10 Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Examples

These standard operating procedure examples show what a usable SOP looks like across ten common tasks, from setting up a new laptop to locking the office at night. Each one has a purpose, a scope, an owner, five to eight numbered steps and the mistake that most often breaks it. They are generic on purpose: swap in your own systems, names and limits, then paste the result into our free SOP template to add exceptions, revision history and approvals.

What does a good SOP example include?

A good SOP example covers one task, says why it exists, names who does it and lists the steps in the order they happen, each starting with a verb. It also says how you know the task is done. Every example below uses the same five parts, so you can compare them and copy the shape.

A full SOP adds definitions, the systems and access needed, exceptions, safety notes and document control. The examples leave those out so all ten fit on one page; the SOP template has a slot for each. Any number you see, such as an approval limit or a lead time, is a placeholder for your own policy.

IT and security SOP examples

1. Set up a laptop for a new employee

Purpose: give every new starter a working, secured laptop with the right accounts on their first morning. Scope: company-owned laptops for new hires; not replacements or personal devices. Owner: IT support technician. Trigger: the new-starter ticket from HR.

1. 1Read the new-starter ticket for name, role, start date and any software the manager asked for.
2. 2Take a laptop from stock and record its serial number against the employee in the asset register.
3. 3Install operating system updates, then enroll the laptop in device management so security policies apply.
4. 4Confirm disk encryption is on and the screen locks when the laptop is left idle.
5. 5Create the user's accounts (email, chat, single sign-on) and add them to their team's groups.
6. 6Install the standard software plus the manager's requests, and open each app once to check it is licensed.
7. 7Label the laptop, pack the charger and note the handover in the ticket.
8. 8On the first morning, have the employee sign in, set up multi-factor authentication and open their email and shared files before you close the ticket.

What usually goes wrong: the accounts exist but the group memberships do not, so the new person can sign in and still cannot open anything they need. Step 8 is there to catch that while IT is still in the room.

2. Reset a user's password

Purpose: get locked-out users back in quickly without letting an impostor reset someone else's password. Scope: password and multi-factor resets requested through the service desk; admin and service accounts follow a separate procedure. Owner: service desk analyst.

1. 1Log the request in a ticket, even when it arrives by phone or chat.
2. 2Verify the caller's identity with a method an impostor cannot answer from public information, such as calling back the number in the HR system or sending a code to their registered device.
3. 3If verification fails or feels wrong, stop and escalate to the security team. Do not reset.
4. 4In the identity admin console, reset the password and require a change at next sign-in.
5. 5Send the temporary password through a different channel from the one the request came in on.
6. 6Confirm the user can sign in, and that they re-register multi-factor authentication if that was reset too.
7. 7Close the ticket with a note of how identity was verified.

What usually goes wrong: an analyst under time pressure skips verification for a convincing caller. Impersonating an employee to the help desk is a well-known way into a company, which is why step 3 tells the analyst to stop rather than improvise.

Customer-facing SOP examples

3. Refund a duplicate charge

Purpose: refund customers who were charged twice, quickly and exactly once. Scope: duplicate card charges on recent orders; disputes and chargebacks go to finance. Owner: support agent, with team lead approval above the refund limit.

1. 1Find the customer's account from the ticket and open their payment history.
2. 2Confirm the duplicate: two charges with the same amount, card and order, minutes apart.
3. 3Check that neither charge has already been refunded.
4. 4If the amount is above your approval limit, ask the team lead to approve in the ticket and wait for it.
5. 5Refund the second charge in full from the payment record, with the reason set to Duplicate.
6. 6Reply to the customer with the amount refunded and when it should appear on their statement.
7. 7Tag the ticket “duplicate charge” so repeat causes show up in reporting.

What usually goes wrong: the customer writes in twice, two agents each take a ticket, and both refund. Step 3 prevents the double refund, and the tag in step 7 gives someone the evidence to fix whatever is charging people twice.

4. Log a new inbound lead in the CRM

Purpose: record every inbound lead once, give it an owner and make sure someone follows up. Scope: leads from the website form, events and email; existing customers go to their account manager. Owner: sales development rep.

