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Company secretary: Job description and activities

Job description

A company secretary is responsible for ensuring the compliance of their organisation in relation to financial and legal practices, as well as issues of corporate governance. Although they are not strictly required to provide legal advice, company secretaries must have a thorough understanding of the laws which affect their areas of work. They act as a point of communication between the board of directors and company shareholders, reporting in a timely and accurate manner on company procedures and developments.

Both public and private limited companies must employ, by law, a company secretary and therefore such positions can be found in all sectors.

Typical work activities

A company secretary's role covers a wide variety of functions and is partly dependent on the company for which they work. Typical work activities include:

• organising, preparing agendas for, and taking minutes of board meetings and annual general meetings (AGMs);
• maintaining statutory books, including registers of members, directors and secretaries;
• dealing with correspondence, collating information and writing reports, ensuring decisions made are communicated to the relevant company stakeholders;
• contributing to meeting discussions, as and when required, and advising members of the legal, governance, accounting and tax implications of proposed policies;
• monitoring changes in relevant legislation and the regulatory environment, and taking appropriate action;
• liaising with external regulators and advisers, such as lawyers and auditors;
• taking responsibility for the health and safety of employees and managing insurance and property issues;
• developing and overseeing the systems that ensure the company complies with all applicable codes, as well as its legal and statutory requirements.

Companies House , the official Government register of UK companies, provides a useful overview of the general role of a company secretary.

The work of a company secretary in a registered company may be more specialised than in a smaller private company. For example, the liaison role between management and shareholders, and compliance, may make up a major part of their work. This could include:

• maintaining the register of shareholders and monitoring changes in share ownership of the company;
• paying dividends and managing share option schemes;
• taking a role in share issues, mergers and takeovers.

In small businesses, other duties commonly undertaken by company secretaries include:

• monitoring the administration of the company's pension scheme;
• overseeing and renewing insurance cover for employees, equipment and premises;
• engaging in contractual agreements with suppliers and customers;
• managing office space and property and dealing with personnel administration;
• overseeing public relations and aspects of financial management.

AGCAS

Written by Anna Lomas, University of Manchester

Last updated:

October 2007

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