15 SOP Examples for Every Department (With Templates)

Looking for SOP examples you can adapt today? This guide covers 15 standard operating procedure examples across six departments — HR, Finance, Operations, Sales, Customer Support, and IT. Each includes a template you can copy and customize.

For each example, we outline what the SOP covers and the key steps. To generate a full draft in seconds, paste the description into the AI SOP generator on DocForge AI. For background on SOPs in quality management systems, see the ISO 9001 overview on ISO.org.

Key Takeaways

• Start with high-impact, high-frequency SOPs: onboarding, invoice processing, inventory reconciliation, ticket escalation, and user provisioning.
• Every SOP follows the same 9-section template: purpose, scope, roles, prerequisites, procedure, troubleshooting, references, and revision history.
• Don't copy any SOP verbatim — adapt each step to match your tools, team structure, and actual process.
• Test every adapted SOP with a new hire or unfamiliar colleague before publishing — that's the only real test of clarity.
• Use AI to cut SOP library creation from 60-120 hours down to 15-30 hours by recording, transcribing, and generating structured first drafts.

HR SOP Examples

Here's a quick at-a-glance overview of all 15 SOPs covered in this guide — jump to the department you need:

1. Employee Onboarding SOP

Purpose: Ensure every new hire has a productive, consistent first week.

Key steps:

1. Send offer letter and welcome email 7 days before start date
2. Set up email, Slack, and tool access 3 days before start
3. Prepare desk, equipment, and welcome kit on day -1
4. Day 1: Office tour, team intros, IT setup, HR paperwork
5. Day 2-3: Department overview, role-specific training
6. Day 4-5: Shadow team members, first small task
7. Day 30: First check-in with manager
8. Day 90: Probation review

For a full template, see our employee onboarding SOP guide.

2. PTO Request SOP

Purpose: Standardize how employees request and approve paid time off.

Key steps:

1. Employee submits request in HRIS at least 14 days in advance
2. Manager reviews within 48 hours
3. Manager approves or denies with reason
4. HR updates PTO balance and team calendar
5. Employee confirms coverage plan with team

3. Performance Review SOP

Purpose: Run consistent, fair performance reviews twice per year.

Key steps:

1. HR sends review kickoff email with timeline
2. Employee completes self-assessment in HRIS
3. Manager drafts review with 3 strengths and 3 growth areas
4. Skip-level manager reviews for calibration
5. Manager holds 45-minute review meeting
6. Employee acknowledges and sets 3 goals for next cycle

Finance SOP Examples

4. Invoice Processing SOP

Purpose: Process vendor invoices accurately and on time.

Key steps:

1. Receive invoice (email, portal, or mail)
2. Verify invoice against PO and receiving report (3-way match)
3. Code invoice to correct GL account and cost center
4. Enter into accounting system within 2 business days
5. Route for approval based on dollar threshold:

- Under $5K: Manager

- $5K-$50K: Director

- Over $50K: CFO

1. Schedule payment per vendor terms (Net 30 default)
2. File invoice in shared drive

5. Monthly Close SOP

Purpose: Close the books accurately within 5 business days of month-end.

Key steps:

1. Day -1: Send reminders to all department heads for accruals
2. Day 1: Reconcile bank and credit card accounts
3. Day 2: Post journal entries (accruals, prepaids, depreciation)
4. Day 3: Review AR aging, write off bad debt over 120 days
5. Day 4: Review AP aging, confirm no missing invoices
6. Day 5: Generate preliminary financial statements
7. Day 6: CFO review, finalize, distribute

6. Expense Reimbursement SOP

Purpose: Process employee expense reports consistently.

Key steps:

1. Employee submits expense report in Expensify within 30 days of spend
2. Attach receipts for all expenses over $25
3. Manager approves within 3 business days
4. Finance audits for policy compliance
5. Reimbursement in next payroll cycle

Operations SOP Examples

7. Inventory Reconciliation SOP

Purpose: Keep system inventory counts accurate.

Key steps:

1. Run weekly cycle count of 20% of SKUs (rotating)
2. Compare physical count to system count
3. Investigate any variance > 2% or > $500
4. Post inventory adjustments with documented reason
5. Quarterly full physical count with outside auditor
6. Monthly review of slow-moving inventory (over 180 days)

8. Vendor Onboarding SOP

Purpose: Onboard new vendors consistently and compliantly.

Key steps:

1. Collect W-9, COI, and vendor information form
2. Run vendor risk assessment (financial, security, compliance)
3. Credit and reference check for vendors over $50K/year
4. Add vendor to procurement system
5. Set up in accounting system with payment terms
6. Schedule annual review of vendor performance

9. Equipment Maintenance SOP

Purpose: Prevent equipment failures through scheduled maintenance.

Key steps:

1. Generate monthly maintenance schedule from CMMS
2. Notify operations 7 days before scheduled maintenance
3. Perform maintenance per manufacturer specifications
4. Log maintenance in CMMS with photos
5. Flag any issues for follow-up
6. Quarterly review of maintenance history

Sales SOP Examples

10. Lead Qualification SOP

Purpose: Qualify inbound leads consistently using BANT framework.

Key steps:

1. New lead enters CRM within 1 business hour
2. SDR researches lead on LinkedIn and company website (10 min max)
3. SDR sends personalized email referencing research
4. If no response in 3 business days, send follow-up #1
5. If no response in 7 business days, send follow-up #2 (breakup email)
6. If lead responds, book discovery call within 48 hours
7. On discovery call, qualify on BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)
8. If qualified, route to AE with handoff notes

11. Proposal Approval SOP

Purpose: Standardize proposal review and approval.

