The people who sit on the board of your organization are busy individuals. Many of them come from across the country (or farther yet) for the quarterly meeting, and distributing information in a timely manner can be quite a challenge if you still rely on printing and couriering. That’s why more and more organizations are finally making the shift to paperless meetings. It makes distributing financial reports, agendas, and binders much easier, especially for organizations who draw on directors from different parts of the country.
Better board of governance software apps are not just designed to make it easier to distribute binders digitally. They are also made with productivity in mind, which means that they make it simpler for directors to read, annotate, and collaborate on documents. Software such as that offered by Aprio also makes it easier for the board administrator as well as the chair responsible for keeping meetings on time and moving. These board portals are designed to make governance more efficient, ultimately giving directors more time to discuss important decisions.
Below are just some of the simple, streamlined features effective board portal software should offer.
1) Single Step PDFs
It can be incredibly frustrating how much time gets wasted converting files originally created in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into PDFs. A good board portal makes it simple to display files as PDFs with the mere click of a button. It’s always advisable to double check the formatting quality of rich documents before sending them. It may not seem like a significant feature, but without it, you can wind up wasting a surprising amount of time converting and formatting documents.
2) Digitally Track and Approve Expenses
Tracking and approving director expenses used to be a nightmare. Administrators face all kinds of spreadsheets, receipts, and disorganized claims. When they use portals such as Aprio’s, directors can enter their expenses directly into an Expense library. The portal even allows them to scan and upload all of their necessary receipts and submit them for payment by email. Administrators get to track expenses as they accumulate and, if necessary, remind directors of bylaws and practices governing expenses. Early stage companies are often advised that they should only be reimbursing directors for reasonable expenses, i.e., if the executives are traveling coach, the company should only be reimbursing coach class tickets for directors, too.
3) Using Links in Your Agenda
It’s always a struggle to keep to meetings on time and productive, but you’re not running an effective board without the ability to stay on schedule. If you’re using portals such as the latest board management software from Aprio, it’s easy to keep meetings running productively. One of the ways everyone can save time during a meeting is by retrieving important reference documents digitally, via hyperlinks attached to the meeting agenda. One exceptional feature you should look for is the ability to attach links that are unique to the user, a useful feature when you’re dealing with in camera meetings. If you’ve been wasting time in meetings, distributing materials, tracking expenses, or even something as simple as formatting PDF files, it’s time to improve your efficiency with a board portal.