AGM Action Planner

Your annual general meeting is coming and you're not sure what has to happen by when. Answer a few questions and you'll get a dated list of what to do, worked out from your dates. It takes you through a series of simple questions and should only take a few minutes.

About your organisation

Two things decide your deadlines: the law you're incorporated under, and your own rules. So that's where we start. Keep your rules open beside you if you can.

Never run one before?

Plenty of people on committees haven't. An annual general meeting, or AGM, is the one meeting each year that every member gets invited to. It does three jobs.

  1. You tell your members how the year went. They get to ask you about it.
  2. It keeps you compliant. Some of the reports you review at the meeting are the same ones you send to your regulator afterwards.
  3. Generally, committee or board position elections are held. This could be for all positions, or only some depending on your terms.

Most of the questions here are answered in your own rules (also called a constitution), so it's worth having them open. Where your rules ask for more than the law does, your rules are the ones you're held to.

Not sure? It's on your certificate of incorporation, the one you got when you registered. Another indication is how your legal name is written: Inc. or Association means incorporated under your state's associations incorporation legislation, Ltd means limited, which indicates a company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation is registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth).

Where you're registered, which isn't always where you work. If you're not sure, check the ABN lookup and find "Main Business Location". That should match the state or territory you are incorporated in.

Are you a charity registered with the ACNC?

The ACNC is the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Being a charity isn't the same as being a not-for-profit, and if you are one it changes what you have to send in. You can search the ACNC Charity Register.

Most groups use 30 June, but not all. A school P&C generally aligns to the school year instead. Every date in this plan moves with your financial year end, so it's worth checking.

Your meeting date

Got a date? We'll work backwards from it. Haven't picked one yet? We'll work forwards from today and show you the timeline you need to meet.

Have you set the date of the AGM?

Send it the way you normally talk to your members. Post is the catch: a posted notice doesn't count as given on the day you post it, so it eats into your lead time.

What notice period do your own rules require?

Check your rules. There may be a difference in notice periods depending on whether you are proposing a special resolution or not. Look for a clause called something like "Notice of general meetings" and "Notice of special resolution". Put each number in its own box below and leave either blank if you can't find it. Your rules can ask for more notice than the law, never less.

Count the notice period conservatively?

Generally the rules don't say whether the day you send the notice and the day of the meeting get counted. The safest way to avoid a member challenge about whether notice was properly given is to add two days to your notice period. Tick this and we'll do that.

Your reports

Your finances, rules, charity status, members or funders may determine your need for an audit, a lighter check called a review, or neither. Plenty of organisations don't need them, and some aren't required to provide them at all. Where you do need one, it's the answer that decides how early you have to get moving, because auditors book out.

Everything that came in before you paid anything out: grants, membership fees, donations, fundraising, interest. Not your surplus and not your bank balance. If you're the secretary and the treasurer has the numbers, pick the first option. We'll plan safely and remind you to check.

Your assets count as much as your revenue. A healthy reserve can increase your tier.

Does your constitution or a funding agreement require an audit regardless?

Plenty of grant agreements ask for audited accounts even when the law doesn't. Worth a look at your funding agreements before you answer.

What's on the agenda

This is the bit that sets your notice period. If you're not putting a special resolution, you usually need less notice, so it's worth getting right.

Will a special resolution be put to the meeting?

A special resolution is a vote that needs a bigger majority, usually three-quarters. You need one to change your rules or your purposes, change your name, merge with another group, or close down. Receiving the reports and electing the committee are ordinary business, so they don't count.

Will you elect the committee or board at this meeting?

Most rules tip every position out at the AGM and elect the lot again. Some run two-year terms, so only half come up each year. Look for a clause called "Terms of office". This answer decides when nominations open and close, so it's worth a check.

Don't know yet? List the lot and cross off the ones that aren't up once your committee works it out. Staggered rules usually pick whoever has served longest to replace.

Which of these apply? (tick all that apply)

From your answers you don't need an audit or a review, so there's nobody to appoint and we've unticked that one. Tick it back on if your own rules say you have to appoint someone anyway.

Your action plan

Here's what to do and when. Tick things off as you go. Your ticks are saved in this browser on this computer, so they'll still be here when you come back, as long as you don't clear your browsing data and don't switch to another device or a private window. If the plan matters to more than one person, print it or save it as a PDF and share that.

Five things to check in your own rules