In short
Meeting minutes are a formal, ordered record of what a meeting discussed and decided, kept so that the organisation can show later what happened. Meeting notes are an informal list of decisions, action items and open questions, written for the people who have to act.
Minutes answer "what did this body decide, and on what basis?" Notes answer "what do I need to do now?"
Most meetings need notes. Some need minutes as well, and a few need minutes because a law, a constitution or a regulator says so. This guide sets out the difference, when you need which, and how to write minutes that do their job.
The difference at a glance
| Minutes | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | A record of the meeting | A guide to what happens next |
| Order | Follows the agenda, item by item | Grouped: decisions, actions, questions |
| Detail | Main points of discussion, decisions, votes | Only what someone needs to act |
| Tone | Neutral, third person, past tense | Direct, often second person |
| Who writes | A secretary or appointed minute-taker | Anyone, often a participant |
| Approval | Approved at the next meeting | Rarely; corrections invited |
| Kept for | Often years, sometimes by law | As long as they are useful |
What minutes are for
Minutes exist so that a body can show what it decided and how. A board, a committee, a governing council or a residents' association makes decisions on behalf of other people, and those people, or an auditor, regulator or court, may later need to see that the decisions were made properly.
That is why minutes follow the agenda in order, record who was present and whether the meeting could make decisions at all, and note votes and who declared an interest. It is also why they are approved: the members agree that the record is accurate, and from then on it is the record.
Formal minutes for company boards have their own requirements, which differ by country. Board meeting minutes covers those.
What notes are for
Notes exist so that work happens after the meeting. They are grouped by what the reader has to do with them rather than by the order things were said: first what was decided, then who is doing what by when, then what is still open. A person who missed the meeting can read them in a minute and know where things stand.
The meeting notes template gives that structure in a form you can copy.
When you need which
Notes are enough for most working meetings: project check-ins, planning sessions, client calls, one-to-ones. Nobody will later ask whether the meeting was properly constituted; they will ask what was agreed.
Minutes are needed when:
- a group makes decisions on behalf of others, such as a board, a trustee body or a committee with delegated authority;
- the group's own rules or constitution require them;
- a regulator, funder or auditor expects a record of how decisions were made;
- a decision is likely to be disputed later and the reasoning should be on record.
Both is common for formal bodies: minutes as the record, and a short list of action items sent to the people who have to do something, because nobody works from minutes.
How to write minutes
Before the meeting
Get the agenda and use its item numbers as your headings. Know who is expected and what counts as a quorum, if the body has one. Have the previous minutes to hand, because approving them is usually the first item.
What to record
- The basics. Name of the body, date, time, place or call, who chaired, who was present, who sent apologies, who else attended and why.
- Quorum, if the body has one, and whether it was met.
- Declarations of interest, and what the person did about them (for example, left the room for that item).
- For each agenda item: what was presented or considered, the main points raised, the decision, and any vote. Record the main points, not a transcript.
- Actions arising, with owners.
- Time the meeting closed and the date of the next one.
How to phrase them
Minutes are written in the third person and past tense: "The committee considered the revised budget. Members raised concerns about the contingency line. The committee approved the budget with the contingency increased to 10%." Avoid characterising people ("Tom angrily objected"), and avoid recording remarks that do not bear on a decision. If a member asks for their dissent to be minuted, minute it.
After the meeting
Write the draft within a day or two. Send it to the chair to check, then to members with the papers for the next meeting. At that meeting the minutes are corrected if needed, approved, and signed by the chair. Keep the approved version where it can be found; formal bodies often keep minutes for many years.
A minutes template
# <Body name> — minutes of the meeting held on <date>
**Present:** <names, with the chair marked>
**Apologies:** <names>
**In attendance:** <names and roles>
**Quorum:** <met / not met>
## 1. Minutes of the previous meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on <date> were approved as a correct record.
## 2. Declarations of interest
<None / name and item>
## 3. <Agenda item>
<What was considered.> <Main points raised.>
**Decision:** <what was decided, and the vote if there was one>
**Action:** <owner> — <what> — by <date>
## 4. Any other business
## 5. Date of next meeting
<date>
Meeting closed at <time>.
Signed (chair): ______ Date: ______When the meeting is recorded
A recording or transcript makes minutes easier to write accurately, because the minute-taker can check exactly how a motion was worded or what a member asked to be recorded. It does not replace them. A transcript is everything that was said; minutes are the body's agreed account of what matters, and only minutes get approved.
Whether a formal meeting may be recorded at all is a decision for the body, not for whoever happens to have a laptop open. Agree it in advance, tell everyone at the start, and decide how long the recording is kept once the minutes are approved.
Notey can draft minutes from a meeting it has recorded and transcribed on your Mac. Its Minutes note goes topic by topic in order, marks where each topic began in the recording, and calls out every agreement. The draft is labelled as AI-generated and is a starting point for the minute-taker, who checks it against the recording and the agenda before anyone sees it.
Common mistakes
- Minutes that are a transcript. If nobody can find the decision on page four, the minutes have not done their job.
- Notes that are minutes. An internal check-in written up item by item, in the third person, will not be read.
- Decisions without the decision. "The budget was discussed" tells a reader nothing. Say what was decided, or that nothing was.
- Actions that stay in the minutes. Send owners their actions separately; they will not find them in a document approved a month later.
- No record of decisions over time. For decisions that need to be found again, a decision log alongside the minutes saves searching through years of them.
If you are the one writing things down in the meeting, how to take meeting notes while you are in the meeting covers what to capture live.
Frequently asked questions
Are meeting minutes the same as meeting notes?
No. Minutes are a formal record of a meeting, in order, usually kept by a secretary and approved at the next meeting. Notes are an informal list of decisions, actions and questions for the people who act on them.
Do minutes need to record who said what?
Usually not word for word. Minutes record the items discussed, the main points, the decisions and any votes. Some bodies record who proposed and seconded a motion, or who dissented, because their rules ask for it.
Who approves meeting minutes?
In formal bodies, the members approve the minutes at the next meeting, often with corrections, and the chair signs them. Informal notes do not need approval, though it helps to invite corrections.
How soon should minutes be sent out?
While the meeting is still fresh, within a few days. The draft goes to the chair first, then to members, and becomes final once approved.