preference, minutes can still be accurately captured worry-free.

During your meeting, the minute taker will take detailed notes of meeting proceedings, votes, action items, reports, and any other relevant information. Then, after the meeting has concluded, the minute taker will use their notes along with an audio recording of the meeting to create the formatted draft minutes. After the minutes are reviewed by the board and management team, the minute taker will make any requested changes to the draft document. Once the minutes have been approved by the board, the minute taker will submit a finalized document ready to add to your records or upload to your corporation's website. 

Minute takers do not offer opinions, legal counsel, or other suggestions to the board during meetings, and will not speak during your meeting unless requesting clarification on items specifically pertaining to the minute taking process (such as requesting the names of speakers, final vote counts, etc.)