Business minutes document discussions during meetings such as shareholder and directors’ meetings, and are reviewed and amended at subsequent meetings. They typically include discussions of company plans, electing new officers, and decisions on issuing or selling stock. Many companies keep minutes as a means of creating an ongoing history of the business, and they may be required by law in some jurisdictions. Approaches to preparing minutes include having a trained individual take notes or recording the meeting for later transcription. The final transcript is reviewed and amended if necessary before becoming part of the company’s official records.
Business minutes are documented notes of the issues discussed during a certain type of business meeting. Minutes of meetings of this type are commonly prepared for a wide variety of events such as shareholder and directors’ meetings. Business records of this type are typically reviewed and amended as needed at subsequent meetings, and become part of the permanent records maintained by most companies.
A wide range of information can be included in a variety of company minutes. Typically, the details included will focus on accurately recording discussions of several topics relevant to the operation of the business. Common examples of line items featured in company minutes include discussing, adopting or changing company plans and procedures, electing and acknowledging new company officers, and decisions to issue or sell stock. Matters such as employee restructuring benefit packages or entertaining the idea of selling or merging the company can also be discussed at the meeting and documented in the official minutes.
In many jurisdictions, lawmakers are required by law to keep company minutes of specific types of meetings, such as shareholders’ or directors’ meetings where elections are held. While local laws do not require minutes to be kept at certain types of company meetings, many companies choose to do so as a means of creating an ongoing history of the business and ensuring that key topics and discussions are available for reference at future dates. Since company minutes are often considered admissible in hearings, making sure that the minutes are accurate and approved by those attending the meeting is very important.
There are different approaches to preparing company minutes. One approach involves having a trained individual as a recorder to take notes during the actual meeting. Most commonly today, the meeting is recorded with ordinary audio recording equipment, making it possible to prepare a text document at a later time. Some companies even include visual data in the minutes, such as including a slide presentation that is shown to shareholders, combining text and visual aids to provide a more complete story of what transpired at the meeting.
With both approaches, an official transcript is prepared and distributed to board members or shareholders for review. At the next scheduled meeting, the company minutes are reviewed and amended if necessary. The current process for reviewing and amending amendments may be somewhat relaxed, although it is not unusual for some companies to make use of parliamentary procedures as outlined in works such as Robert’s Order Ruling to recognise, consider and ultimately approve or reject suggestions for changes or amendments during the review of the proposed minutes. Once those present agree that the minutes are complete and accurate, they are approved and become part of the company’s official records.
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