Board directors and governance teams are struggling with bigger – and more complex – workloads than ever. With evolving innovation, competition and regulations, organizations face mounting demands for data, documentation, and reporting.
This complexity impacts everything from strategic planning to day-to-day operations. A recent report from McKinsey found that only one-third of board members feel the board and CEO communicate well.
If it seems like your board members are struggling to stay organized and productive, it might be time to invest in a solution that can help you organize board meetings. The good news? Board of directors software can help!
What is board of directors software?
Board of directors software is a centralized, highly secure, online hub designed for both board directors and administrators to manage board meetings, access board documents, communicate with each other, and streamline governance processes. This type of software can help you create agendas and compile board materials, record meeting minutes, track tasks, and more.
Below, we’ll explain how Aprio’s board portal software can help reduce the hurdles that come with more complexity and improve board governance.
Simplify meeting management with board of directors software
Board meetings have a lot of moving parts, but fortunately, meeting management doesn’t have to be complicated. Board management software simplifies meeting management from start to finish so decision-making is centralized, fast, and responsive.
Some board software comes with its own complexity – but Aprio’s board portal software is designed to be easy to use so board members can see the benefits right away.
When you need help, you’ll be able to get fast assistance from people with experience in board governance, in your time zone. That means technical support won’t hold up your board processes, because we understand how time-sensitive board management can be.
“I cannot praise the customer service of Aprio enough. Their team is simply outstanding – friendly, informative, and incredibly responsive. No issue is ever left unresolved. Aprio’s customer service is the best I’ve experienced in my entire career and they are an exceptional vendor to work with.” – Charline McKissick, Chief Human Resources Officer, Canadian Scholarship Trust
Secure document sharing and management for boards of directors
While a small number of boards continue to distribute paper board packages, digital board packages are more sustainable, more accessible and adaptable for those last-minute changes.
Unlike using complicated shared drives, with board of director software like Aprio, your board documents are easily searchable and accessible alongside all your other board management tools and activities. It also includes document sharing features like granular access controls, and all your documents are securely stored with industry-leading security and compliance standards.
“We are saving time, resources, and of course paper. The material is loaded and accessible so quickly and easily, and the functionality is quite amazing! Our directors appreciate the ease and user-friendliness of Aprio.” – Bulkley Valley Credit Union
How board software improves governance and decision-making
Board software like Aprio gives your board of directors a central system for all the board’s processes. That translates to faster meeting prep, more productive meetings, and better follow-through on decisions.
St. George’s School provides a real-life example of Aprio’s board portal at work. The 16-member board struggled with inefficient communication, finding it difficult to distribute board materials and settle on meeting dates.
When they hired governance consultant Claudia Ferris, she saw Aprio’s potential as a user-friendly solution with excellent customer service and competitive pricing. Today, the school board has been using Aprio for several years, and it’s made the board much more organized and functional.
“In my role as Board Secretary, the ability to create a Board package from beginning to end in a few minutes is the greatest gift to my very busy and time-sensitive schedule. I love the agenda generator and the ability to create skeleton minutes in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take. The highest compliment I have, however, is for the Aprio support team who are quick and responsive whenever there is an issue or suggestions for improvements.” – Claudia Ferris, Board Secretary for St. George’s School & Governance Consultant at Governance Matters Consulting Inc.
Key features of Aprio’s board of directors software
The board portal software you choose is a major factor in how effective your board meeting processes and meeting management is. Aprio is designed to be a user-friendly solution that’s easy for boards to get started with – and it has several key features to help make board management easier.
Agenda Builder
Putting together board books is one of the most time-consuming aspects of meeting prep, and one of the most important. Your board book contains the information directors rely on to steer the organization in the right direction, but creating them manually can take hours.
Aprio’s Agenda Builder includes document management and collaboration tools that are embedded into your meeting agenda. You can link to files, centralize comments, set access controls, and even see who has reviewed meeting documents – all in one secure portal.
Aprio’s Agenda Builder creates an easy way for board members to review, comment, and approve agenda items.
All members get the information at the same time, giving everyone the chance to get to the meeting fully prepared, resulting in more efficient and equitable decision-making.
Meeting Minutes
Meeting minutes are crucial for compliance – but when you take good minutes, they’re also a valuable record for board members to refresh their memory on the latest board actions. With board of directors software like Aprio, board members don’t have to dig through emails to find past minutes.
Aprio’s Meeting mMinutes Software lets you create a new meeting minutes draft right from your agenda, then track attendance, take notes, and capture motions easily. When you’re done, you’ll have a secure archive of all minutes available for review, with role-based access controls you can update with one click.
Aprio’s Meeting Minutes software creates automatic fields under agenda items where you can leave detailed notes.
With better minutes, board members will spend less time getting up to speed, and you’ll ensure your board stays compliant with every motion.
Board reporting
Aprio’s board reporting software helps you track attendance, votes, poll results, and board expenses for better compliance. You’ll also be able to view activity logs to see which board members are the most engaged and who is actively using the system.
Aprio’s Reporting tools provide better visibility into board member activity for security, compliance, and transparency at all times.
This helps you maintain centralized, secure audit trails without a ton of manual effort.
Task manager
Your board of directors manage a complex to-do list, making it easy for items to get missed. But holding members accountable is one of the most important ways to make board meetings more efficient and stay on top of strategic goals.
With Aprio’s Task Manager, you can assign tasks with detailed instructions, priority levels, and due dates. You can also set reminders to help board members keep on top of high-priority tasks, and get real-time visibility into the status of each one.
Aprio’s Task Manager makes it easy to assign clear, detailed action items to each member.
You’ll get more visibility into exactly what’s been done, and be able to delegate more effectively without chasing members to follow up.
Effective board governance starts with Aprio
Aprio helps you go beyond just simplifying meetings. You’ll also transform how your board makes strategic decisions. You’ll be able to:
- Save time and resources with board packages you can prep in minutes, zero printing or shipping costs, and one secure location for document storage.
- Improve governance and compliance with detailed archives of meeting minutes, clear audit trails, and access controls across board documents.
- Strengthen communication with tools that support collaboration between meetings, real-time updates for every board member, and equal access to information.
Want to see if Aprio’s board portal software is a good fit for your board? Start a conversation with our team today and share your needs. We’d love to help assess your needs and if Aprio is a good fit.