Preparing a general assembly and keeping a decision book

The general assembly is a community’s most important meeting: the committee is elected, the budget is discussed and big decisions are made. Yet preparation is often left to the last week. The agenda is written in a hurry, the signature sheet goes round at the door, and decisions reach the book days after the meeting. A year later, nobody can say with confidence exactly what was decided.

This guide is written for chairs, secretaries, building and estate managers, and club committees. It covers the general assembly in four stages: agenda, attendance list, decision and announcement. The same decision book routine applies to board decisions taken outside the general assembly.

Notice periods, quorum and majority rules, voting and proxy rules depend on your community’s legal form and bylaws. This guide does not cover those rules; see our legal summaries and your bylaws. This content is not legal advice.

Stage 1: Prepare the agenda early and clearly

A good agenda is half the meeting. When preparing it:

• Write the standing items: opening, election of the meeting chair, reading of the activity and financial reports, audit report, approval of the outgoing committee, elections, wishes and suggestions. Your bylaws say which items are mandatory.
• Write items that need a decision separately and clearly. Instead of “any other business”, write “Allocating a budget to repair the mosque courtyard”. Members should know in advance what they are voting on.
• Prepare documents together with the agenda: financial report, budget proposal, quotes. Members who arrive having read them make for shorter debates.
• Ask members for agenda proposals. Announce how and by when proposals are accepted.

Once the agenda is final, announce it to members in the way your bylaws specify. Record the date of the notice, who received it and how; this record is the best answer to “I was never told”.

Stage 2: Prepare the attendance list before the meeting

The attendance list is the list of members entitled to take part. It is not drawn up at the door on the day; it is prepared beforehand.

1. Update the member list. Process members who have left, passed away or joined.
2. Determine eligibility. If your bylaws set conditions such as being up to date on dues, mark the list accordingly.
3. Collect signatures or confirmations at the meeting. Each arriving member signs or confirms digitally.
4. Record proxies. Who represents whom must be clearly visible on the list.
5. Note attendance at the start and at each vote. Whether a quorum is met is read from this number.

Stage 3: Write, number and finalise the decision

The decision book exists to make each decision understandable on its own, even years later. Every decision entry should contain:

• Decision number: year and sequence, e.g. 2026/07. Numbers are never skipped or reused.
• Date and meeting: which body, which meeting.
• Agenda item: which item it answers.
• Decision text: what will be done, with what budget, who is responsible, by when.
• Vote: for, against and abstentions; unanimous or by majority.
• Attachments: quotes, reports.

Read the decision out and finalise it at the meeting. A decision written up afterwards “as best we remember” is the one most likely to be challenged.

A finalised decision is not changed

If an error or a needed change turns up in a finalised decision, the old decision is not deleted; it is corrected by a new decision that refers to it: “The budget in decision 2026/07 is updated by decision 2026/11.” The decision’s history stays in the book.

Link the decision to the work

A decision does not end on the day it is taken. A repair with an approved budget is followed by expenses, tasks and an outcome. Linking them keeps the whole story traceable — and feeds the summaries described in our financial transparency guide.

Stage 4: Announce the decisions

Members who could not attend should still know what was decided. After the meeting:

• Announce the numbered list of decisions to members.
• Share the elected committee and audit board, with their roles.
• Publish budget decisions together with the financial summary, so members also see where the money will come from.

Which decisions must be reported to public authorities, and by when, depends on the type of community; see our legal summaries.

An illustrative example

The community and amounts in this example are illustrative.

At a village association’s ordinary general assembly, agenda item 6 was “Allocating a budget to repair the village fountain”. The secretary recorded:

When costs rose in June, the board took a new decision (2026/09) referring to 2026/04. The original decision stayed in the book untouched.

Common mistakes

• Vague agenda items. A big decision taken under “other business” is the easiest to challenge.
• Preparing the attendance list at the door. Eligibility debates delay the meeting.
• Writing decisions afterwards. The text relies on memory, and the minutes and the book disagree.
• Skipping or reusing numbers. It undermines trust in the whole book.
• Deleting or overwriting a decision. Changes are made by a new decision.
• Not announcing. Absent members learn the decision from gossip.

Short checklist

• The agenda states items needing a decision clearly; documents are ready.
• The notice date, method and recipients are recorded.
• The attendance list was updated before the meeting; proxies are recorded.
• Every decision is numbered, dated, tied to an agenda item and records the vote.
• Decisions were read out and finalised at the meeting.
• Changes were made by a new decision referring to the old one.
• Decisions were announced to members.

How to do it in Elele

The boards and decisions module in Elele brings these four stages into one flow:

• Meetings and agenda: Plan the meeting, attach the agenda and documents; members are notified.
• Attendance list: Prepared from the member register; attendance and proxies are marked at the meeting.
• Numbered decision book: Decision numbers are unique within the community; a finalised decision cannot be changed, and corrections are made by a new decision.
• Decision → work: A decision links to a needs record, its budget and tasks.
• Polls and voting: Open a poll to gather views before the meeting.

See Boards and decisions for details, follow the example flow in the demo or create your community.