Free SOP generator

How to use the SOP generator

1. Pick one job. Name it by what gets done, starting with a verb, such as “Send Client Invoices”. A whole department is too big for one page.
2. Fill in “Done when” first. If you can't say what finished looks like, the steps won't be any clearer.
3. Write the steps while you do the job. One action per step. “Who” is the person or role doing it, and “Check” is how they know that step is right before moving on.
4. Copy or print it. “Copy as text” gives you a plain version to paste into Word, Google Docs or Notion. “Print” prints the SOP on its own, without the rest of this page.
5. Test it on someone else. Give it to someone who doesn't do the job and watch where they stop. Fix that step, then set a next check date.

A worked example

“Fill in an example” loads a typical small-team job: Reply to a New Enquiry. The owner is the office manager, with the account lead as backup. It starts when a new enquiry arrives in the shared inbox, and it is done when they have a helpful reply within one working day, and the enquiry is logged. In between are 5 steps:

1. Read the enquiry, noting what they are asking for. Check: Their need is written in one line.
2. Check it is work we can take on. Check: Unsure? Ask the account lead the same day.
3. Reply with the standard note, adding their name. Check: The reply mentions one detail from their message.
4. Offer two times for a short call. Check: Both times are free in the diary.
5. Log the enquiry with a follow-up date. Check: It is in the log with a date three working days ahead.

Each step is one action, and each check says how the person knows that step is right. Change any box and the sheet below the form changes with it.

Common mistakes

• Making the owner “the team”. If everyone owns it, nobody keeps it right. Name one person or role.
• Starting it “as needed”. Say what starts the job: an email arriving, a date, a client signing.
• Two actions in one step. “Check the order and send it” hides a step that can go wrong on its own. Split it.
• Writing passwords in. Say where logins are kept, never the logins themselves.
• Never testing it. An SOP only the writer can follow isn't finished. Hand it to someone else and watch.

When one page isn't enough

A one-page SOP suits a job one person does from start to finish. When several people share it, there are a lot of decision points, or a client sets the format, use the fuller layout in our SOP template for Word, with a purpose, scope, exceptions and training sign-off. New to SOPs? Start with what an SOP is.