Key steps:

1. Sales rep drafts proposal using approved template
2. Rep submits for legal review if contract value > $50K
3. Rep submits for pricing review if discount > 15%
4. Manager approves within 2 business days
5. VP approval required for contracts > $250K
6. CFO approval required for contracts > $1M
7. Approved proposal sent to client within 48 hours of draft

Customer Support SOP Examples

12. Ticket Escalation SOP

Purpose: Escalate tickets consistently based on severity and impact.

Key steps:

1. Triage new ticket within 1 business hour
2. Assign severity:

- Sev1: System down, business-critical — page on-call

- Sev2: Major feature broken — escalate within 1 hour

- Sev3: Minor issue — normal queue

- Sev4: Question or enhancement request — backlog

1. Acknowledge customer within SLA (15 min Sev1, 1 hr Sev2, 4 hr Sev3)
2. Update customer every 4 hours for open Sev1/Sev2
3. Escalate to engineering if unresolved within SLA
4. Post-resolution: send summary, request CSAT

13. Refund Processing SOP

Purpose: Process refund requests consistently and fairly.

Key steps:

1. Verify customer identity and purchase
2. Determine refund eligibility per policy:

- Within 14 days: full refund

- 14-30 days: prorated refund

- Over 30 days: case-by-case

1. Process refund in billing system
2. Send confirmation email with refund amount and timeline
3. Log refund reason in CRM for trend analysis
4. Refunds over $500 require manager approval

IT SOP Examples

14. User Provisioning SOP

Purpose: Onboard new users to systems securely.

Key steps:

1. Receive approved access request from HR or manager
2. Create accounts in required systems (email, Slack, HRIS, role-specific tools)
3. Assign to correct security groups based on role
4. Send credentials via secure channel
5. User signs acceptable use policy
6. Log access in IAM system
7. Quarterly access review to remove stale accounts

15. Incident Response SOP

Purpose: Respond to security incidents quickly and consistently.

Key steps:

1. Detect and confirm incident (monitoring alert, user report, vendor notice)
2. Assign incident commander
3. Classify severity (Sev1-4)
4. Contain: isolate affected systems
5. Eradicate: remove threat
6. Recover: restore from backup, verify integrity
7. Communicate to stakeholders every 30 min for Sev1, every 2 hr for Sev2
8. Post-incident review within 5 business days
9. Update SOPs and controls based on lessons learned

SOP Template Structure (Copy This)

Every SOP above follows the same template:

# [SOP Title]

**SOP ID:** SOP-[DEPT]-[###]
**Version:** v[X.Y]
**Last Updated:** [Date]
**Owner:** [Name, Role]

## Purpose
[One-sentence description of why this SOP exists]

## Scope
[What's covered and what's not]

## Roles and Responsibilities
- [Role 1]: [Responsibility]
- [Role 2]: [Responsibility]

## Prerequisites
- [What must be true before starting]

## Procedure
1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]

## Troubleshooting
| Issue | Resolution |
|---|---|
| [Common issue] | [How to fix] |

## References
- [Related SOPs, policies, external docs]

## Revision History
| Date | Author | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| [Date] | [Name] | [What changed] |

How to Adapt These Examples

Don't copy any SOP verbatim. Your tools, team structure, and processes are unique. Instead, follow this prioritization guide to decide which SOPs to write first:

For each prioritized SOP:

1. Pick the example closest to your process.
2. Walk through your actual process with the person who does it. Note where it differs from the example.
3. Customize each step to match your reality.
4. Test the adapted SOP with a new hire or a colleague unfamiliar with the process.
5. Iterate based on their feedback.

How to Generate SOPs Faster

Writing 15 SOPs manually takes 60-120 hours. You can do it in 15-30 hours with AI:

1. Record yourself doing each task (Loom, Snagit, your phone).
2. Transcribe the recording (Otter, Descript, or built-in tools).
3. Feed the transcript to the [AI SOP generator](/ai-sop-generator) to produce a structured first draft.
4. Edit and verify with the person who does the work.
5. Publish to your SOP library.

For more on the writing process, see our complete guide to writing SOPs. For operations-wide rules, see SOP best practices. For document hierarchy questions (SOP vs work instruction), see our comparison guide.

FAQ: SOP Examples

What is the best SOP example to start with?

Start with an employee onboarding SOP. It's high-impact (every new hire experiences it), repeatable (you do it frequently), and easy to observe (you can watch yourself or a colleague do it). Onboarding SOPs also demonstrate clear ROI through faster time-to-productivity.

How do I adapt an SOP example to my business?

Don't copy an SOP verbatim. Use the example as a structure, then customize each step to match your tools, team, and process. Verify each adapted step with the person who actually performs the task. Test with a new hire before publishing.

Should every department have its own SOPs?

Yes. Every department with repeatable processes should have SOPs. Start with 3-5 SOPs per department covering the most frequent and error-prone processes. Add more as you scale.

Where should I store SOPs?

Store SOPs in a searchable, central location your team actually uses — Notion, Confluence, SharePoint, or a shared Google Drive folder. The best storage is the one your team already uses daily. Avoid burying SOPs in email or personal drives.

Build Your SOP Library

You now have 15 examples and a template. Pick the 3 most urgent for your team, generate first drafts with the AI SOP generator, and ship them this week.

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