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20 SOP Examples for Every Department (With Templates)

QuickSOP Team · 2026-02-23 · 10 min read

Table of Contents

What Makes a Good SOP Example?

Before diving into examples, let's clarify what separates a useful SOP from a bad one. A good SOP example has:

  • A clear purpose statement explaining what the process accomplishes
  • Step-by-step instructions with one action per step
  • Expected results so the reader can confirm they're on track
  • Visual aids (screenshots, diagrams) for any screen-based process
  • A defined audience — who this SOP is for

For a comprehensive guide on writing SOPs, see How to Write an SOP. Below are 20 examples organized by department to help you get started.

HR SOP Examples

1. Employee Onboarding

Purpose: Ensure every new hire has a consistent, complete onboarding experience. Audience: HR coordinators and hiring managers.

Steps outline:

  1. Send welcome email with first-day logistics
  2. Prepare workspace and equipment
  3. Create email and tool accounts
  4. Schedule orientation meeting with manager
  5. Complete employment paperwork (I-9, tax forms, direct deposit)
  6. Review company handbook and policies
  7. Introduce to team members and assign onboarding buddy
  8. Set up first-week training schedule
  9. Complete required safety and compliance training
  10. Schedule 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day check-ins

Why it matters: Companies with structured onboarding retain 82% of new hires and see 70% higher productivity. View full template →

2. Employee Offboarding

Purpose: Ensure secure, complete separation when an employee leaves. Audience: HR coordinators and IT admins.

Steps outline:

  1. Confirm last working day and process resignation
  2. Schedule exit interview
  3. Revoke system access and deactivate accounts
  4. Collect company equipment (laptop, badge, keys)
  5. Process final paycheck and benefits termination
  6. Transfer knowledge and reassign responsibilities
  7. Update team documentation and org charts
  8. Send farewell communication to relevant teams

3. Performance Review Process

Purpose: Conduct fair, consistent performance evaluations. Audience: Managers and HR business partners.

Steps outline:

  1. Send review notification to manager and employee (2 weeks prior)
  2. Employee completes self-assessment
  3. Manager gathers 360-degree feedback from peers
  4. Manager drafts review with specific examples and metrics
  5. Schedule 1-on-1 review meeting
  6. Conduct review discussion with goals for next period
  7. Document outcomes and development plan
  8. File review in HR system
  9. Follow up on development goals at next check-in

4. Leave Request Processing

Purpose: Process employee leave requests consistently and compliantly. Audience: HR administrators.

Steps outline:

  1. Receive leave request through HR system
  2. Verify employee's available leave balance
  3. Check for team coverage during requested dates
  4. Route to manager for approval
  5. Update leave balance in system
  6. Send confirmation to employee and manager

IT SOP Examples

5. Software Deployment

Purpose: Deploy code to production safely and reliably. Audience: Software engineers and DevOps team.

Steps outline:

  1. Create release branch from main
  2. Run full automated test suite
  3. Conduct code review and get approval
  4. Backup current production database
  5. Deploy to staging environment
  6. Run smoke tests and verify staging
  7. Deploy to production with monitoring
  8. Verify production health and run post-deploy checks

View full template →

6. Incident Response

Purpose: Handle production incidents efficiently with minimal customer impact. Audience: On-call engineers and incident commanders.

Steps outline:

  1. Acknowledge alert and assess severity level
  2. Create incident Slack channel and assign roles
  3. Notify stakeholders based on severity
  4. Investigate root cause using logs and monitoring
  5. Implement fix or workaround
  6. Verify resolution across affected systems
  7. Update public status page
  8. Conduct post-mortem within 48 hours
  9. Document lessons learned and create action items

7. New User Account Setup

Purpose: Provision all required accounts for a new team member. Audience: IT administrators.

Steps outline:

  1. Receive new hire notification from HR
  2. Create company email account
  3. Set up Slack workspace access and add to relevant channels
  4. Create accounts in required tools (project management, CRM, etc.)
  5. Configure VPN access
  6. Set up two-factor authentication
  7. Send credentials through secure channel
  8. Verify all access works with new hire on first day

8. Password Reset Procedure

Purpose: Securely reset user passwords while verifying identity. Audience: IT help desk staff.

Steps outline:

  1. Receive password reset request
  2. Verify requester identity (employee ID, manager confirmation)
  3. Generate temporary password in admin console
  4. Send temporary password through secure channel
  5. Require password change on first login

Sales SOP Examples

9. Lead Qualification

Purpose: Consistently evaluate and score incoming leads. Audience: Sales development representatives.

Steps outline:

  1. Review lead source and contact information
  2. Verify company size and industry fit against ICP
  3. Score lead using BANT framework (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)
  4. Research company on LinkedIn and CrunchBase
  5. If qualified: send personalized outreach email
  6. If unqualified: tag reason and move to nurture campaign

View full template →

10. Sales Demo Preparation

Purpose: Ensure every demo is personalized and professional. Audience: Account executives.

Steps outline:

  1. Research prospect's company, industry, and recent news
  2. Review CRM notes from previous interactions
  3. Customize demo environment with prospect-relevant data
  4. Prepare 3 value propositions specific to their pain points
  5. Test screen sharing and demo environment
  6. Prepare answers for top 5 objections
  7. Draft follow-up email template

11. Proposal Creation

Purpose: Create accurate, professional proposals efficiently. Audience: Account executives and sales operations.

Steps outline:

  1. Confirm pricing and terms with sales manager
  2. Select appropriate proposal template
  3. Customize with prospect-specific details and value props
  4. Add relevant case studies and social proof
  5. Route for internal review and legal approval
  6. Send to prospect with clear next steps and timeline
  7. Schedule follow-up for proposal review

Support SOP Examples

12. Customer Complaint Handling

Purpose: Resolve customer complaints professionally and consistently. Audience: Customer support agents.

