Many SME owners and managers hold a "monthly meeting" but spend it reporting what has already been done. There are no figures to compare with last month, nobody records what was decided, and legal, contract and tax issues usually surface only when something has gone wrong, such as a customer who has been overdue for a long time, a licence close to expiry, or a tax filing deadline that has passed.
This guide proposes a meeting structure that works for an SME: the figures to review, the legal items to include, how to record decisions, and how a management meeting differs from the board and shareholder meetings that company law requires.
The core answer
A good monthly management meeting does not run long. It has a report circulated in advance, looks at the few figures that decide survival, namely cash, receivables by age, profit by job or product, work in hand and staff, then runs a short legal and governance item and ends with a record of decisions, the person responsible and a deadline.
The rule (Thai law). An internal management meeting has no prescribed form, but a limited company must hold a shareholders meeting within six months of registration and at least once every twelve months after that (Civil and Commercial Code, section 1171). The directors must have the minutes and resolutions of shareholders meetings and board meetings recorded and kept at the registered office (section 1207). Accounts and financial statements are governed by the Accounting Act B.E. 2543.
Our practical view. Do not let the monthly meeting blur into the meetings the law requires. The monthly meeting is a management tool, while board and shareholder meetings are governance tools with legal effect. But the information from the monthly report makes the legal meetings more substantive and much easier to prepare.
1. How a management meeting differs from board and shareholder meetings
| Item | Monthly management meeting | Board meeting | Shareholders meeting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Run day-to-day work and follow up results | Decide important company matters under the articles | Exercise shareholders' powers, such as approving financial statements, paying dividends, electing directors |
| Legal requirement | No prescribed form | As set by the company's articles | Under the Civil and Commercial Code, for example the ordinary meeting under section 1171 |
| Attendees | Executives and department heads | Directors | Shareholders or proxies |
| Record | Internal notes | Minutes under section 1207 | Minutes under section 1207 |
| Legal effect | Internal evidence | A resolution may be the basis for an act that binds the company | Resolutions take effect under the law and the articles |
If the directors decide an important company matter in the monthly meeting, such as borrowing, granting security or signing a long-term contract, prepare a separate directors' or shareholders' resolution as the articles require. Do not let internal notes alone stand as the record of these matters. For holding company meetings online when directors or shareholders are abroad, see holding company meetings online so they are valid, and for the calendar of meetings and annual filings see the annual corporate calendar.
2. Numbers to review every month
You do not need every indicator. Choose those that change decisions.
Cash and cash flow
- Current cash and deposits against the expenses due in the coming month
- Expected receipts and payments in the period ahead
- Taxes and contributions due next month, such as value added tax, withholding tax and social security
Receivables ageing
- Split receivables into groups by how long they have been outstanding, for example not yet due, recently overdue, long overdue
- A list of the customers long overdue and the status of collection
- The share of the largest receivable in the total, to show the risk of depending on one customer
- Work delivered but not yet invoiced
Long-overdue receivables need legal measures. See customers who have not paid for goods and services on limitation periods and debt collection.
Payables and stock
- Payables falling due and the payment terms
- Inventory, items held in stock for a long time, and items near expiry (if any)
Profit by job or product
- Gross profit by product, service or contract, not only for the company as a whole
- Jobs where costs have overrun or penalties apply
Work in hand and sales (pipeline)
- Quotations sent and the chance of closing
- Contracts close to renewal or expiry
Staff
- Headcount, joiners and leavers, and open positions
- Complaints or dismissals in progress
All figures should come from up-to-date accounts. If figures arrive late or do not reconcile, that is a sign the bookkeeping needs to be fixed first. Your accountant or auditor is the person best placed to help set the report format.
3. Legal and governance items for every month
Keep it short, about ten to twenty minutes, with a one-page checklist from the lawyer, accountant or the person who looks after company documents.
- Contracts nearing expiry or renewal. Include contracts that renew automatically and those that need advance notice.
- New contracts awaiting signature, and the results of contract review against the approval system. See setting up a contract review process before signing when you have no legal department.
- Disputes and open matters. Demand letters, claims, lawsuits and their status.
- Licences and registrations. Expiry dates of licences, registrations and trademarks.
- Tax and filing deadlines. The tax filing deadlines and returns coming up next month, and the filing status for the past month.
