Board pack management: The ultimate 2025 guide for beginners and experts alike
The average board pack is hundreds of pages long and packed with critical information. This makes board packs challenging for corporate secretaries to prepare and for the board of directors to read.
How do you capture the multitude of data points and insights the board needs without overwhelming directors with information? Here, we’ll explain the key to streamlining board pack management, including:
- What a board pack is
- What is included in a board back
- How AI is transforming board packs
- Board pack requirements around the world
- Regulatory compliance considerations for board packs
- How to create an effective board pack
- Board pack preparation
- Board pack examples
- 7 tips for board pack management
- Common board pack mistakes to avoid
- Best practices for board pack distribution
- Ensuring the security of board packs
- Leveraging board management software for better board packs
What is a board pack?
A board pack is a compilation of the various documents board members must review before a meeting. The size of the board pack can vary depending on the meeting — for example, the annual general meeting is more intensive than a regular board meeting — but in all cases, the pack should help guide decision-making.
With the board pack in hand, directors should have all the necessary information to prepare effectively, ask relevant questions and make better decisions for the organization. These packs have traditionally been printed and mailed, but digital transformation has led to streamlined digital board packs in recent years.
What is included in a board pack?
A thorough board pack should include all critical documents the board will need to make decisions at the next meeting. Incorporating the right documents into the board pack enables informed discussion, reduces surprises and supports directors in effectively fulfilling their fiduciary duties.
Board pack contents
A board pack’s contents can vary depending on the objective of the meeting, but will generally include:
- Agenda
- Minutes from previous meetings
- CEO or executive summary
- Financial statements
- Risk and compliance reports
- Committee reports
- Strategic plans or proposals
- KPIs and dashboards
- Supporting documents
How AI is transforming board packs
Corporate secretaries have been creating board packs for decades. However, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the work that secretaries and other board administrators must complete to create and distribute usable board packs. The result? Smarter, faster and more strategic governance. Here’s how:
- Automated content generation: AI-powered tools can draft meeting agendas, executive summaries and even initial board minutes using natural language processing, saving hours of manual work.
- Smart document organization: Machine learning helps structure and prioritize content within board packs, so directors can easily tap into the data they need to identify key risks, make decisions and prioritize strategic insights.
- Real-time data and dashboards: AI-powered tools can integrate live data feeds, generate predictive analytics and visualize KPIs in real time, giving boards a clear view of performance and emerging trends.
- Enhanced search and summarization: AI enables directors to quickly search across board packs, highlight key insights and receive instant summaries of complex documents.
- Improved compliance and risk detection: AI can flag inconsistencies, detect anomalies in financial reports and surface potential compliance issues before they become problems.
Integrating AI into board pack creation and review isn’t a future state, either; many companies are already doing it.
Driving boardroom success with AI-powered governance technology
ELCO Mutual Life and Annuity is a 78-year-old trusted insurance and financial services provider. The company had a long, rich history of serving policyholders. Still, its governance structure was built on its history, not its new, ambitious growth goals and desire for resilience in an evolving market.
“We were using one file sharing product which just didn’t work well,” says Eric Myers, general counsel at ELCO. “I would get calls and emails from directors saying they couldn’t access or open files.”
This inefficient setup burdened Myers and the IT department, distracting them from more critical tasks. As he put it, the situation became “non-workable,” requiring immediate intervention to enable more strategic governance. Myers started by restructuring the board, but adopting Diligent Boards was the game-changer.
“I could set up the books for all meetings, publish them and share drafts with certain people before finalizing,” Myers said.
Myers and the ELCO team use Diligent Boards features like:
- AI-generated minutes to transform how minutes are prepared, spending just minutes rather than a few hours
- AI Board Book Summary tool to create concise overviews of 150-page board books with the click of a button
- A centralized resource tab, enabling directors to easily access essential documents and minimize reliance on Myers for basic inquiries
“It’s really cool,” says Myers. “[Diligent’s AI Board Book Summary tool] basically summarizes everything, and I can pull the bits and pieces that I need. Having something that tells the board, ‘Hey, this is where you need to go, this is what you should focus on,’ is very helpful.”
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Explore Diligent GovernAIBoard pack requirements around the world
Many board packs have similar contents. However, what constitutes a compliant board pack can vary by country, with influence from governance standards, regulatory frameworks and corporate culture. Here’s how expectations differ across key regions:
United States
While not strictly regulated, U.S. board packs are expected to meet fiduciary duty standards under state corporate laws (for example, Delaware General Corporation Law). Best practices include delivering materials at least one week in advance, with clear summaries, risk disclosures and financials. Public companies must also comply with SEC disclosure and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.
