The Board of Directors is the governing body that is responsible for the administration of your community association.   Board meetings are a time for board members to come together to learn, exchange ideas, debate options, and ultimately determine the path forward for the association.  During these meetings, someone is tasked with taking minutes which are a written record of the issues addressed and the decisions made during the board meeting.  Once approved, the meeting minutes become an official record of the association.

Preparing board meeting minutes does not have to be a tedious and daunting task!  Remember board meeting minutes are not a transcript of everything that was said during the meeting.  Meeting minutes should be brief and concise. 

All board meeting minutes should contain the following information:

• The association name, the date and place of the meeting, the time the meeting was called to order and adjourned.  This information is often included as the header for the minutes.
• The names of the board members present and absent and the names of all guests attending the meeting, such as your community association manager and legal counsel.
• Confirmation that a quorum was present and that proper notice was sent.
• Approval of the previous board meeting minutes.
• The name and position of the person taking the meeting minutes.
• The subject of all reports presented, including financial, community association manager, and committee reports.
• Record of financial transactions such as allocating funds from the reserve account or opening a new bank account.
• Any motions made including who made the motion and who seconded the motion.  This should include the exact wording of the motion and whether it passed or failed.  The names of those voting in favor or against does not need to be included unless a board member specifically requests that their vote be noted.  The name of any board member who abstained to vote on a motion should be noted.
• The date, time, and place of the next board meeting.         

Board meeting minutes should not include personal comments, opinions, irrelevant discussions, or word-for-word dialogue.

Here are a few tips on how to take good board meeting minutes:

• Be brief.  Remember they are called meeting minutes, not meeting hours.
• Be timely.  Prepare your minutes within a week of the meeting, if possible, while the information is fresh in everyone’s memory.
• Be accurate.  Send a draft of the meeting minutes to your community association manager and the other board members for review and feedback prior to the next board meeting.

Good meeting minutes are dependent on having an organized meeting that follows an agenda.  If your meeting lacks structure, your minutes will be disorganized and confusing.