1. 1Search the CRM by email address and by company domain before creating anything.
2. 2If the company exists, add the person as a contact under it; if not, create the company first.
3. 3Create the lead with its source, the product they asked about and their original message pasted in.
4. 4Set the lifecycle stage to Lead and assign the owner by territory.
5. 5Log the first touch as an activity and create a follow-up task with a due date.
6. 6Reply to the lead within your response-time target and record the reply against the lead.

What usually goes wrong: duplicates. A rep creates a fresh record instead of searching, two reps email the same buyer, and the reports count one person twice. Step 1 is most of the value of this SOP.

Finance and HR SOP examples

5. Reconcile the bank account at month-end

Purpose: prove that the cash balance in the books matches the bank, and find errors while they are still easy to fix. Scope: each operating bank account, every month; company credit cards have their own procedure. Owner: staff accountant, reviewed by the finance manager.

1. 1Download the month's bank statement and confirm its opening balance equals last month's reconciled closing balance.
2. 2Match the statement lines to transactions in the accounting system, using its bank feed or import.
3. 3List items in the books but not yet on the statement, such as payments in transit and deposits not yet cleared.
4. 4Investigate items on the statement but not in the books, such as bank fees, interest or unrecorded payments, and post each one with support.
5. 5Check that the adjusted book balance equals the adjusted bank balance. The difference must be zero and explained.
6. 6Save the reconciliation report with the statement and the supporting documents.
7. 7Send it to the finance manager to review and sign off before the month is closed.

What usually goes wrong: a small unexplained difference is pushed into a suspense account so the close can finish on time, and it grows month after month. Step 5 says the difference is explained, not forced.

6. Run an employee's first day

Purpose: give every new employee the same organized first day, so they leave knowing their team, their tools and their first week. Scope: all new employees, in the office or remote; contractors have a shorter version. Owner: HR coordinator, with the hiring manager.

1. 1The week before, confirm the start time and place or video link, send a welcome email saying what to bring, and complete any right-to-work check the law requires before employment starts, as it does in the UK.
2. 2The day before, check with IT that the laptop and accounts are ready (example 1).
3. 3Welcome them, introduce the team, and name a buddy for their first weeks.
4. 4Complete the rest of the paperwork your country requires, such as tax forms, payroll details and an emergency contact.
5. 5Walk through the essentials of the handbook: hours, leave, expenses and security rules.
6. 6The manager sets goals for the first week and books a check-in at the end of it.
7. 7Before they leave, ask what was unclear and add it to the onboarding checklist.

What usually goes wrong: day one depends on other teams, and nobody confirmed them. The new person spends the morning waiting for a login. Step 2 makes that check somebody's job. Our guide to employee onboarding videos covers the training side of the first weeks.

Marketing and product SOP examples

7. Publish a blog post

Purpose: publish posts that are accurate, on-brand and easy to find, with no broken links or missing images. Scope: posts on the company blog; press releases follow a legal review procedure. Owner: content editor; a subject expert approves the facts.

1. 1Check the draft against its brief: who it is for, the question it answers and the action it asks for.
2. 2Send every factual claim to the subject expert, and remove any number nobody can source.
3. 3Edit for clarity and house style, then write the title, meta description and image alt text.
4. 4Add links to two or three related pages and click every link to check it opens.
5. 5Paste the post into the CMS, set the URL slug, category and author, and preview it on a laptop and a phone.
6. 6Publish, then confirm the page appears in the sitemap and ask your search console to index it.
7. 7Share it in the newsletter and on social channels, and record the date in the content calendar.

What usually goes wrong: a statistic copied from another blog turns out to have no original source, or to be wrong. Step 2 is the guard, and it is the step most often skipped on a deadline.

8. Run the release checklist

Purpose: ship product releases without surprising customers or support, and with a way back if something breaks. Scope: planned production releases of the web app; emergency fixes use a shorter list. Owner: release manager, often an engineering lead on rotation.