United Kingdom
UK companies follow the UK Corporate Governance Code, which emphasizes transparency and timely information. Board packs should include materials needed for informed, independent judgment, with special attention to risk, compliance and stakeholder interests. Directors must have “sufficient time and information” to carry out their duties.
Australia
Under the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Corporations Act 2001, Australian boards must receive timely, relevant and accurate information. Board packs often include detailed risk assessments and ESG metrics. Directors have a statutory duty of care and diligence, making the quality and timing of board packs critical.
European Union
EU governance practices vary by country, but many align with the EU Shareholder Rights Directive II and national codes (e.g., Germany’s Corporate Governance Code). Board packs must support long-term value creation, transparency and director accountability, often including non-financial reporting (e.g., sustainability, diversity metrics) alongside financials.
Board packs and regulatory compliance
Board packs play a crucial role in helping organizations meet regulatory compliance requirements. When adequately prepared, they demonstrate that directors fulfill their legal and fiduciary duties by making informed decisions, documenting oversight and managing risk effectively.
Why compliance matters in board packs
- Fiduciary duties: Directors must act with care, loyalty and good faith. Board packs provide the documentation that supports this responsibility.
- Audit and financial oversight: Accurate, timely financial data in board packs ensures boards meet standards set by regulators like the SEC in the U.S., ASIC in Australia, FCA in the UK or national bodies in the EU.
- Risk and governance documentation: Compliance frameworks often require that material risks, conflicts of interest and compliance breaches are disclosed and discussed, typically within the board pack.
- Recordkeeping: Regulators expect organizations to retain board materials and decisions, especially in sectors like finance, healthcare and publicly listed companies.
Key compliance considerations
- Timeliness: Materials should be distributed well before the meeting to allow for proper review, often five to seven days in advance.
- Completeness: Include all relevant disclosures, financial reports and legal documents.
- Audit trails: Use secure platforms that track access, updates and approvals for accountability.
- Data privacy: Board packs often contain sensitive information. Use a platform that ensures compliance with data protection laws such as GDPR, HIPAA or applicable regulations.
How to create an effective board pack
The best board packs walk the fine line between providing enough information to the board without overloading them with details they can’t feasibly review before the meeting. To master clear, yet concise, board pack preparation:
- Define the meeting’s objectives: Identify the goals of the upcoming meeting. AI can also help surface past decisions and highlight recurring themes or unresolved issues to inform your materials. The board pack should be structured around these objectives, focusing on the key decisions boards must make.
- Prepare the agenda: The agenda is the foundation of the board pack and outlines primary discussion points. Including this helps the board organize its thoughts on key issues. Use AI to auto-generate agenda drafts based on past meeting topics, saving time and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
- Collect essential documents: Gather previous meeting minutes and other documents reflecting past decisions and discussions. This will keep all directors on the same page.
- Include reports: Any committees or departments that will report during the meeting should submit their report for inclusion in the board pack. This includes a summary from the CEO, financial, risk and compliance reports and committee updates. With AI, you can summarize long reports into digestible executive summaries, making it easier for board members to absorb key insights.
- Organize documents: Arrange documents in order of priority. The most crucial items should come first so they receive the directors’ full attention. For more complex information, incorporate AI-generated visualizations or summaries to improve readability..
- Prioritize easy navigation: As you organize documents, maintain a logical order. Start with the agenda, followed by key reports and end with supporting documents. A clear, consistent format with section headings can help directors find their way.
- Distribute in advance: Board members need time before the meeting to review the board pack. Aim to distribute it at least 10-14 days before the meeting to ensure all directors are well prepared to engage in the discussion. Many board portals now use AI to send personalized reminders and track whether directors have access and reviewed materials, helping ensure everyone comes prepared.
Board pack examples
Looking at board pack examples can help you understand how to structure and present the information. Here are examples of what the key components of a board pack look like:
Agenda example
The agenda will typically include:
- Meeting date and time
- Location/platform
- Items to be discussed
- Time allocations for each topic
See a full board meeting agenda template.
Previous meeting minutes
This should include a summary of discussions, decisions made and action items from the last meeting. Directors can refer to this document for continuity.
See a complete meeting minutes template.
Executive summary
The summary should be a one- or two-page overview of critical CEO or executive team updates. It should highlight significant developments, challenges, and opportunities since the last meeting.
Financial reports
Financial reports should be detailed and include an income statement, balance sheet and a cash flow statement.
