Meetings

Contents
  1. Meeting minutes — copy from here
  2. What to leave out
  3. Keep adopted minutes with the meeting
  4. Short answers

The short answer: copy the template, fill in what the meeting decided, and keep the adopted minutes with the meeting record, not in the secretary's personal files.

The template

Download PDF
Hoavik hoavik.com/templates

Meeting minutes

Record what was decided, what it cost, and who owns the next step. Keep the signed copy with the meeting.

Write the decision, not the debate. Name the mover, the second, and the count on every motion.

The meeting Section 1 of 5
Association
Kind
BoardAnnual
Date
Called to order
Place
PresentNames and roles
AbsentNames and roles
GuestsWhy they were invited
Quorum
MetNot met
In person
By proxy
Last minutes
Approved as writtenApproved with corrections
Reports Section 2 of 5
Treasurer's reportBalances, doors still open
Committee reportsOne line each
Business Section 3 of 5
Old businessDecided, or tabled to a date
New businessMotion · moved by · seconded by · vote
Money committedVendor, amount, what for
Executive sessionEntered, exited, general topic only
Decisions and close Section 4 of 5
Action itemsWhat, who owns it, by when
Next meeting
Adjourned
Secretary
Date adopted
Notes Section 5 of 5

Searchers land here for a template, so here it is first. Copy it into whatever you write minutes in today. Then read the two short sections under it, because a template in a secretary's personal drive is a template the next board will never see.

The template itself is short on purpose. Everything after it on this page is about the two places boards go wrong: what they write down, and where they put it.

What to leave out

The debate. Minutes that narrate who argued what make the next board relitigate it and make owners quote it back. The decision, the vote, and the money are the record. If a discussion must be noted, one sentence: 'Discussion on the lot contract; tabled to June.'

Keep adopted minutes with the meeting

With the meeting. Not emailed, not photographed from a notebook. In Hoavik the agenda, these minutes, and the packet sit on the one meeting record, so a resident can find what was decided and next year's board does not start by asking the old secretary for a file. What your governing documents require minutes to contain is their call, not this page's. General information, not legal advice.

  • File the adopted minutes with the meeting they belong to
  • Post them where owners can read them, if that is your board's practice
  • Next year's board finds them without asking the old secretary

General information, not legal advice. Your state and your governing documents differ.

Sources: CAI, Points of Order: 5 Tips for Running Efficient Meetings, read 28 October 2026 · Meeting minutes that survive the next board