Practical guide · Governance records
How to Write Board Meeting Minutes: What to Record and What Not to Record
Minutes are the official record of what the Board decided. They are not a transcript, and they are not a summary of the conversation. This free guide sets out what belongs in the record, what to leave out, and how to write motions so the decision holds up later.
What minutes should record
- The organization name, type of meeting, date, time, and location or platform.
- Who attended, who was absent, and any late arrivals or early departures with times.
- Confirmation that quorum was present, and any point at which quorum was lost.
- Approval of the agenda and approval of the previous minutes, including amendments.
- Declared conflicts of interest, recusals, and whether the member left the room for the discussion and vote.
- Each motion in its exact final wording, who moved and seconded it, and the outcome — carried, defeated or tabled.
- Decisions and resolutions, with resolution numbers if your organization uses them.
- Action items with the person responsible and a due date.
- Entry into and exit from in-camera session, with times.
- Time of adjournment, and signature or approval lines for the Chair and recorder.
What to leave out
- Verbatim discussion or transcripts of who said what.
- Opinions, tone, side comments, disagreements between individuals, or your own interpretation.
- The substance of confidential in-camera discussion — record only that the session occurred.
- Personnel details, member information or legal advice that should not sit in an open record.
- Draft numbers or unapproved figures presented informally as if they were decisions.
- Anything you cannot support if the minutes are read back years later.
Six practices that keep the record defensible
Write in the past tense, third person, and neutral voice
Minutes are a record of decisions, not a narrative. "The Board approved…" not "We decided that we should probably…". Neutral language protects both the Board and the person who wrote the record.
Get motions exactly right
A motion should be recorded in the wording it was finally adopted in, not the wording it started with. If it was amended during debate, record the amended wording, then the mover, the seconder and the result. If the vote was recorded or a member abstained, note it.
Draft within one to two days
Detail fades quickly. Draft while the meeting is fresh, send to the Chair for review, and bring the draft to the next meeting for approval. Once approved, the minutes become the official governance record.
Summarize discussion in one or two lines
You can note that a topic was discussed and the main considerations raised without attributing statements to individuals. Aim for enough context that a future reader understands why the decision made sense.
Handle in-camera sessions carefully
Record the motion to move in camera, the time in, the time out, and any motion made after returning to open session. The confidential content stays out of the open minutes.
Respect governance context and protocol
Within Indigenous organizations the record may also need to reflect ceremony, opening and closing, community protocol, or the role of Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Follow your own governing documents and local practice.
Work from a template instead of a blank page
The Boardroom Ready Admin Kit™ includes a professional minutes template with the fields above already built in — attendance and quorum, conflicts and recusals, motions and resolutions, in-camera entry and exit, action items and approval signatures — plus an action item tracker and a meeting-day quick capture sheet.
Boardroom Ready Admin Kit™ — $79 CAD
The before, during and after system for the Board cycle. Instant PDF access.
Preparing for the meeting itself? Read the Board meeting preparation checklist.
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