Custom governance file for internal supervision
A supervisory board must be able to show how it is composed, when each member steps down, which additional positions its members hold, how it has evaluated itself and under which framework it exercises supervision. At many organisations this is scattered across the board secretariat, a spreadsheet and last year's annual report. Appfront builds software for the supervisory board's governance file: composition and profile, rota of retirement, additional positions and interests, supervisory vision, self-evaluation, approval decisions and the board's report, with the check against your governance code included.
What is software for the supervisory board's governance file?
A governance file is the file on the supervisor itself. Where meetings are about the organisation, this file is about the board: who sits on it and why, on the basis of which profile, until when each member is appointed and whether reappointment is possible, which additional positions a member holds and whether an interest arises from them, under which supervisory vision the board works, when it last evaluated itself and what came out of that. The governance codes ask for this. The Governancecode Zorg 2022 (Dutch healthcare governance code), for example, asks for a supervisory vision, an annual self-evaluation that is externally facilitated once every three years, and disclosure of additional positions.
Without a file, that information sits in separate places. The rota of retirement is in a spreadsheet that only the secretary maintains, the additional positions are in the annual report as they were at the time, the outcome of the self-evaluation is in a report nobody rereads, and the supervisory vision has three versions in three folders. When a term ends, it turns out recruitment started too late. If an external supervisor, an auditor or a new member asks for the file, the search begins.
We build custom software because articles of association, regulations and codes differ from one organisation to the next. A healthcare organisation works with the Healthcare Governance Code (Governancecode Zorg) and, under the Wtza (Care Providers Quality, Complaints and Disputes Act), sometimes faces a licensing requirement for internal supervision; a housing association works with the Housing Association Governance Code (Governancecode Woningcorporaties) and a suitability and reliability assessment by the Dutch Housing Associations Authority (Autoriteit woningcorporaties) for every appointment. The meetings and the decisions register sit in a board portal; this page is about the dossier of the board as a body.
Composition
Profile, members, terms.
Conflicts of interest
Secondary positions reported.
Evaluation
Outcome and follow-up.
How we build your supervisory board governance dossier software
We start with your articles of association, regulations and the code that applies to you: which components the dossier must contain, who currently maintains them and where they are kept. Then we build a first version with the composition, the retirement rota and the secondary positions, because that is where most of the questions come from. The secretary and the chair work with it for a while. The supervisory vision, self-evaluation, the overview of approval decisions and the board's report follow once that goes well. After that, we keep the software up to date when your code or your regulations change.
What the dossier must contain.
The first version.
Vision, evaluation, decisions.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What supervisory board governance dossier software actually does
The components below appear in almost every governance dossier. Which ones you need depends on your sector, your code and your articles of association.
Composition
Profile and members.
Retirement rota
Terms and reappointment.
Secondary positions
Notification and approval.
Supervisory framework
Vision and protocol, with versions.
Self-evaluation
Outcome and follow-up.
Code check
Per provision: applied or explained.
Who we build supervisory board governance dossier software for
The software is intended for organisations with a supervisory board that falls under a governance code and want to be able to demonstrate that the board's dossier is in order.
Healthcare organisations
Healthcare Governance Code and Wtza.
Housing associations
Code and assessment by the Aw.
Education
Supervision of the executive board.
Foundations
Supervisory board under the articles of association.
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This page is about the board's dossier. For meetings, the board book and digital decision-making, see our page on board management software; for the cycle from agenda to implemented decision, our page on meeting management software; and for the licence under the Wtza, our page on the Wtza licence dossier. If you work at a housing association, also take a look at housing association software. You can read about our approach on building custom software.
Why Appfront for your supervisory board governance dossier software?
A term that expires before recruitment has started, a secondary position that was never reported, or a self-evaluation nobody knows the outcome of: any of these costs a board credibility, both within the organisation and with the external regulator. That is what we build around: the board's dossier in one place, terms visible in good time, and every notification and evaluation easy to find.
In time
Deadlines in view.
Full
Conflicts of interest reported.
Demonstrable
Per provision of the code.
Security and privacy in supervisory board governance dossier software
The dossier contains personal data of supervisory board members, secondary positions and the outcomes of evaluations, and these are confidential. Access is set up per role: a member sees their own data and whatever the board shares, the chair and the secretary see the whole dossier, and the executive director sees only what is intended for them. Every change is recorded with name and time.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage and daily backups. Logging in uses two-factor authentication. Data on former members is kept for as long as is needed for accountability purposes and is then deleted in line with the retention period you set.
Frequently asked questions about software for the supervisory board's governance file
Questions that chairs and board secretaries ask before they get started.
The file on the supervisory board or board of commissioners itself: composition and profile, rotation schedule, secondary positions and interests, supervisory vision and framework, self-evaluations, approval decisions and the board's report. It shows that the board works as its code and articles of association require.
Board management software supports the meetings: agenda, papers, minutes, voting and the decision register. The governance file is about the board as a body and its accountability. The two work well together, and an integration between them is possible.
The code that applies to you, such as the Dutch Healthcare Governance Code 2022 or the Dutch Housing Associations Governance Code. We include the provisions that matter for the file, so that for each provision you can record how you apply it or why you deviate.
For each member it shows the appointment date, the term and the option of reappointment. The Healthcare Governance Code 2022, for example, assumes a maximum of four years per term and eight years in total. The software flags well in advance when a term is about to end, so that recruitment starts on time.
A member reports a new secondary position in the software, preferably before accepting it. The chair assesses whether there is a conflict of interest and records the outcome. For executive directors, the board's approval can run through the same flow.
Yes. The questions, the outcome, the actions that follow and who takes them on are all recorded. At the next evaluation, the board can see what was done with the previous one, and whether it was externally facilitated.
For supervisory boards and boards of commissioners at organisations that fall under a governance code and have an external regulator. For a small foundation with three supervisors and few changes, a well-kept folder is often enough.
Want to get the board's file in order?
Tell us which code applies to your board and where the file currently lives. We will show you how the software can bring it together in one place.