Thursday, June 19, 2014

The Importance Of Minute Books To An Organisation

By Ina Hunt


Corporate books are permanent officially bound pages that keep track of all important organizational documentation and meetings. They enable an organization to act as a registered and recognized institution, although it is not mandatory to have one it is recommended for various reasons. There are several versions of minute books this books but the two main ones are the premiums and deluxe versions.

The information available ranges from stock shares, all retirement and compensation payments, company regulations, dividends awarded to shareholders, organisation profile, details of shareholders, minutes of meetings among the directors and shareholders, time of service of directors and major business moves like joint ventures and key acquisitions.

This book contains several divisions. Directors register, shareholders transfers, shares certificates, shareholders agreements, shareholders ledgers, bylaws of the organization, corporate overview, articles of incorporation, minutes of meetings, officers register, files registered with the government and annual returns.

Since they were in use they have been handwritten and carefully numbered and dated.This ensures that the records are not changed in any manner once they are entered and they cannot be taken out once the documents are stored.The least time frame the records should be kept is roughly seven years but its important to maintain the corporate records for as long as the firm exists.Recordings should be up to date always.

Change in technology has had a great impact on other issues of a firm but hardly on the way they keep their documents and original certificates. Typing and printing of minutes to be attached to the corporate book has gained popularity but they must be certified before being stored.

An admirable corporate image is everything, ensure to outsource assistance from experts on how to maintain the records. To avoid any loopholes it should be tightly tightened and each entry signed.

The recordings are maintained by the organizations secretary who from time to time makes new entries to ensure it is up to date. It should be stored at a location central to the corporation, most preferable the headquarters or main office. This allows for accessibility of it from whomever that wants to refer to it for critical information.

What are the reasons an organisation should keep a corporate book? It improves the corporate image through promoting transparency in its daily transactions. In case the organisation faces the law, its a good source of information that can save it a lot of trouble. They are used to clarify the amount and kind of taxes it pays up to the government. A great alternative storage system to be used for financial audits and by the firms task force as a form of database. They are critical for company lawyers that may represent the firm in an industrial court. In terms of management, they lessen the work of human resource managers as the team has to follow all the regulations contained in the document.In case of acquisitions or mergers the information contained must be analysed carefully.

The parties that maybe interested in them are shareholders, directors, government officials, employees, corporate lawyers, bankers in case the institution needs financing and finally accountants who create financial statements.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment