--- title: "How meeting minutes are approved, corrected and signed" canonical: https://candor.inc/minutes/approval author: Sarthak Singh, co-founder of Candor date_published: date_modified: --- # How meeting minutes are approved, corrected and signed Meeting minutes are circulated as a draft, corrected, and approved by the authorised body, usually at the next regular meeting under Robert's Rules, then kept with any required signatures. Section 248 of the UK Companies Act 2006 requires directors' minutes to be kept for at least ten years. Your own law and bylaws decide who approves and signs. > **Short answer** > > - Mark the circulated copy “Draft for approval”; check the review deadline in your rules. > - At initial approval under Robert's Rules, put agreed corrections into the earlier minutes; the current minutes record “approved as corrected.” [1] > - Check who must sign. A chair's signature and a secretary's signature have different roles; two blank lines on a template do not create a legal requirement. > - Keep the approved record for the applicable retention period. UK company directors' minutes must be kept for at least ten years from the meeting date. [4][5][6] Disclosure: Candor is an app that will compete with some products named here. We describe every product, including Candor, from its own documentation, and we'll test them all with the same published method. This is general information, not legal advice. ## Prepare and circulate the draft Start by identifying the body whose record you are preparing: a board, a committee or the membership. Put that name and the meeting date on the draft so reviewers cannot mistake one body's minutes for another's. For an Indian RWA or society AGM, find the registered bye-laws and applicable state law before borrowing company-board procedure. Robert's Rules itself gives priority to applicable law and contrary bylaws or special rules. [1] These are suggested working steps; your organisation's rules set the requirements: 1. Write from the agenda and your record of decisions. Under Robert's Rules, minutes record actions rather than a summary of speeches. [1] 2. Label the file “Draft for approval” and give it a version date. Keep one working master so corrections do not split across several files. 3. Send it to the people entitled to review it. State the meeting it covers and the response deadline. 4. Ask for the item number and proposed replacement wording. If reviewers disagree, leave the disputed wording for the authorised approval process rather than quietly choosing one account. For Indian company boards, SS-1 requires some context: a brief background to proposals and a summary of deliberations, with reasons for major decisions. An action-only approach borrowed from Robert's Rules would miss that requirement. [3, §7.2.2.2] Treat draft circulation like checking a receipt: someone can spot a wrong amount before it is filed, but sending the receipt round does not itself prove that every required check has happened. Keep the draft's status visible until your body's approval process is complete. (An unanswered email has only the effect your rules give it.) ## Approve minutes at the next meeting The Robert's Rules Association describes next-regular-meeting approval as the normal procedure for a session lasting no longer than a day. Its official interpretation also permits a properly called special meeting for approval when the bylaws allow special meetings and the notice identifies that business. “Next meeting” is therefore a useful default, with exceptions. [2, interpretation 2012-1] At the approval item, identify the draft and invite corrections. Settle disputed wording using the procedure in your adopted authority. The original chair wording below assumes the body has resolved any objections; it gives you a usable script without prescribing a voting rule for every organisation. ```text Chair: We are considering the draft minutes of the meeting held on __________. Are there any corrections to the record? After the body has settled any proposed corrections: Are there any further corrections? After completing the required approval procedure: The minutes of __________ are approved as corrected. Entry in the minutes of this approval meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on __________ were approved as corrected. ``` Use “approved” when there were no corrections. A proposed correction should describe what happened at the earlier meeting. If members now want a different decision, put that business through its own authorised process rather than changing history in the minutes. Robert's Rules treats minutes as a record of the body's actions. [1] ## Indian company boards follow SS-1 Use the applicable SS-1 process for company-board MoM (minutes of meeting), rather than waiting automatically for the next meeting. Check its Scope for exemptions; company-board rules do not automatically apply to a housing society or a company AGM. ICSI's standards index identifies the revision effective from 1 April 2024. [3] [12] SS-1 (revision effective 1 April 2024) §§7.4–7.5 sets this timetable: | Stage | Timetable in SS-1 §§7.4–7.5 [13] | |---|---| | Circulate draft | Within 15 days of the meeting's conclusion | | Written comments | Within 7 days of circulation | | Finalise and enter in Minutes Book | Within 30 days of the meeting's conclusion | Signing follows §7.6.1: the chair of that meeting signs before the next meeting, or the next meeting's chair signs at it. SS-1 sets no day count for signing