Board meeting minutes template
Trippi Notes team · facts checked on 2026-10-01
Board minutes are a record of what the board did: which motions were made, who made them, and how the vote went. They are not a summary of the debate. This template gives you that structure. It is a starting point, not legal advice: your bylaws and local law decide what your minutes must contain.
The template
Copy it into any editor that understands Markdown. The headings and the table come through as they are.
# [Organisation] — [regular / special] board meeting — [date] **Time and place:** **Called to order by:** [name] at [time] **Directors present:** **Directors absent:** **Also present:** **Quorum:** yes / no ## Minutes of previous meeting - Approved as written / approved with changes: ## Reports - [report] — [presented by] — received ## Motions | Motion | Moved by | Seconded by | For | Against | Abstain | Result | |--------|----------|-------------|-----|---------|---------|--------| | | | | | | | | ## Action items | Task | Owner | Due | |------|-------|-----| | | | | ## Next meeting [date] **Adjourned at:** **Secretary:** [name, signature] **Chair:** [name, signature]
For Word or Google Docs
The same template as plain text. Paste it into a new document, then turn the first line and the section names into headings if you like. There is no file to download: you paste it, and it is yours.
[ORGANISATION] — [REGULAR / SPECIAL] BOARD MEETING — [DATE] Time and place: Called to order by: [name] at [time] Directors present: Directors absent: Also present: Quorum: yes / no Minutes of previous meeting - Approved as written / approved with changes: Reports - [report] — [presented by] — received Motions Motion — Moved by — Seconded by — For — Against — Abstain — Result - Action items Task — Owner — Due - Next meeting [date] Adjourned at: Secretary: [name, signature] Chair: [name, signature]
What each part is for
Quorum
Whether enough directors were there for the board to act. Decisions taken without quorum may not count.
Previous minutes
Approved as written or with changes. Approval is itself a motion.
Motions
The exact wording, who moved it, the vote and the result. Write the motion as it was put to the vote, not as it was first suggested.
Seconded by
Some boards record it, some do not. Keep or delete the column according to your own rules.
Action items
What the board asked someone to do, with a name and a date.
Signatures
Many organisations have minutes signed by the secretary and the chair once they are approved.
Robert’s Rules of Order puts it simply: minutes are "a record of what was done at a meeting, not a record of what was said." That is why there is no "Discussion" section here. Whether your board follows Robert’s Rules, and what it must record, is set by your bylaws.
How to fill it in five minutes
- 1Before: Fill the header and list the motions on the agenda as empty rows, with their wording if it is known.
- 2At the start: Write who is present and whether there is quorum. Do it before the first vote.
- 3At every vote: Write the final wording, who moved it, and the count. Ask the chair to repeat the result if you missed it.
- 4After: Send the draft to the chair for review. The minutes become official when the board approves them at the next meeting.
A filled example
Riverside Food Bank — regular board meeting — 6 Oct 2026
Called to order by: J. Okafor at 18:05 · Directors present: 6 of 9 · Quorum: yes
Minutes of previous meeting: approved as written.
Reports: Treasurer’s report — M. Silva — received.
Motions
1. To approve the 2027 budget as presented. Moved by M. Silva. For 5, against 0, abstain 1. Carried.
2. To lease a second van for 12 months. Moved by A. Chen. For 2, against 4, abstain 0. Failed.
Action items
File the approved budget with the bank — M. Silva — 20 Oct
Adjourned at 19:20.
Let it fill itself
Trippi Notes listens to the meeting tab in Chrome — Google Meet, Zoom in the browser or Microsoft Teams in the browser — after one click on its icon, and writes the transcript with speaker names and times. It has no built-in board meeting template. What it has is a box for your own request, up to 1,000 characters, that tells the summary what to look for. Paste this:
These are board meeting minutes. List each motion with its final wording, who moved it, the vote count and whether it carried. Note attendance and whether quorum was stated. Record actions with owners and dates. Do not summarise the debate.
Check every motion and every count against what was said. A transcript can miss a hand vote that nobody spoke aloud, and only the secretary can confirm the minutes. The summary still comes back in its usual parts — overview, decisions, tasks with owners, open questions — so you move them into the template above, or export Markdown or plain text and edit there.
Summary templates other than the general one, and your own request, are part of the paid plans. It only hears calls in the browser, not desktop apps or phones. Nothing joins the call, so nobody sees a bot in the list of people. Tell them you are taking notes anyway — how to ask.
FAQ
Asked about this.
What must board minutes include?+
Usually the date, attendance, quorum, motions with their results, and action items. Your bylaws and local law set the exact list, so check them or ask your secretary or counsel.
Should board minutes include the discussion?+
Generally no. Minutes record what was done, not what was said. Some boards add a one-line note of the main reasons; follow your own practice.
Is this template legal advice?+
No. It is a common structure. Ask a qualified person if your minutes have legal weight, for example for a company or a charity.
Can I take board minutes with an AI note taker?+
Only if the board agrees, and the secretary still checks every motion and count. Board meetings are often confidential, so ask before anything listens.
Read next
Let the notes fill themselves.
Trippi Notes is in the Chrome Web Store. One click on the icon when the call begins, and nothing before that.