Dividend vouchers & board meeting minutes – template downloads

When a company’s directors declare a dividend, two documents must be produced – board meeting minutes and a dividend voucher for each shareholder.

Scroll down for our free downloadable templates.

Dividend distributions must be documented

If you are a company director and want to distribute some of the company’s profits to its shareholders, you must follow these steps to make sure the distribution is a) legal and b) properly documented.

• Make sure there is sufficient retained profit in the company to cover the distribution. Make sure you read our guide to dividends first to find out how this is calculated.
• Refer to any special conditions listed in your company’s Articles of Association which may determine the process for distributing dividends.
• The directors of the company must call a board meeting to approve the dividend. Meeting minutes should be taken and kept safely with the company’s statutory records.
• Each shareholder should be given a dividend voucher. This can be sent via post, or electronically (via email).

Board meeting minutes – what information is required?

• Company name.
• Company registration number.
• Company address.
• Date of the meeting.
• The amount of dividend to be paid per share.
• Type of dividend (‘interim’ or ‘final’).
• The payment date for the dividend.
• Name of all attendees present.
• Signature of a company officer.

Dividend voucher – what fields are required?

• Company name.
• Company registration number.
• Company address.
• Date of issue.
• Name and address of the shareholder.
• Class of share (e.g. ‘ordinary’).
• Type of dividend (‘interim’ or ‘final’).
• Dividend amount.
• Signature of a company officer.

Board meeting minutes and dividend voucher templates

Please feel free to use the example document templates and download links we’ve included below:

Simply copy and paste the following templates, replacing the [REQUIRED FIELDS] with your company information, plus the dividend amount. In this example, the dividend declared is £90 per ordinary share.

You can also download the templates here:

• MS Word (.docx)
• Google Drive

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

[COMPANY NAME]

Held on [DATE] at [ADDRESS]

Present: [NAMES OF ALL PRESENT]

It was resolved that the Company pay an interim dividend of £90 per £1 ordinary share in respect of the year ended [COMPANY’S YEAR END DATE] to those shareholders registered at the close of business on [DATE OF PAYMENT].

There being no further business, the meeting was closed.

——————————

[DIRECTOR]

[DATE]

[COMPANY REGISTERED ADDRESS / COMPANY NUMBER]

DIVIDEND TAX VOUCHER

[COMPANY NAME]

Dividend in respect of the year ended [COMPANY’S YEAR END DATE] payable to shareholders registered at the close of business on [DATE OF PAYMENT].

Shareholder: [SHAREHOLDER’S NAME]

——————————

[DIRECTOR]

[DATE]

Keep this voucher in a safe place.

[COMPANY REGISTERED ADDRESS / COMPANY NUMBER]

Further template downloads – third party sites

• If you use FreeAgent, these documents can be generated from within the software application. Find out more here.
• Or, for a small fee, you can download comprehensive legal versions of these documents from places like SimplyDocs.

Final thoughts

• Read our guide to dividends to find out more about how dividends are taxed.
• Make sure you don’t declare an illegal (unlawful) dividend.
• Why you should be cautious when considering using a dividend waiver.

Check with your accountant if you have any questions about the paperwork required for dividend declaration and dividend timing.