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How to write meeting minutes (with a template)

Published · Business deals, money and releases

Minutes are the official record of what a meeting decided, not a transcript of what everyone said. They protect the organisation when a decision is questioned later, and they tell people who missed the meeting what changed.

Minutes, notes or a recording?

Notes are for the person taking them. Minutes are the approved record, circulated to attendees and kept with the organisation's records. A recording can help you write minutes but is not a substitute: it is long, hard to search and may capture personal or confidential discussion that should not be retained.

Before the meeting

  • Get the agenda and the previous minutes. Number the agenda items so the minutes can follow the same structure.
  • Confirm who is attending and who is absent. Note any apologies and whether the meeting is quorate under the organisation's rules.
  • Note the time, place and chair. For a remote meeting, say which platform was used.

During the meeting

  • Record decisions, not the discussion. "The board approved the 2027 budget" is enough; you do not need every argument for and against.
  • Capture actions with an owner and a date. "Sam to circulate the draft by 24 October" is useful; "discuss communications" is not.
  • Note conflicts of interest. Who declared one and whether they took part in the decision.
  • Mark confidential items. If an item is confidential, record that it was discussed and keep the detail in a separate restricted note.

A simple structure

  1. Heading. Organisation, meeting name, date, time, place and chair.
  2. Present and absent. Names and roles, with apologies.
  3. Previous minutes. Confirmed as accurate, or amended and then confirmed.
  4. Agenda items. For each: a one-line summary, the decision, and any action with an owner and due date.
  5. Any other business. Brief notes and actions.
  6. Next meeting. Date, time and location if known.
  7. Approval. Who chaired and when the minutes were approved.

Sample wording

Present: A. Patel (chair), J. Chen, M. Silva
Apologies: R. Okafor

3. Budget 2027
The finance lead presented the draft budget. The board approved the budget with a 4% increase in the training line.

Action: J. Chen to update the finance system by 31 October.
Action: A. Patel to circulate the approved budget to department heads by 7 November.

4. Any other business
No other business was raised.

Next meeting: 14 November 2026, 10:00, Meeting Room 2.

What to leave out

  • Verbatim discussion. It makes minutes long, hard to approve and easy to misquote.
  • Speculation and personal remarks. Record decisions and the reasons that were agreed, not who lost their temper.
  • Confidential detail in a widely circulated document. Use a separate restricted record and say in the minutes that it exists.

After the meeting

Draft the minutes within a day or two, while the details are fresh. Circulate them to attendees, correct factual errors, then have them approved at the next meeting. Store the approved version with the agenda and any papers, and keep the retention period your organisation's policy requires. Actions should go into whatever task list the team actually uses, with the owner and due date copied across.

The free meeting minutes template has sections for attendees, agenda items, decisions and actions, and repeats a row for each action item. For formal decisions that need a standalone record, use the board resolution template. If the meeting is about a project, the statement of work guide explains the scope and acceptance terms that the minutes may refer to.

General information, not legal advice. Company law and governance rules may require particular minutes or approval procedures.

Questions

Do minutes need to be signed?

Many organisations have the chair sign the approved minutes, and some company rules require it. Check your constitution or governance policy; a signed copy is stronger evidence than an unsigned draft.

Who should take the minutes?

Usually someone who is not chairing the meeting, so the chair can run the discussion. For boards, a company secretary or nominated minute-taker is common.

Can minutes be changed after approval?

Correct factual errors promptly and record the correction. Do not rewrite history: if a decision changes later, record the new decision and the date it was made.

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