A minute is prepared so that the motion and resolutions taken at a meeting can be used as a reference in the future. It is a legal requirement for public limited companies to keep minutes of the board meetings, committee meetings, and annual general meetings. It is intended as guidance only, to interested parties, who wish to gain an understanding of the concepts and principles of writing minutes.
Minutes of meetings must be recorded, entered into a book or file, and signed by the Chairperson. The minutes of the meeting must contain the name of the meeting styled as “Minutes of the annual general meeting”, Minutes of the extraordinary general meeting”, Minutes of the Board Meeting” etc.
Principles of Writing Minutes
The following principles are followed for writing Minutes
- It should be clear,-concise and accurate, and free from ambiguity
- It should be written by dividing the matters into a suitable paragraph.
- Each paragraph should be written with a brief heading for quick reference.
- It should include the correct and fair summary of the proceedings of the meeting.
- It should state the name of the meeting with the date, time, and place.
- It should mention the name of the chairman and other important persons who attended the meeting.
- It should state separately the financial and other special terms discussed in the meeting.
- It should state the names of the props, secondary method of voting, voting results, and the resolutions of the meeting.
- It must be recorded in the Minutes Book.
- Explanatory notes should be given for special issues in the footnote of the minutes.
- The minutes must be signed by the chairman with the date and confirmed at the next meeting of the members.
Notes should be brief and to the point. Important decisions and actions should be recorded on the template or notepad as they happen. It is crucial that meeting minutes are accurate because they can be a legal record of the proceedings and actions of an organization. Knowing how to take meeting minutes accurately is a valuable business skill.