- Employee matters. Work rules, employment contracts and anything that needs correcting under labour law.
- Personal data. Incidents involving customer or employee data, data subject requests, and documents required under the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562.
- Changes that must be registered. Directors, address, capital or objects. See changes after registration.
If you retain a legal adviser monthly, a short report on these items is part of the work you should receive. See how to measure a monthly legal retainer.
4. Agenda for a one-hour meeting
| Part | Topic | Approximate time |
|---|---|---|
| Before the meeting | Send the figures report and the status of legal items in advance | At least one working day ahead |
| 1 | Review last month's decisions and open tasks | About ten minutes |
| 2 | Cash, receivables, payables | About fifteen minutes |
| 3 | Profit by job, work in hand and risks | About fifteen minutes |
| 4 | Legal, tax, licences, staff | About ten minutes |
| 5 | Decide, assign tasks, set deadlines | About ten minutes |
If the advance report does not arrive, postpone or hold a short meeting, because reading figures in the meeting room wastes time that should go on decisions.
5. Decision log and meeting minutes
For internal meetings you do not need a long report. Use a short table filled in every time.
| Date | Item | Decision | Brief reason | Responsible | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example | Extend credit to customer A | Do not extend until the earlier balance is paid | The earlier balance is long overdue | Sales | As set | Awaiting result |
The benefit of this table is that when a dispute arises later, for example a director or shareholder asks why a decision was made, or an employee claims to have had permission, you have evidence of the time and the reason.
For meetings required under company law, record the minutes and resolutions in the book under section 1207 and keep it at the registered office. Resolutions of general meetings, such as approving the financial statements and paying dividends, should be completed every cycle. Shareholders have the right to inspect as the law provides, so do not let records go missing or be written up after the fact with no source.
6. Link to financial statements and the ordinary meeting
- A juristic person has a duty to keep accounts and prepare financial statements under the Accounting Act B.E. 2543, and the financial statements go through approval by the ordinary general meeting. Check the deadlines against the latest rules of the Department of Business Development and the company's annual calendar.
- A good monthly report means the year-end figures are no surprise, for example finding that some receivables need an allowance for doubtful debts or part of the stock must be written off. Summarising the figures monthly makes the accountant's and auditor's work faster.
- If accounts or tax filings are found to be behind, make correcting them a standing agenda item. See changing accountants when tax filings or financial statements are missing.
7. Common mistakes
- Meeting to report, not to decide
- Figures that come from several files and do not match the accounts
- No legal item, so disputes or contract renewal dates slip past
- Recording only the summary and not the person responsible and the deadline
- Deciding in an internal meeting alone matters that need a shareholders' or directors' resolution
- Everyone in the meeting has an interest in the matter decided and nobody records it. See the points on directors and interests in family business: roles, pay and decision rules
- Inviting every department every month, which makes the meeting long and leaves nobody prepared
8. Checklist for the monthly management meeting
- Fix a regular day and time each month and name who prepares the report
- Send the figures report at least one working day before the meeting
- The report covers cash, receivables by age, payables, profit by job, work in hand and staff
- Have a one-page legal item: contracts, disputes, licences, tax, personal data
- Separate out matters that need a directors' or shareholders' resolution and handle them by the legal procedure
- Record decisions, the person responsible and the deadline
- Review last month's open tasks every time
- Keep the minutes of board and shareholder meetings at the registered office
- Check the annual calendar: ordinary meeting, financial statements and filings
Further reading
- Annual corporate calendar — the order of closing accounts, shareholders meetings and annual filings
- Holding company meetings online so they are valid — when directors or shareholders are abroad
- How to measure a monthly legal retainer — an example legal report for executives
- Customers who have not paid for goods and services — when receivables are long overdue
- Setting up a contract review process before signing when you have no legal department — the contract item in the meeting
A good monthly meeting starts from a report sent in advance, looks at the figures that change decisions, has a short legal item, and ends with a record of who must do what by when, kept clearly apart from the board and shareholder meetings the law requires.
We help set up legal reporting formats for executives, prepare minutes and resolutions of directors or shareholders, and look after the company's annual document calendar. For an initial consultation, call +66 92 254 2045 or send us the details. See also corporate secretarial services and monthly legal retainer.
This guide is published by Suwanvara Law Firm — a Khon Kaen law firm established in 1986. General information only, not legal advice on a specific matter.
