This free SOP template gives you a ready-made standard operating procedure in Word and PDF, with the sections most teams need and a filled-in example to copy from. Download it below, then use this page to fill it in: what goes in each section, how to write steps a new person can follow, what a finished SOP looks like, and how to turn the same procedure into a short video when the task happens on a screen.
Download the SOP template
There are two versions with the same sections. Take the Word file if you will edit it; take the PDF if you want to print it or fill it in by hand.
- SOP template, Word (.docx): blank, with a short instruction under every heading. It opens in Microsoft Word and Apple Pages, and in Google Docs if you upload it to Drive and choose Open with Google Docs.
- SOP template, PDF: the same blank template laid out for printing, with ruled tables to write in.
- Filled-in example, Word and as a PDF: a complete SOP for paying supplier invoices, shown section by section further down this page.
The links go straight to the files: no email address, no account. Copy them, change them and share them inside your company however you like. If you are not sure what an SOP is for yet, start with what an SOP is and come back.
What is in this SOP template?
The template has a header block and eleven numbered sections. The header identifies the document; the sections cover why the procedure exists, who does what, the steps themselves, what to do when the normal path fails, and how the document is controlled. Each section has a one-line instruction you delete once it is filled.
| Section | The question it answers | Keep it to |
|---|---|---|
| Header block | Which document is this, which version, who owns it? | Eight fields in a grid |
| 1. Purpose | Why does this procedure exist and what does it produce? | One or two sentences |
| 2. Scope | Where does it start and stop, and what does it leave out? | Four short lines |
| 3. Roles and responsibilities | Who performs, who approves, who needs to be told? | One row per role |
| 4. Definitions | Which terms would confuse a new starter? | Real jargon only |
| 5. Materials, tools and systems | What must be ready before step 1? | A short list, with access levels |
| 6. Procedure | What do I do, in what order, and how do I know it worked? | One action per row |
| 7. Exceptions and escalation | What if the normal path does not apply? | Condition, response, contact |
| 8. Safety, quality and compliance | What must never be skipped, and why? | Rules that apply to this task |
| 9. Related documents | Where do the policy, forms and other SOPs live? | Links, not copies |
| 10. Revision history | What changed, when and by whom? | One row per version |
| 11. Approvals | Who signed off this version? | Role, name, date |
The header holds the SOP number, version, department, effective date, process owner, next review date, status and approver. Those eight fields are what people look for later, when they need to know whether the copy in front of them is the current one and who to ask about it.
How do you fill in an SOP template?
Fill it in from a real run of the task, not from memory. Watch or record someone doing the work, write the procedure table first, then purpose and scope, then exceptions, and finish with roles and the control fields. Test the draft on someone who has never done the task before you approve it.
- 1
Pick one task with a clear start and end
A good SOP covers one task a single person could finish in one sitting: “Process a supplier invoice”, not “Accounts payable”. If you cannot say what triggers the task and what result ends it, the scope is still too wide, so split it.
- 2
Watch the task being done, or record it
Sit with the person who does it best and have them do a real one while you take notes. For work on a screen, a recording beats notes: you can pause it, and it catches the clicks people no longer notice they make. Ask what usually goes wrong; the answers become section 7.
- 3
Write the procedure table first
One row per action, each starting with a verb: Open, Search, Compare, Enter. Use the names of buttons and fields exactly as the screen shows them. Add the owner of each step, and in the notes column write what the performer should see when the step worked.
- 4
Add purpose and scope
Once the steps exist, the purpose sentence is easy to write. In scope, name the trigger (Starts when), the finished state (Ends when) and the nearby work this SOP does not cover, so nobody uses it for the wrong case.
- 5
Write the exceptions
Turn every “it depends” you heard into a row: the condition, what to do and who to contact. If the safe answer is to stop and ask, say so plainly. Most errors happen on these branches, not on the main path.
- 6
Fill in roles, definitions and materials
List roles rather than names, define any acronym a new starter would not know, and list the systems with the access level each one needs. A missing permission is one of the most common reasons a new person gets stuck at step 1.
- 7
Test it on someone new
Give the draft to someone who has never done the task, ask them to follow it without help, and watch without coaching. Every place they pause, guess or ask a question is a step to rewrite.
- 8
Approve it, publish it and set a review date
Record the version, approver and next review date in the header, save the file where the team already looks for answers, and remove older copies. Review it whenever the system or the policy behind it changes, not only when the date comes round.
If you are documenting a whole area of work rather than one task, map it first with how to document a process, then write one SOP per task from this template.
