SOP guide · Evaluated September 2026
SOP Examples by Department: What to Document First
Best SOP Software reviewers · From vendor pricing, help-centre and product pages · Evaluated September 2026
Plain answer
Start with the tasks that are frequent, risky or done by new people: in HR that is onboarding and offboarding, in finance invoice approval and month-end close, in IT access requests and password resets, in support refunds and escalations. Below are 18 SOP examples across nine departments, each with the steps it must cover. They are outlines to adapt, not finished SOPs.
How do you choose which SOPs to write first?
Score each candidate task on three questions: how often it happens, what goes wrong if it is done badly, and how often a new person does it. Write the SOPs that score high on two of the three first. A task done once a year by one expert can wait; a weekly task done by rotating staff cannot.
What are good SOP examples for each department?
Operations
Daily opening checklist
Must cover: systems to check, who signs off, what to do if a check fails
Vendor onboarding
Must cover: documents to collect, approval step, where the vendor record is created
Human resources
New hire onboarding
Must cover: accounts to create, day-one schedule, policies to acknowledge
Employee offboarding
Must cover: access removal, equipment return, final pay handoff
Finance
Invoice approval
Must cover: approval thresholds, who approves at each level, how exceptions are recorded
Month-end close
Must cover: task order, owner per task, reconciliation checks
IT
Access request
Must cover: request channel, approver, how access is logged and reviewed
Password reset
Must cover: identity verification before reset, what not to do over the phone
Customer support
Refund request
Must cover: eligibility rules, limits, approval above a threshold
Escalation to engineering
Must cover: what counts as an escalation, required information, response targets
Sales
Discount approval
Must cover: discount bands, approver per band, where approval is recorded
Lead handoff from marketing
Must cover: qualification criteria, timing, CRM fields
Marketing
Publishing a blog post
Must cover: review and legal check, SEO fields, who presses publish
Brand asset request
Must cover: request form, turnaround, approval
Manufacturing
Machine changeover
Must cover: lockout step, settings per product, first-piece check
Shift handover
Must cover: open issues, safety notes, sign-off by both leads
Quality and compliance
Document change control
Must cover: change request, impact review, approval, retraining trigger
Deviation handling
Must cover: how a deviation is recorded and justified, who reviews it, CAPA link
For drug manufacturing, 21 CFR 211.100(b) requires that deviations from written procedures 'shall be recorded and justified'.
Which tool fits which department?
| Department | Common need | Tools in this guide that document it |
|---|---|---|
| HR | Onboarding training with proof of reading | Trainual (tests, e-signatures), Whale (read assignments, quizzes) |
| IT and support | Click-by-click guides for web apps | Haiku, Scribe, Tango |
| Finance and operations | Approvals and change history | SweetProcess, Process Street |
| Manufacturing | Work instructions on the floor, sign-offs | Dozuki |
| Quality (life sciences) | Controlled documents and Part 11 e-signatures | Qualio |
Worked example: How to write an SOP
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of an SOP?
A refund procedure: who can issue a refund, the steps in the billing system, the approval needed above a threshold, and how the refund is recorded. See the worked example in How to write an SOP.
How many SOPs does a small business need?
Start with 5 to 10 covering the most frequent and risky tasks, then add one each time a task causes a mistake or a repeated question.