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Minutes

Minutes are the official record of the proceedings of a meeting. They show what was
formally considered and resolved. All organizations, whether commercial or social,
attach great importance to minutes. In case of joint stock companies, it is compulsory
for them to maintain minutes of the proceedings of every general meeting and the
meetings of the Board and its committees. Once minutes are approved and signed,
even a court of law accepts them as evidences of the proceedings. The main object of
writing minutes is to record, concisely and accurately, the essential work done at a
meeting.

Types of minutes
Minutes are of three types:
i. Minutes of resolution: In this type of minutes, only the resolutions passed
at a meeting are recorded. No reference is made to any discussion preceding
the resolutions. No mention is made even of the movers and seconders of the
resolutions.
ii. Minutes of narration: Minutes of narration report, in addition to the resolutions
passed a brief account of the discussion and the voting pattern.
iii. A combination of both: Very formal minutes include the proposal with the
name of the proposer and the seconder, a short summary of the discussion and
finally, the resolution.
The usual practice is to write minutes of resolutions.

Structure of minutes

Minutes should include short summaries of any reports submitted and all the decisions
taken at a meeting. They should be brief but exact, describing clearly the action to be
taken but not the discussion. They do not offer a verbatim report of the proceedings.

Minutes may be recorded either in a tabular form or in the form of continuous
paragraphs. The elements of the minutes are given here:
i. Name of the meeting: Annual general meeting, extraordinary meeting, board
meeting, etc.
ii. Date, time and place: The date, time, and place at which the meeting is held
should be mentioned.
iii. Reference number: In the case of general meetings of the company as well as
board meetings, it is usual to give the number of the meeting.
iv. Names of those who are present: The minutes should contain the names of all
those who are present and the capacity in which they are present.
v. Items numbered and headings: Each item in the minutes is numbered and
given a brief heading.
vi. Special resolution: If a special resolution is to be passed by a given majority,
this fact should be entered in the minutes. In fact, the minutes should record the
number of those in favor and those against the resolution.

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