See an example of a financial report.
Committee reports
These reports will come from different committees, such as audit or governance, and outline their activities, findings and recommendations for the board.
Strategic initiatives
Updates on projects and initiatives, including performance against strategic goals and any new proposals for the board’s consideration.
Supporting documents
Attach additional documents that provide the necessary context. This could be market analyses, competitor reviews or project plans.
7 tips for board pack management
Effective board pack management is crucial for ensuring board members have the right information at the right time. To optimize the process:
- Use board management software: Board packs are lengthy and can take days or weeks to prepare manually. Board management software streamlines most of these processes by facilitating collaboration and centralizing documents so you don’t have to chase them down.
- Standardize the structure: Board packs don’t need to be creative. Establishing a standard structure makes it easier for you to prepare and for board members to navigate. Consistent formatting also helps members keep track of where certain information is.
- Set clear deadlines: Part of board pack preparation involves managing those who need to contribute. Define specific timelines for when committees and executives must submit their materials, and also set a clear expectation for when you will ultimately distribute the pack.
- Be concise: Avoid overloading the board pack and focus on making information clear and straightforward. Incorporating bullet points, charts, and graphics can help directors interpret data quickly.
- Encourage executive summaries: The board pack will have a summary, but reports should, too. Including a summary for each report will help the board orient itself around essential information.
- Implement version control: Controlling different versions ensures board members have access to the most current documents. This helps avoid confusion and ensures the board only makes decisions based on up-to-date information.
- Solicit feedback: After each meeting, gather feedback from board members on the board pack’s content and structure. This can help identify where to improve it to enhance board effectiveness.
Common board pack mistakes to avoid
Even well intentioned board packs can fall short if they’re poorly organized, overly dense or misaligned with the board’s needs. Here are some of the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.
- Overloading with information: Too much detail can obscure the key takeaways. Instead of including every data point, focus on what’s most relevant to the meeting’s objectives. Use summaries and appendices for less critical content.
- Delivering the pack too late: Board members need time to review materials. Distributing the board pack only a few days before the meeting can lead to underprepared directors and inefficient discussions. Aim for 10-14 days in advance.
- Poor organization and navigation: A confusing layout or inconsistent formatting slows down review time. Make sure your board pack has a clear structure, with section headings, a table of contents and a logical flow from agenda to key reports.
- Lack of strategic focus: Too many operational updates and not enough forward-looking content can dilute board engagement. Ensure each board pack includes strategic insights, major risks and decisions requiring board input.
- Missing or outdated information: Failing to include current financials, accurate risk reports or updated KPIs undermines the board’s ability to govern effectively. Cross-check all materials for accuracy and completeness.
- Ignoring AI and automation tools: Manual processes slow you down and increase the risk of errors. Today’s AI tools can help you summarize content, flag inconsistencies, organize documents and visualize data, all of which improve clarity and efficiency.
Best practices for board pack distribution
Preparing the board pack is vital, but so is distributing it. Efficient distribution ensures board members receive critical information on time.
- Set a distribution timeline: Establish a clear timeline for distributing board packs, usually 7-10 days before the meeting. Board members will know to expect the materials and have sufficient time to review them.
- Ensure accessibility: All board members need easy access to the board pack, whether at the office or across the country. Ensuring compatibility with different devices can aid accessibility.
- Include instructions: Tell board members how to access the materials and engage with them, especially if using a new governance platform. This can help mitigate confusion after board packs go out.
- Encourage acknowledgment of receipt: Ask board members to confirm that they’ve received the board pack. This helps identify any potential issues with access.
- Highlight key documents: Direct the board to critical documents or sections. This will allow the board to focus on the most essential items first.
- Leverage AI for tailored alerts and follow-up: AI can help automate scheduling, send distribution reminders and flag delays, helping maintain consistency. It can also alert board members to updates, new documents or questions they may have missed, so every director arrives prepared.
Boost board management with AI
Discover how you can use AI to boost board efficiency, decision-making and strategic planning, starting with better board books.
Download the guideHow to ensure the security of board packs
Board packs are full of sensitive information, making security paramount. The security of board packs is also a legal and regulatory requirement. Here are steps you can take to ensure security:
- Utilize secure platforms: Board management software with robust security features and permission settings has built-in protections against breaches and unauthorized access.
- Implement role-based access control: Assign access levels based on board members’ responsibilities. This ensures that only authorized individuals can access or edit sensitive materials.
- Encrypt documents: Storing and transmitting board packs using encryption prevents bad actors from accessing sensitive information.