1. 1Confirm every change in the release is merged, reviewed and passing its automated tests.
2. 2Write release notes in plain language and share them with support before the release.
3. 3Check that database changes have been tried on a copy of production data.
4. 4Confirm the rollback plan: what to revert, who does it and how they will know it worked.
5. 5Release in the agreed window, then run the smoke tests straight away: sign in, the main user journey, and payments if anything near them changed.
6. 6Watch error rates and key metrics for the first hour, and roll back if they move the wrong way.
7. 7Announce the release inside the company, and to customers if anything they see is different.
8. 8Record the release, any incidents and the follow-up work in the release log.

What usually goes wrong: support hears about a change from customers first. Step 2 takes minutes and prevents a wave of confused tickets.

Operations and office SOP examples

9. Pick, pack and ship an order

Purpose: send every order complete, undamaged and on time, with tracking the customer can follow. Scope: standard parcel orders from the warehouse; freight and international shipments with customs paperwork are separate. Owner: warehouse associate; the shift lead handles exceptions.

1. 1Open the pick list for the next order in the queue.
2. 2Pick each item and scan its barcode; the system flags a wrong item or quantity.
3. 3Inspect each item and swap any that are damaged.
4. 4Use the box size the system suggests, add packing material and include the packing slip.
5. 5Weigh the parcel, print the shipping label and stick it flat on the largest side.
6. 6Scan the label to mark the order shipped, which sends tracking details to the customer.
7. 7Put the parcel in the bay for the right carrier before the next collection.

What usually goes wrong: the system shows stock the shelf does not have, and the order sits half-picked with nobody told. The SOP should name the response: stop, tell the shift lead, who corrects the stock count and contacts the customer.

10. Open and close the office

Purpose: make sure the office is safe, secure and ready for work every day. Scope: the main office on working days; events outside hours have their own checklist. Owner: office manager, with a named deputy for absences.

1. 1Opening: disarm the alarm with your own code.
2. 2Walk the office and check for leaks, damage or anything left switched on overnight.
3. 3Turn on lights, heating or cooling, and shared equipment such as printers.
4. 4Check that the kitchen and meeting rooms are clean and stocked.
5. 5Closing: check that windows are shut and fire doors are closed.
6. 6Switch off shared equipment, kitchen appliances and lights.
7. 7Check nobody is left in the building, then set the alarm and lock the doors.
8. 8Note any problems for whoever opens in the morning.

What usually goes wrong: the person who always locks up is away and the deputy has never set the alarm. A written SOP, and one practice run with the deputy, fixes it.

Which of these SOP examples work best as videos?

The ones done in software. Setting up accounts, resetting a password, refunding a charge, logging a lead and publishing a post all happen on a screen, where a short recording shows exactly which control to use. The physical tasks, like packing an order or locking up, are better served by a checklist with a few photos.

For the screen-based tasks, the quickest way to get both formats is to record the task once. With stepvideo.io you record a real run in Chrome with the extension; from that one take it builds the step list, an edited video with AI voiceover and captions, and a written guide with a screenshot for each step. You then fix the steps (rename, reorder, merge, rewrite the narration) instead of cutting a timeline. The AI SOP from a screen recording guide explains how to plan and check that recording.

How to write your own SOP from these examples

Pick the example closest to your task and treat it as a skeleton, not a script. Then rebuild it from how the work really happens in your company:

1. 1Watch or record someone doing the task once, from trigger to finish.
2. 2Rewrite each step with your own system names and the exact labels on the screen.
3. 3Replace every number in the example, such as limits and lead times, with your own policy.
4. 4Add the exceptions you heard about while watching, each as a condition and a response.
5. 5Paste it into the SOP template and fill in roles, systems, revision history and approvals.
6. 6Test it on someone who has never done the task, and rewrite every step where they hesitate.

If you want the definitions first, read what an SOP is. For the craft of wording each step, see how to write step-by-step instructions.

One task, one owner, one page

The pattern across all ten is the same: one task with a clear start and finish, one owner, steps that start with a verb, and an honest note about where it breaks. Pick the example nearest to the task your team gets wrong most often, rewrite it from a real run, and publish it this week.