board minutes. [3, §7.6.1] ## Correct minutes that are already approved Under Robert's Rules, use a motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted. Record its exact wording and outcome in the later meeting's minutes, including a rejected motion. If adopted, retain the original text with a marginal correction or reference to the later record. [1, FAQ 16] For example, the original record might say that a spending cap was ₹40,000, while the body's evidence establishes ₹30,000. Write a proposed correction identifying the meeting date, item number and replacement amount. Submit it through the body's authorised procedure. These amounts are an invented example, not a report of an actual meeting. For Indian company-board records already entered or signed, check SS-1 §§7.5.3 and 7.6.3 with the company secretary before making any alteration. [3] Preserve the existing record while the company secretary confirms the permitted process. ## Who signs, and what does the signature establish? Read the signature rule for your body before sending the final copy out. If it requires the secretary to sign as recorder, use that line; if it also requires the chair's authentication, obtain that separately. (A signature image pasted into a file should not be assumed to meet a digital-signature requirement.) SS-1 §7.6 requires the board-meeting chair or the next meeting's chair to sign and date the minutes. It specifies initials on each page, a signature on the last page, signing place and date, and digital signing for electronic minutes. The company secretary's certification of circulated copies is a separate task. [3, §§7.6.1–7.6.4] For UK company directors' meetings, section 249 gives evidential status to qualifying minutes purporting to be authenticated by the chair of that meeting or the next directors' meeting. It also creates presumptions about the meeting and proceedings until the contrary is proved. This is evidence that can be challenged, rather than a guarantee that every recorded act was valid. Sections 248–249 do not impose a universal requirement for both chair and secretary signatures. [4][5][6] [7][8] ## Copy-and-paste meeting minutes template This original template is for an ordinary association or committee using next-meeting approval. Fill the blanks from the actual meeting; delete fields your rules do not call for. A company secretary should use the applicable company requirements instead of treating this as an SS-1 form. Google Docs supports document editing and sharing with view, comment or edit access. Word supports reusable templates; Microsoft's Mac instructions use File → Save as Template and the .dotx format. [9] [10] We haven't run this test yet. Where this page describes a product's behaviour, it's what that product's maker says, checked on 4 November 2026. ```text ORGANISATION: _______________________________________________ BODY (board / committee / membership): _______________ MEETING TYPE: _______________________________________________ STATUS: DRAFT FOR APPROVAL Draft version date: _________________________________________ Meeting date: _______________________________________________ Place or permitted meeting mode: ____________________________ Start time: __________________ End time: _____________________ Chair: _______________________ Secretary / recorder: _________ 1. Attendance Members present: ___________________________________________ Apologies / absent members, as required: _____________________ Other attendees and their roles: ____________________________ Quorum requirement and rule reference: _______________________ Attendance establishing quorum, and relevant changes: ________ 2. Approval of earlier minutes Meeting date of the minutes considered: _____________________ Outcome (approved / approved as corrected / approval pending): ____________________________________________________________ For initial approval under Robert's Rules, put the corrections in the earlier minutes; do not list them again in this item. 3. Business (repeat this entry for each item) Item number and subject: ____________________________________ Exact motion / resolution or decision: _______________________ ____________________________________________________________ Mover, if required: _________________________________________ Other particulars required by the body's rules: ______________ Vote method and result, where required: ______________________ Required dissent / abstention record: ________________________ Agreed action owner and deadline, if any: ____________________ Document references / required attachments: __________________ 4. Later correction of already approved minutes, if considered Earlier meeting date and item: ______________________________ Exact correction motion: ____________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Outcome: ___________________________________________________ Cross-reference added to the earlier record: _________________ 5. Close Next meeting, if arranged: __________________________________ Time meeting ended: _________________________________________ APPROVAL AND SIGNING RECORD (complete only when these occur) Approval date and approving body: ___________________________ Approved / approved as corrected: ___________________________ Reference to the meeting recording approval: _________________ Secretary / recorder, if required: ___________________________ Signature: __________________ Date signed: __________________ Chair, if required: _________________________________________ Signature: __________________ Date signed: __________________ Place of signing, if required: _______________________________ Official record location / minute-book reference: ____________ Record custodian: ___________________________________________ ``` Quorum means the attendance needed to transact business under the applicable rule. Record what was checked; a prefilled “quorum present” line proves nothing. Robert's Rules warns that quorum can be lost when members leave. [1, FAQ 3] ## Keep the approved record File the version actually approved, with its approval date and any required signatures. Keep later correction decisions cross-referenced to it. National PTA's own guidance calls for an approval date, an official file and permanent preservation of PTA minutes. That guidance concerns PTAs; use the retention rule that applies to your body. [11] For UK company directors' minutes, retain records for at least ten years from the meeting date. [4][5][6] SS-1 §8.1 prescribes permanent preservation of minutes, in physical form or electronic form with a timestamp. [14] For day-to-day filing, make the approved copy read-only where your system allows it and keep a backup under the custodian's control. Those are practical safeguards, not a claim that an ordinary PDF or cloud folder meets every statutory recordkeeping requirement. Check permitted storage, inspection rights and retention before choosing the official record system. ## What this page can't tell you No named RWA's bye-laws or society's governing statute were checked. The SS-1 timetable and alteration rules above were checked against the revised SS-1 (effective 1 April 2024) on 4 November 2026; check its Scope for exemptions. Use the linked official standard and your organisation's rules to resolve those points before relying on this page for a company filing or disputed record. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does “approved as corrected” mean? It means the authorised body approved the draft after agreeing to corrections. Under Robert’s Rules, make those corrections in the earlier minutes and record “approved as corrected” in the minutes of the approval meeting. [1] ### How do I ask for a correction? Identify the item and propose replacement wording. Send it to the people entitled to review the draft, then use your body’s authorised process to settle any disagreement. [1] ### Can a board release minutes before they’re approved? A draft can be circulated before approval if it is clearly marked as a draft. Your organisation’s rules and applicable law determine what can be released and when. ### Can I send draft minutes before approval? Yes, you can circulate a draft for review before approval. SS-1, for example, requires Indian company boards to circulate draft minutes for comment within 15 days. [3, §7.4] Mark its status clearly and follow your organisation’s rules for review, approval and release. ## About this page Candor is being built as personal voice intelligence for everyone. You can join the Candor waitlist at candor.inc. Candor's own documentation is at [candor.inc/docs](https://candor.inc/docs). Candor's docs on this page's topic: [What the summary includes](https://candor.inc/docs/meetings/summaries#what-the-summary-includes). Last checked: 3 November 2026. Facts about Candor on this page come from Candor's documentation ([candor.inc/docs](https://candor.inc/docs)) and homepage. [15] Report an error to support@candor.inc. ## Sources 1. Robert's Rules Association, Official FAQs, especially 3, 15 and 16 — https://robertsrules.com/frequently-asked-questions/ — checked 2026-11-04 2. Robert's Rules Association, Official Interpretations, 2012-1 — https://robertsrules.com/official-interpretations/ — checked 2026-11-04 3. ICSI, SS-1, revision effective 1 April 2024 — https://icsis3-console.icsi.edu:9002/icsi-prod/media/cms_uploads/ss-1-1-2024.pdf — checked 2026-11-04 4. Companies Act 2006, section 248 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/248 — checked 2026-11-04 5. Companies Act 2006, section 248 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/pdfs/ukpga_20060046_en.pdf — checked 2026-11-03 6. Companies Act 2006, section 248 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/cy/ukpga/2006/46/section/248?timeline=false — checked 2026-11-03 7. Companies Act 2006, section 249 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/249 — checked 2026-11-04 8. Companies Act 2006, section 249 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/249?timeline=false — checked 2026-11-03 9. Google Docs Editors Help, How to use Google Docs — https://support.google.com/docs/answer/7068618?hl=en — checked 2026-11-04 10. Microsoft Support, Create a template — https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/create-a-template — checked 2026-11-04 11. National PTA, Quick Guide to Taking & Approving Meeting Minutes, created July 2016 — https://www.pta.org/docs/default-source/files/training/course-tools/meeting-minutes/key-takeaways--meeting-minutes.pdf — checked 2026-11-04 12. ICSI, Standards index — https://www.icsi.edu/icsi-standards — checked 2026-11-04 13. ICSI, SS-1, revision effective 1 April 2024, Finalisation and entry of minutes, §§7.4–7.5 — https://icsis3-console.icsi.edu:9002/icsi-prod/media/cms_uploads/ss-1-1-2024.pdf — checked 2026-11-04 14. ICSI, SS-1, effective 1 April 2024, §8.1 — https://icsis3-console.icsi.edu:9002/icsi-prod/media/cms_uploads/ss-1-1-2024.pdf — checked 2026-11-04 15. Candor homepage — https://candor.inc/ — checked 2026-11-04