- Update security protocols: Stay up-to-date on cybersecurity threats and refresh your protocols accordingly. This includes software updates, security patches and staff training.
- Monitor and audit access: Track who accesses board packs and when. Regular audits can identify unauthorized attempts or when to remove users if they are no longer with the company.
The role of board management software in creating, managing and distributing board packs
Board management software plays a crucial role in modern board pack management. The software serves several key functions, including:
- Centralized document storage: Board management software offers a centralized location for storing all documents related to board meetings, making it easy to access and manage board packs. This also ensures all members are working with the latest information.
- Streamlined creation process: Traditional board packs take days to create, but board management software can do it in minutes. Using templates customized to your organization ensures efficiency and consistency across all documents, cutting preparation time.
- Secure distribution: Security is a primary concern when handling sensitive information in board packs. Board management software is the best line of defense boards have, with encryption, secure logins, and role-based access control.
- Real-time collaboration: Board management software empowers real-time collaboration among board members and executives. This keeps all meeting attendees up-to-date and equipped with the latest information, facilitating more productive discussions and decision-making.
- Efficient communication: Many platforms include automated notifications and reminders. Secretaries don’t have to remember to ping board members; board members can stay on top of upcoming meetings and deadlines for reviewing materials.
- AI-powered insights and automations: Modern board portals increasingly integrate artificial intelligence to generate executive summaries, flag missing documents, analyze trends across meetings and suggest agenda items. This allows administrators to work faster and helps boards focus on high-impact discussions.
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Explore the featuresSelecting the right board pack software
Board pack software is a non-negotiable for modern boards. But with countless board pack software solutions available, how do you identify the right tool for your board?
Download our buyer’s guide to board management software to explore the key questions you should ask about any governance technology solution before you purchase it.
FAQs
How often should board packs be distributed?
Board packs should be distributed before every board meeting, typically 7-10 days before the meeting date.
How can I ensure that board members receive and review board packs in a timely manner?
You can ensure board members receive and review board packs in a timely manner by creating a clear distribution timeline, asking them to confirm receipts, and using board portal software to send them automatic reminders.
How can I make board packs more engaging and effective?
You can make board packs more engaging and effective by making them clear and concise. Incorporate visuals and summaries to make more complex data digestible and easy to navigate.
Are there any security concerns with using board portal software?
There are several concerns with using board portal software, however they are more common with free solutions. Free technology may be more prone to breaches and unauthorized access, while premium solutions use encryption and follow the highest cybersecurity standards.
Download our buyer’s guide to board management software here.
Who is responsible for preparing a board pack?
The responsibility for preparing a board pack typically falls to the company secretary, governance professional or executive assistant supporting the board. In some organizations, legal or compliance teams may also be involved, especially when regulatory or risk-related materials are included. The preparer works closely with senior executives (e.g., CEO, CFO, committee chairs) to gather reports, organize content and ensure materials are accurate, relevant, and distributed on time.
When should a board pack be distributed before a meeting?
A board pack should be distributed at least 7 to 10 days before a board meeting. This gives directors enough time to read, analyze and prepare for meaningful discussions. For complex or strategic meetings, 10–14 days is ideal. Timely distribution also supports compliance with governance standards and reduces the risk of rushed or uninformed decision-making.
Can board packs be shared via email?
While board packs can be shared via email, it's not recommended due to security risks, version control issues and limited tracking capabilities. Sensitive board materials should be shared through secure board portals or governance platforms that offer encryption, access controls and audit trails.
How long should a board pack be?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but most effective board packs are 30 to 100 pages, depending on the organization, meeting type and complexity of issues. The key is quality over quantity — board packs should be concise, relevant and strategically focused. Use executive summaries, visual dashboards and appendices to streamline dense material.
Can AI improve board packs?
Yes, AI is transforming how board packs are created, reviewed and distributed. AI tools can:
- Auto-generate meeting agendas and executive summaries
- Analyze trends across past board materials
- Flag missing or inconsistent data
- Enhance searchability and document tagging
This results in faster preparation, more strategic insight and better board engagement. Discover how Diligent is using AI to enhance governance workflows.
What are the best tools for creating and distributing board packs?
The best board management tools combine secure document sharing, real-time collaboration, and increasingly, AI-powered features that streamline the entire board pack process from creation to distribution to archival.
Today’s leading platforms offer intuitive dashboards, smart agenda builders and features that improve transparency, reduce manual work, and help boards focus on what matters most: strategic decision-making. Download our board management software buyer’s guide to get a complete list of criteria to guide your software search.