Steps outline:

  1. Acknowledge complaint within 2 hours
  2. Gather full details and document in ticket system
  3. Express empathy and take ownership
  4. Investigate root cause with relevant teams
  5. Propose resolution and timeline to customer
  6. Implement solution and verify customer satisfaction
  7. Follow up 48 hours after resolution

View full template →

13. Ticket Escalation

Purpose: Route complex issues to the appropriate specialist. Audience: Tier 1 support agents.

Steps outline:

  1. Determine escalation criteria (technical complexity, customer tier, SLA risk)
  2. Document all troubleshooting steps already taken
  3. Select appropriate escalation path (Tier 2 Technical, Engineering, Management)
  4. Transfer ticket with complete context and notes
  5. Notify customer of escalation and expected timeline
  6. Follow up to ensure escalated ticket is progressing

14. Refund Processing

Purpose: Process refunds accurately within policy guidelines. Audience: Customer support agents.

Steps outline:

  1. Verify refund eligibility (within 30-day window, valid reason)
  2. Confirm order details and refund amount
  3. Process refund in payment system
  4. Send confirmation email to customer with reference number
  5. Update customer record in CRM
  6. Log refund reason for reporting
  7. If over $500: escalate to manager for approval first

Finance SOP Examples

15. Invoice Processing

Purpose: Process vendor invoices accurately and on schedule. Audience: Accounts payable staff.

Steps outline:

  1. Receive and log invoice in AP system
  2. Match invoice to purchase order
  3. Verify vendor details and amounts
  4. Route to department manager for approval
  5. Enter approved invoice in accounting system
  6. Schedule payment according to terms
  7. File confirmation and update vendor ledger

View full template →

16. Expense Report Review

Purpose: Ensure expense reports comply with company policy. Audience: Finance team and managers.

Steps outline:

  1. Review submitted expense report
  2. Verify all receipts are attached and legible
  3. Check each expense against company policy and limits
  4. Verify correct cost center and GL codes
  5. Approve or return with specific correction requests
  6. Process approved reimbursement through payroll

17. Month-End Close

Purpose: Complete monthly financial close accurately and on time. Audience: Accounting team.

Steps outline:

  1. Reconcile all bank accounts
  2. Review and post pending journal entries
  3. Reconcile accounts receivable and accounts payable
  4. Review prepaid expenses and accruals
  5. Verify revenue recognition entries
  6. Run trial balance and investigate variances
  7. Prepare financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet)
  8. Get controller review and sign-off

Operations SOP Examples

18. Daily Opening Procedure

Purpose: Ensure consistent daily setup for operations. Audience: Opening staff and shift supervisors.

Steps outline:

  1. Arrive 30 minutes before opening
  2. Disarm security system
  3. Turn on lights, HVAC, and equipment
  4. Check voicemail and urgent emails
  5. Review daily schedule and priorities
  6. Verify inventory and supply levels
  7. Brief team on daily objectives
  8. Open for business

View full template →

19. Quality Control Inspection

Purpose: Ensure products/services meet quality standards. Audience: QC inspectors and production supervisors.

Steps outline:

  1. Review applicable quality standards and specifications
  2. Gather inspection tools, forms, and reference materials
  3. Perform visual inspection against criteria
  4. Conduct measurements and functional tests
  5. Document findings with photos and notes
  6. Flag non-conformances with severity rating
  7. Submit inspection report and route for review

20. Vendor Onboarding

Purpose: Set up new vendors in company systems with proper documentation. Audience: Procurement and accounts payable.

Steps outline:

  1. Collect vendor information (W-9, banking details, insurance)
  2. Verify vendor credentials and references
  3. Execute NDA and master services agreement
  4. Create vendor profile in procurement system
  5. Set up payment terms and approval workflows
  6. Communicate ordering and invoicing procedures
  7. Schedule quarterly vendor review

How to Use These Examples

These outlines are starting points. To create a complete, usable SOP:

  1. Choose an example that matches your process
  2. Customize the steps for your organization's specific tools and workflow
  3. Add screenshots — especially for any screen-based process
  4. Test with a team member who hasn't performed the process
  5. Publish and assign an owner for ongoing maintenance

The fastest approach: use QuickSOP to capture the process as you do it. The extension captures screenshots and generates descriptions automatically — turning a 3-hour writing project into a 5-minute workflow capture.

Browse our complete SOP templates library for ready-to-use templates, or create a custom SOP in minutes with QuickSOP.

Key Takeaways

  • Start with the most critical processes in your department
  • Every SOP needs screenshots for screen-based steps
  • One action per step keeps instructions clear and followable
  • Test with a newcomer before publishing
  • Use QuickSOP to automate SOP creation from browser workflow captures
  • Browse templates for ready-to-use starting points

FAQ

How many SOP examples should my company have?

A 20-person company typically needs 30–50 SOPs across departments. Start with the 5–10 most critical processes and expand from there. Quality matters more than quantity — 10 well-maintained SOPs beat 100 outdated ones.

Can I modify these SOP examples for my company?

Absolutely. These outlines are starting points. Customize the steps for your specific tools, policies, and workflows. Add your organization's terminology, tool names, and compliance requirements.

What's the fastest way to create SOPs from these examples?

Capture the process with QuickSOP's Chrome Extension. Instead of manually writing each step, perform the process in your browser while QuickSOP captures it. Every click is saved as a screenshot and step descriptions are generated automatically.

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