Documenting Corporate Minutes

Safeguard your company by taking corporate minutes

Appropriately documenting corporate minutes allows business owners to record critical business decisions and have strong documentation to address any later questions from creditors, federal, state and local courts or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on key business activities.

Large corporations have extensive recordkeeping guidelines with which they must comply. However, small companies are not off the hook on recording minutes. Small business owners tend to have informal meetings to discuss and decide upon critical business decisions, and must ensure all discussions and approved actions are documented. Many states have streamlined recordkeeping requirements so that this is not such a tedious process for small business owners. Consider the following tips on keeping meeting minutes:

1. Record corporate minutes for all annual owner, partner and shareholder meetings.

2. Keep a record of the minutes to document any loan, lease, line of credit or stock option transaction.

3. Document business minutes for any decision that may have federal or state tax implications.

 

Automate your record of the minutes

For small businesses, one or just a few individuals play the roles of shareholder, owner, officer, director and employee. Therefore in most cases, most of a small business' meetings and activities must be recorded. Save time by automating the process of recording business minutes.
Try: Minute Book is an automated software that processes and records minutes and resolutions quickly. MyNewCompany.com offers a web-based, point-and-click technology that creates and manages a record of the minutes.

Download legal templates to use to record company minutes

While it's not necessary to document routine business meetings, it's important to keep a record of the minutes for all activities that affect the financial status, ownership or tax status of your business. A standard template to record minutes helps you quickly and easily document all pertinent information.
Try: LegalZoom offers a quick and easy three-step process to help you create custom corporate minutes. Rocket Lawyer.com offers a free download of the document used in recording meeting minutes.

Outsource your requirements for recording meeting minutes

Although time and resources may be limited, small business owners cannot afford to overlook requirements to keep a record of the minutes for annual meetings and decisions on critical business matters. Try outsourcing the work to a local service provider if you cannot keep up with your recordkeeping duties.
Try: Corporate Minutes is a business services provider that helps businesses keep a record of minutes for annual meetings. Check out USLegal Services for assistance with keeping company minutes.

 

• Recording minutes is generally a good business practice that can be instrumental in protecting your business assets. If your company is sued or faces other legal recourse, the court can hold you personally responsible for your company's debts by disregarding your status as a business entity.

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