What's in the board packet

What is the board packet?

The Packet tab on a meeting compiles one PDF a director can read start to finish: everything they need for that sitting, in the order they need it. It contains, in this order:

1. a cover page with your board's name and colour, the meeting's title, when and where it is, and whether this is a draft or a final version — plus your board's legal name, mailing address and website when they're set in Settings → Board profile;
2. a contents page listing every section and every attached document, each with the page it starts on;
3. the agenda, in order, with each item's type, presenter, time box, description, and the documents attached to it;
4. every attached PDF and image, in full — each one behind a divider page naming the document and saying which pages of the packet it occupies;
5. an attached-documents index, splitting what is included in the PDF from what is only listed; and
6. a prior-minutes summary, naming and dating the meeting it comes from — when one exists (see below).

Whose minutes are "the prior minutes"?

The most recent earlier meeting of the same kind — the same committee, or the board itself — that has a minutes record, whatever its approval status. This is deliberately not the meeting the packet is FOR: minutes for a meeting that hasn't happened yet don't exist, so a packet for an upcoming sitting carries the minutes the board is about to be asked to approve, which is what "Approval of prior minutes" on the agenda actually means. The summary states the minutes' status (Draft, Circulated for review, or Approved) so a not-yet- adopted record is never mistaken for the final one. A cancelled meeting is skipped over. If no earlier meeting in scope has minutes yet — a board's very first meeting, for instance — the section is left out of the packet entirely rather than showing a placeholder.

Every page BoardTools adds carries a footer with your board's name and "Page X of Y", so a page number in the contents page is a page number you can navigate to — on paper, in the in-app reader, or in any PDF app.

Which clock do the packet's dates use?

Each date reads in the time zone of the meeting IT describes. The cover's Generated stamp and the meeting's own When/Time zone rows use this meeting's zone; the prior-minutes summary's date and approval stamp use the zone of the earlier meeting the minutes actually belong to (which can differ from this meeting's zone — a board that changed time zones between sittings still reads each date correctly). A packet for a meeting in Auckland reads in Auckland time no matter where the person who generated it was sitting.

Which attachments are included in full?

A "listed" document is never dropped silently: it appears in the packet's contents page and in its attached-documents index, under a heading that says plainly it is not included, with the reason. Members open those from the document library as usual.

In what order are the documents included?

The meeting's own materials first, in the order the organizer arranged them on the meeting's Details tab, then any document reached only through an agenda item, in agenda order. A document attached in both places is included once.

That order is yours to set: the Materials card has Move up / Move down buttons on every row (keyboard-operable, no dragging required), and the order you leave them in is the order the next compiled packet prints. See adding and ordering materials.

What happens if a document can't be read?

The packet still generates. A document whose file is damaged, password-protected, or missing from storage gets a page naming it and saying why its content isn't there, and the rest of the packet compiles as normal. A packet that fails to build would tell a chair nothing; a packet that admits one gap tells them exactly what to fix.

Is there a size limit?

Yes — a packet includes up to 40 MB of attached documents. Documents are added in the order above until that is reached; anything beyond it is listed instead of included, and whoever generated the packet is told which documents and why, right next to the Generate packet button. Nothing times out and nothing is lost — remove or split an attachment (the library accepts up to 25 MB per file) and regenerate.

How do I read the packet on my phone?

Open the meeting's Packet tab. The first thing on the page is a card with the version and its state (for example v2 · sent Mar 3, 2026), the page count, and two buttons:

• Read the packet opens the in-app reader, full-screen on a phone. Scroll through every page, pinch or Ctrl/⌘-scroll to zoom, choose Full screen for the whole screen, and leave notes. See Reading, highlighting and noting the board packet.
• Download PDF saves the file, so you can read it offline or in any PDF app.

The meeting's Details tab has a Read button on its Packet row too, so you can open the packet from there without switching tabs.

Open it straight from the email — no sign-in

The Board packet ready email has two buttons, and both work on any device without signing in:

• Read in browser (the main button) takes you to a short page with the meeting's name and time. Its main button, Read in browser (with the page count), opens the packet straight into a reader that fills the screen. Scroll, pinch or Ctrl/⌘-scroll to zoom, choose Full screen, and Close when you're done. Nothing is downloaded until you choose to read. The page also has its own Download PDF button.
• Download PDF saves the file directly, through the same personal link, to read in any PDF app.