A filled-in SOP example: paying a supplier invoice
Here is the example file, section by section, so you can see the level of detail that works. The company, names and limits are invented; the structure is the point. Download the Word version of the example if you want to start from it.
Header. SOP-FIN-004, version 2.1, Finance (accounts payable). Owner: accounts payable lead. Approved by the finance manager, effective 2026-10-01, next review 2027-04-01.
Purpose. Make sure every supplier invoice is checked against what was ordered and received before it is paid, so the company pays the right supplier the right amount, once, and on time.
Scope. Applies to supplier invoices for goods and services bought with a purchase order (PO). Does not cover expense claims, payroll or company card purchases. Starts when an invoice arrives in the accounts payable inbox; ends when it shows as Scheduled in the accounting system and its email is filed.
Roles. The accounts payable (AP) clerk performs every step and never approves an invoice they entered. The budget holder approves invoices up to $5,000 charged to their budget; the finance manager approves anything larger and every change to a supplier's bank details. The buyer sorts out price and quantity differences with the supplier.
| Step | Action | Owner | Notes and expected result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open the next invoice in the AP inbox and save the PDF to the supplier's folder. | AP clerk | One invoice per PDF. Split combined files before you start. |
| 2 | Search the accounting system for the supplier name and the invoice number. | AP clerk | A match means a duplicate: reply to the supplier, file the email under Duplicates and stop. |
| 3 | Open the PO and the goods receipt, and check supplier, items, quantities and prices against the invoice. | AP clerk | A price difference inside the policy tolerance is fine. Anything else goes to section 7. |
| 4 | Compare the bank details on the invoice with the supplier record. | AP clerk | If they differ, stop. Do not enter the invoice; follow the bank-details exception. |
| 5 | Enter the invoice: supplier, invoice number, invoice date, due date, net amount, tax and PO number. Attach the PDF. | AP clerk | Expected result: status Awaiting approval. |
| 6 | Send it for approval: to the budget holder up to $5,000, to the finance manager above that. | AP clerk, then approver | The approver confirms the charge is genuine and coded to the right budget. Expected result: status Approved. |
| 7 | Add the invoice to the last payment run before its due date. | AP clerk | Expected result: status Scheduled, with a payment date. |
| 8 | Move the email to the Processed folder. | AP clerk | The inbox should only hold invoices still in progress. |
| If this happens | Do this | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| There is no PO number on the invoice | Put the invoice on hold and ask the person who ordered to raise or confirm a PO. | Requester, then budget holder |
| Price or quantity does not match | Put the invoice on hold and email the buyer with the invoice and PO attached. | Buyer |
| Bank details differ, or the supplier asks to change them | Change nothing. Call the supplier on the phone number already on file to confirm, then pass it to the finance manager. | Finance manager |
| The invoice is overdue or marked urgent | Process it first and tell the finance manager before the next payment run. | Finance manager |
The rest of the example covers definitions (PO, goods receipt, three-way match, on hold), the systems the clerk needs and at what access level, four compliance notes, related documents, a revision history and the approval signatures. Look at the revision history in particular: version 2.0 records why step 4 exists, to block payment-redirection fraud. That one line stops a future editor from deleting a check that looks redundant. For ten more worked examples, from IT and support to finance, HR and operations, see these standard operating procedure examples.
Tips for writing an SOP people actually use
- Start every step with a verb. “Click Save” beats “The record should then be saved”. The reader is doing something, not studying.
- One action per row. If a step contains “and then”, it is two steps. Merged steps are where people lose their place.
- Name things exactly as the screen does. If the button says Submit for approval, write Submit for approval, with the same capitals.
- Put the check next to the action. An expected result in the notes column lets the performer catch a mistake at step 5 instead of at month end.
- Warn before the risky step, not after it. A warning that lives only in section 8 is read once; repeat it in the row where it matters.
- Use roles, not names. “AP clerk” stays true when people change jobs; a first name does not.
- Cut what nobody needs. Delete definitions, approvals or revision history if your team will never use them. Empty sections teach readers to skim.
- Show, do not describe, where a control is hard to find. If a step needs a paragraph to explain where a setting lives, a screenshot is shorter.
Writing the steps well is a skill of its own. Our guides to writing step-by-step instructions and writing work instructions go deeper on wording, decisions and testing.
Word or Google Docs: which format should an SOP be in?
