The Board Governance Checklist every secretary keeps on the desk
68 board-ready checks across six governance areas — each one mapped to the Companies Act, 2013, SEBI LODR and Secretarial Standards. Built by the team behind TrustBoard from a decade of board evaluations and meeting packs.
- Six governance areas — composition, meetings, minutes & records, committees, disclosures, evaluation.
- Section-level references so nothing is asserted without the rule behind it.
- Print-and-tick format — walk the board through it in a single sitting.
- Annual calendar page mapping every filing and meeting to its due date.
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Six areas. Every check tied to a rule.
The checklist is organised the way a board year actually runs — so a company secretary can work top to bottom and know exactly what is outstanding before the next meeting.
Board composition
Independent director count and tenure, woman director, KMP appointments, DIN and disclosure status, board diversity policy.
12 checksMeetings & notice
Meeting frequency and gaps, notice periods, agenda circulation, quorum, video participation, and the separate independent directors' meeting.
14 checksMinutes & records
Draft circulation and entry timelines under SS-1, signing and pagination, statutory registers, and retention of the board pack.
11 checksCommittees
Audit, nomination and remuneration, stakeholders relationship and CSR committees — constitution, composition and meeting cadence.
10 checksDisclosures & filings
Related party transactions, interest register, insider trading controls, annual filings and the LODR disclosure timetable.
13 checksBoard evaluation
Annual evaluation of the board, committees, chairperson and individual directors — process, questionnaire scope and reporting.
8 checksWritten to be ticked, not just read
Every item is a single yes-or-no question with the governing provision printed beside it. No commentary, no filler — you can hand it to the chairperson and work through it live.
Where an item applies only to listed entities, it is flagged. Where the answer usually needs a document, the checklist names the document you should be holding.
3. Minutes & Records
- Draft minutes circulated to all directors within 15 days of the meeting (SS-1, 7.1)
- Minutes entered in the Minutes Book within 30 days of conclusion (SS-1, 7.4)
- Each page initialled and the last page signed and dated by the chairperson (SS-1, 7.5)
- Register of directors' shareholding kept and updated (s.170)
- Board pack, notice and attendance retained for the statutory period
TrustBoard Governance Checklist · Area Three of Six
Built for the people who carry the board
Company secretaries
Close the year without surprises. Use it as the pre-meeting sweep and as evidence of the process you followed.
Chairpersons
See in one page whether the board is meeting its obligations, and where the gaps sit before an auditor finds them.
Independent directors
Ask the right questions in your first year on a board — and document that you asked them.
Good governance is rarely lost in a big decision. It is lost in a notice sent late, minutes entered a month on, an interest register nobody updated. — Team TrustBoard, Social-Impact Innovations Private Limited
Before you download
Is the checklist really free?
Yes. It is a free PDF. We ask for your work email so we can send you the file and, occasionally, other governance resources. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Which regulations does it cover?
The Companies Act, 2013 and its rules, SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015 for listed entities, and Secretarial Standards SS-1 and SS-2. Items that apply only to listed companies are marked as such.
Is it useful for unlisted and Section 8 companies?
Yes. The checklist is organised so that private, unlisted public, Section 8 and listed entities can each work through the items that apply to them.
What will you do with my details?
We email you the checklist and may follow up once about TrustBoard. We never sell or rent your data. Our privacy policy explains how we store and process it.
Get the 2026 Board Governance Checklist
Sixty-eight checks across six areas, with the section reference behind every one of them.