An SOP document template is the page layout of a standard operating procedure: the header block that says which document and which version this is, the seven sections in order, the numbered steps with the role first, and the version history that closes it. The standard operating procedure template on this site sizes the document from your steps, roles and decision points; this page is what goes where on the page once it is sized.
The header block
Title, document number, version, owner, approver, effective date and next review date, on the first page above everything else. It is the first thing a reader checks and the thing a shared-drive copy loses; a printed procedure without a version on it cannot be trusted to be current.
Purpose, scope, roles, materials
Four short sections before the procedure: why it exists, when it applies and when it does not, who is involved and what each is responsible for, and the materials, forms or systems used. Each can be a sentence for a short procedure; the template holds the section whether it is a line or a page.
The procedure: numbered steps, role first
Each step is one action starting with the role that does it, sub-steps lettered underneath, decision points as their own steps that say where to go next. The template adds a section per decision point so the branches are findable, and prints the reading time so the document is checked against the task.
Records and version history
What the procedure produces and where it is filed, then every version with what changed, who approved it and when. The EPA's SOP guidance, cited below, closes its procedures the same way; RunbookDesk Pro keeps the history automatically as versions are approved.
Questions people ask about sop document template
Is there a free SOP document template?
The standard operating procedure template on this site sizes the document and prints its structure free with no account; the written document with its approvals and history is the paid product.
Word, PDF or software?
Draft anywhere; keep it somewhere that retires the old version when the new one is approved and holds the review date. That is the difference between a template and a procedure.
How long should the template be?
As long as the steps. The reading time the tool prints is the check that the document has not outgrown the task.