A few things to know about that link:

• It's personal to you. It's made for your email address alone, and your board can see that you opened the packet, just as if you'd opened it in the app. Please don't forward it; if you do, whoever opens it is counted as you.
• It stops working a day after the meeting starts. After that, sign in and open the meeting's Packet tab as usual.
• It only ever opens the version it was sent with. When a newer version is finalized, the older email's link stops working and the page says This packet has been replaced by a newer version. Look for the newer email.
• Your notes aren't there. Highlights and notes belong to your signed-in account, so the emailed link shows the packet only. Sign in to see or add notes.
• Drafts are never sent. Only a finalized version goes out by email.

If a link has expired, been revoked or can't be used, the page says This packet link is invalid or has expired. Sign in and open the meeting's Packet tab, or ask your board administrator to send it again.

Jump to an item's pages

In the Packet tab's Contents list, every line that shows a page number (p. 7) is a button: choose the line and the reader opens at that page — the start of a section, or the first page of an agenda item's papers. On the meeting's Agenda tab, an item whose papers are in the packet shows Papers: p. 3–11. Choose it to open the reader at the first page of that item's papers.

If the packet won't open

If the reader can't show the file, it says so in plain words:

• This packet isn't available right now. The file couldn't be found. Ask whoever organizes the meeting to check or regenerate the packet.
• The packet couldn't be displayed on this device. The file is there, but this device couldn't draw it.

Either way you get a Download PDF button, which saves the same file to open in another app, and Try again, which reloads the reader in place.

The explanation of what goes into the packet sits in About this packet, below the contents list.

What does the Packet page show me?

The tab opens with one row: on the left, the current version and its state (for example v2 · sent Oct 3, 2026 · 24 pages); on the right, Read the packet and Download PDF. If the agenda or materials changed after that version was compiled, a notice sits directly below it. Help for this page is the ? at the end of the meeting's tabs.

Contents is one list of what the current version of the PDF actually contains, in the order the PDF runs:

1. Agenda, with the page it starts on;
2. the meeting's materials, each with the page it starts on;
3. every agenda item as it was compiled, numbered in compiled order, with its type, the names of its papers, and the page its papers start on (p. 12) — or Listed only when its documents could not be included;
4. Attached documents (the index of everything attached) and Prior minutes summary, when one exists, each with its page.

Every page number matches what the PDF's own contents page prints, and every line with a page number opens the reader there. An item with no papers simply shows no page. The footer shows the compiled PDF's real page count.

When a document is Listed only, the line also shows why — the same reason the PDF's own attached-documents index gives (an Office file needs an office suite BoardTools does not run, a GIF or WebP can't be drawn onto a PDF page, and so on) — and opens the reader at the index page that names it. An attachment with no recorded reason still shows the plain Listed only wording.

If you can manage the meeting, the Prepare & send card beside the contents (below it on a phone) shows the current version, says what to do next — for example "Read the draft through, then finalize it to lock it and notify the board." — and holds the Regenerate draft and Finalize buttons. Everyone else sees the same version facts in a Current packet card.

That is deliberately not the meeting's live agenda. Finalizing a packet does not lock the agenda underneath it, so an item added after the packet was compiled is not in the PDF your board downloaded — and the list would be lying if it showed one.

A packet compiled before BoardTools recorded what went into it cannot say what it contains. The list then shows the meeting's agenda as it stands today, says so above the list, falls back to counting attachments instead of showing page numbers, and shows no sections at all — inventing them would claim structure the PDF was never proven to have. Regenerate the packet and it records its own contents, sections, and reasons from then on. Regenerating is safe at any time while the packet is a draft.

How do I know the packet is out of date?

The page tells you. When the meeting's agenda changes — or a meeting material is attached, removed, or reordered — after the current packet was generated, the Read the packet card at the top of the Packet tab says so in plain words:

The agenda has changed since this packet was compiled

Everyone on the board sees it, not just organizers: a director reading the PDF needs to know it predates the agenda on screen. The meeting's Details tab shows the same fact on its Packet row ("Final v3 · the agenda has changed since it was compiled").

