Board Portal for Company Secretaries
You coordinate the meetings, prepare the board packs, take the minutes, track the actions, manage the compliance calendar, and onboard new directors. Half the time you're doing all of that on top of another role. Our Cat Herder takes the manual overhead out of that work so you can spend your time on governance instead of administration.
Board meeting coordination that runs itself
You set up every meeting, build every agenda, chase every presenter. Our Cat Herder takes the repetitive parts off your plate.
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Agenda templates by meeting type
Set up a template for each meeting type: board meetings, finance committee, risk committee, governance subcommittee. When you create a new meeting, the template is already applied. No more copying last quarter's Word document.
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Meeting agenda alignment planner
View and manage the flow of meetings across time. See how agendas sit across multiple meetings and pull items between them. Most portals can't do this because they treat each meeting in isolation.
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Assign presenters to agenda items
Assign presenters in the agenda builder. When the board pack goes out, each presenter can see which items are theirs.
Board pack assembly in minutes, not hours
Assembling the board pack is the part of the job that eats the most time. Collecting papers from multiple authors, formatting them, compiling them into one document, distributing it, all against a deadline.
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Papers attached to agenda items
Papers are uploaded and attached directly to the agenda items they relate to. Board members see the paper alongside the item in the board pack. No separate email, no version confusion.
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One-click board pack generation
Our Cat Herder generates a consolidated PDF board pack that members can browse, scroll through, or jump to specific sections. You control which auto-generated elements are included: closed actions, previous meeting minutes, or other standing items.
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Paper creator for quick reports
Need to write a brief paper yourself? The built-in paper creator generates a formatted report with your organisation's logo. Upload from your desktop or create it in the portal.
Board meeting minutes that don't take all week
Minute-taking is where you spend the most time after every meeting. Our Cat Herder's minute-taking tools are built to get you from meeting to published minutes faster.
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Live split-screen minute-taking
Agenda on the left, minute-taking area on the right. Jump between agenda items, insert attendance with a quick tool, add action items as they come up, and view documents the board is looking at.
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Colour-coded meeting timer
A live timer tracks time against each agenda item's allocation. Green means on track, orange means approaching the limit, red means over. Nobody has to awkwardly interrupt to say "we're running behind."
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Minutes sign-off workflow
Send minutes to the chair for review. They sign off, and the minutes are locked. If something needs correcting later, the unlock/re-lock workflow keeps a full audit trail showing exactly what changed and when.
Action item tracking that doesn't fall apart
Actions are where boards lose accountability. Someone says "I'll follow that up" and two meetings later nobody can remember what was agreed. Our Cat Herder's action register fixes this.
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Capture actions during the meeting
Add action items from the minute-taking screen. Each action gets an owner, a due date, and a link back to the agenda item where it was raised. You don't have to reconstruct the list afterwards.
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Outstanding actions carry forward automatically
Open actions appear on the next meeting's agenda under Matters Arising. They keep showing up until someone marks them complete. Nothing gets silently dropped.
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Custom action reports to the agenda
Filter by status, assignee, meeting type, or date range and send a filtered report directly to a chosen agenda item. The board reviews exactly the actions that matter for that meeting.
“OCH has provided us with better document control and greater transparency by allowing board members easy access to important documents, minutes and agendas. The agenda, minute taking and action setting function is excellent and allows for timely recording and dispatch of information.”
Everything else a company secretary needs
Circular resolutions, discussions, compliance, and onboarding
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- Circular resolutions and flying minutes
- Create proposals with structured voting, customise vote options, set deadlines, and link results back to the next meeting. Automated reminders chase non-voters so you don't have to.
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- Secure board communication
- Discussion groups replace email chains. Open groups for general topics, private groups for sensitive ones. Everything is searchable six months later when someone asks "what did we decide?"
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- Governance compliance for Australian boards
- Attendance reporting, full audit trail, and a governance document repository with folder-level permissions. Supports Corporations Act 2001, ACNC governance standards, and state incorporated associations legislation.
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- Director onboarding
- Grant batch access to historical meetings, send self-service invitations, and use the decisions feature for policy acknowledgment. New directors build context before their first meeting.
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- Multi-committee management
- One portal for the board and all subcommittees. Members are selectively granted access. Actions track separately per meeting type but are visible from one register. No spreadsheet per committee.
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- Security and Australian data hosting
- Data hosted on AWS in Sydney with Melbourne redundancy. Annual penetration testing. Your organisation owns its data, can export it at any time, and it's retained for the life of your subscription. No AI training on your data.
Discussion groups
Attendance reporting
Governance document repository
Australian-built for Australian boards
Why Australian company secretaries choose Our Cat Herder
- Australian-made and hosted. Data on AWS in Sydney with Melbourne redundancy. Your board's data stays in Australia.
- Built for Australian governance. Designed around Corporations Act requirements, ACNC governance standards, and AICD/Governance Institute best practice.
- No enterprise sales process. Set up a portal in under five minutes. Full access for 45 days, no credit card, no sales call.
- Affordable for NFPs and SMEs. Priced for boards that can't justify enterprise portal pricing. Unlimited meetings, unlimited committees.
- Responsive support. Same support during the trial as after. You won't be left figuring it out on your own.
Ready to spend less time on board admin? Start your free 45-day trial.
Full access to all features. No credit card required. Set up in under 5 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a board portal for company secretaries?
- A board portal is software that replaces the manual processes a company secretary uses to run board meetings: building agendas in Word, emailing board packs, taking minutes in a separate document, tracking actions in a spreadsheet, and chasing circular resolutions over email. Our Cat Herder brings all of that into one platform where everything is linked together.
- How does a board portal help with Corporations Act compliance?
- The Corporations Act requires that minutes be signed by the chair and maintained as part of the company's records. Our Cat Herder's minutes sign-off workflow handles chair approval and locks minutes once signed, with a full audit trail if they are ever unlocked and re-edited. The portal also maintains a complete, searchable record of all board meetings, decisions, and actions.
- Can a board portal replace email for board pack distribution?
- Yes. Papers are uploaded to agenda items inside the portal and members access them there. The admin can generate a consolidated PDF board pack with one click. No more emailing attachments, no version confusion, and no risk of sending the wrong document to the wrong person.
- Is Our Cat Herder's data hosted in Australia?
- All data is hosted on AWS in Sydney, with files synchronised to a Melbourne data centre for redundancy. OCH does not use customer data for AI training. Your organisation owns its data and can export it at any time.
- Do NFPs need a board portal?
- If your NFP has a board that meets regularly, prepares board packs, takes minutes, and tracks actions between meetings, a board portal saves the company secretary or administrator hours of manual work per meeting cycle. For ACNC-registered charities, the portal also supports Governance Standard 2 (accountability) and Governance Standard 5 (duties of responsible persons) by maintaining auditable records of board decisions and follow-through.
Resources for company secretaries
Free guides and templates to improve your board's governance.
Guide
Company Secretary Playbook: Effective Board Meetings
Planning, logistics, board papers, action tracking, and minute documentation - a step-by-step guide for company secretaries.
Guide
Choosing the Right Company Secretary Model
In-house, outsourced, or hybrid? How to pick the company secretary model that fits your organisation's size and needs.
Guide
Effective Board Packs: The Complete Guide
Quality over quantity, timely delivery, and easy navigation - how to put together board packs that directors actually use.
Template
Free Action Register Template
Keep every action item from the minutes in one place. Columns for assignee, due date, status, and follow-up notes.
Template
Free Consent Agenda Template
Move routine approvals off the main agenda so the board can focus on strategic discussion. Includes a chair's script.