Use whichever tool your team already opens every day. Word suits SOPs that need formal sign-off, tracked versions or printing; Google Docs suits teams that edit together and share links. The template is a .docx, so it works in both: open it in Word, or upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs.
| What you need | Word (.docx) | Google Docs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Several people editing at once | Possible when the file is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint | Built in | Not an editing format |
| Formal sign-off and printing | Strong | Workable | Good for the signed, final copy |
| One obvious current version | Needs a shared location | One link by default | Easy to end up with stale copies |
| Reading on a phone | Workable | Good | Good when the layout is simple |
Where the file lives matters more than its format. An SOP saved in one person's downloads folder does not exist for anyone else. Keep the approved version in the place people already search, such as a shared drive, a wiki or a knowledge base, and link to it from wherever the work starts. If you also keep a PDF, export a fresh one every time the source changes so the two never disagree.
Turn the SOP into a video SOP
A written SOP is good for looking something up. For tasks done on a screen, people often learn faster by watching the task once. If your procedure lives in a browser, such as an admin panel, a CRM or an accounting system, you can record one clean run of it and get the procedure section back in two forms.
That is what stepvideo.io does. You record the task once with the Chrome extension, which records a browser tab, a window or your whole screen; click-accurate editing comes from tab capture with the extension. From that one recording it builds a list of steps, an edited how-to video with AI voiceover and captions, and a written step-by-step guide with a screenshot for each step, which downloads as a PDF. You edit the steps rather than a timeline: rename, reorder, merge, split or delete them, rewrite a step's narration, and re-render.
What it does not write is the rest of the SOP. Purpose, scope, roles, exceptions, compliance notes and approvals still come from you, and that is where this template fits: put the guide or its share link in section 6, list the video in section 9, and keep the document as the record people sign. If your teams work in more than one language, stepvideo transcribes 96 languages and publishes narration in 58, so one recording can serve several of them. The AI SOP from a screen recording guide covers how to plan and check that recording, and plans are on the pricing page.
Keep the SOP true after you publish it
Most SOPs go wrong slowly. A button is renamed, a limit changes, a new exception appears, and the document stays the same until someone follows it into a mistake. Three habits prevent most of that:
- Review on change, not only on a date. A new system version, a policy change or an incident should trigger a review straight away; the date in the header is the backstop.
- Give every SOP one owner. The process owner in the header answers questions and approves edits. A document everyone owns is a document nobody updates.
- Log every change in the revision history. Version, date, what changed and who changed it. It takes a minute and it is the first thing an auditor or a new owner reads.
If you are choosing software to hold a growing SOP library rather than a folder of documents, compare the options in best SOP software for small teams.
Start with the task that causes the most questions
Download the template, pick the one task your team asks about most, and fill in a single SOP from a real run of it. Test it on someone new, fix what they stumbled on, and publish it with an owner and a review date. The second SOP will take half the time, because the structure is already decided.
Frequently asked questions
How do I create an SOP template?
Start with the sections every procedure needs: a header with number, version, owner and review date, then purpose, scope, roles, numbered steps, exceptions and approvals. Put a one-line instruction under each heading so everyone fills it in the same way, save it as a template file, and keep one master copy that every new SOP starts from.
What format should an SOP be in?
Use a numbered step list or table for tasks done in a fixed order, a checklist for routine checks people already know how to do, a flowchart when the task branches a lot, and screenshots or a video for work done on a screen. The file type comes second: a .docx or Google Doc for editing, and a PDF for printing or signing.
Can I use this SOP template in Word and Google Docs?
Yes. The template is a standard .docx file. Open it directly in Microsoft Word or Apple Pages, or upload it to Google Drive and choose Open with Google Docs, which converts it into an editable Google Doc. Headings, tables and bullet lists carry over, so you can fill it in wherever your team already works.
What should an SOP include?
At minimum: a title and number, the purpose, the scope, the roles involved, numbered steps with the expected result of each, what to do when something goes wrong, the owner and the next review date. Definitions, safety notes, related documents, revision history and approvals are worth adding when the work is audited or the task carries real risk.
How long should an SOP be?
As long as a new person needs to finish the task correctly, and no longer. Most single-task SOPs fit on one to three pages. If yours runs much longer, it probably covers several tasks; split it into separate SOPs and link them from a short overview so each one stays easy to follow and update.
Can I turn an SOP into a video?
Yes. For tasks done on a computer, record one real run of the task and use it as the visual version of the procedure section. stepvideo builds an edited video, voiceover, captions and a written step-by-step guide from one browser recording; the purpose, scope, exceptions and approvals still belong in the SOP document itself.