Nothing happens automatically. BoardTools never regenerates or re-sends a packet on your behalf, and a final version is never rewritten — regenerating compiles a new draft and leaves the finalized version exactly as it was distributed. If you can manage the meeting, the notice has its own Regenerate draft button so you can fix it right there; if you can't, ask whoever organizes the meeting. The notice clears itself the moment a newer packet is generated.

What does the board hear about a revised packet?

When you finalize and send the first version, directors get a Board packet ready notice. Every version after that is sent as a revision. The notice is titled Board packet updated — meeting and says which version it replaces, for example "Version 3 replaces version 2. 2 items changed since the last version." The count is the number of agenda items added, edited, moved or removed between the two versions. When BoardTools can't work that out (for example, if the earlier version was never compiled), the count is left out rather than guessed. It arrives the same way as the first notice: in the bell and, per each member's notification preferences, by email. See Send the packet to the board.

Does regenerating affect my highlights and notes?

Your notes are never dropped. Because including attachments changes how long the packet is, the first regeneration after this change moves nearly every page — so every open note on that packet is flagged as may have moved, and you can check it against the new page. A later regeneration that doesn't change the packet's length leaves your notes untouched. See Reading, highlighting and noting the board packet for how those flags appear in the reader.

Who receives the packet when it's sent?

When a final version is sent (Notify the board on the Finalize dialog, or later from the version history), the packet-ready notice goes to the meeting's audience:

• A board meeting — every member of the board.
• A committee meeting — only the members who are on that committee at the moment it's sent. Directors who aren't on the committee don't get the notice or the email, and someone removed from the committee after the meeting was scheduled doesn't either. The notice is titled Committee packet ready rather than "Board packet ready".

In both cases that includes a member who's been invited but hasn't signed in yet, and never a member who has left. The version history's Sent to N members count is exactly this audience, and the audit log entry records whether it went to the board or to a committee. The same rule decides who is told the minutes are published, and who hears that a meeting was cancelled or moved.

On a phone: who received and opened the packet

If you can manage the meeting, the Packet page also lists who the packet's email reached and who has opened it. On a phone, each director is one compact row instead of a stack of labelled lines, with the answer first:

• Delivery — the director's name, then a grey line starting with when the email was last updated, such as "Sep 27, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT · ada@example.org", and the delivery chip (Delivered, Sent, Bounced …). An email that didn't arrive also says Did not arrive, with the reason when there is one.
• Opens — the director's name, then "Opened Sep 27, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT · Chair" or Not opened yet, with the Read in app / Downloaded chips and how many times they opened it.

Times use the meeting's time zone, and the zone is named. The minutes page shows the same delivery rows for the minutes circulation.

How do I stop an emailed packet link from working?

Each director's packet email carries a personal link that opens the packet without signing in. If an email went to the wrong address or was forwarded, you can switch that link off. You need permission to manage the meeting.

1. Open the meeting's Packet tab.
2. Below Who has opened this packet, find Emailed packet links.
3. Under Whose link, pick the member, or Everyone's links.
4. Choose Revoke link.

The link stops working right away. The member can still read the packet by signing in. The revoke is recorded in the audit log as Emailed packet links revoked. Finalizing a newer version switches off all of the older version's links on its own, so you don't need to do this after a revision.

Who can generate and read it?

Generating, regenerating, finalizing and notifying the board need permission to manage the meeting — the same permission as running it. Finalizing takes a permanent snapshot; drafts can be regenerated as often as the papers change. The final version is the draft's pages exactly as you reviewed them — nothing is recompiled — except that its cover now reads Final with its own version number (for example Final · v2) instead of Draft · v1.

Who can read a version depends on whether it's a draft:

• A draft is private to the people preparing it. Only members who can manage the meeting see a draft, its reader or its download. Everyone else sees the newest final version as the current packet, and drafts don't appear in their version history. Until a final exists, the page says The packet for this meeting hasn't been sent out yet. That way you can compile, check and regenerate without directors reading half-finished papers.
• A final version is for the meeting's audience. For a board meeting that is everyone on the board. For a committee meeting it is the members of that committee, the same audience the packet is sent to, plus anyone who can manage the meeting. A director who isn't on the committee gets "not found" for that committee's packet page and download links. They can't open it by guessing the address.

The same rule applies to the packet card in the run cockpit and to links that open a note in the packet. A link to a note on a version you can't see says the note isn't available.