SOP means standard operating procedure. In a business it is the written, approved way a repeatable task is done: the steps in order, who does each, what they use, what could go wrong and what the record of doing it looks like. The same three letters also mean statement of purpose on a university application, and most of the searches for the phrase are that; this page is the business meaning, for the person who owns a procedure and wants it done the same way when they are not in the room.
A procedure is a decision made once
Every time a task is done without a procedure, somebody decides how to do it again. An SOP is that decision made once, written down and approved, so the twentieth time is done the way the first good time was. That is why it has an owner, a version and a date: it is a decision, and decisions get revisited.
What an SOP contains
A purpose, a scope that says when it applies, the roles involved, the materials or systems used, the procedure itself as numbered steps with any decision points made explicit, the records it produces, and the version and review history. The EPA's guidance on preparing SOPs, cited below, describes the same shape for laboratory and field work; a small business needs the same sections with shorter text.
What an SOP is not
It is not a policy, which says what the business does and why rather than how. It is not a work instruction, which is one task for one operator with pictures. And it is not a statement of purpose, the admissions essay that shares its initials. The standard operating procedure template on this site sizes the business document from your own steps and roles.
Why the meaning matters to the buyer of software
Software sold as SOP software holds procedures with versions, sign-offs and review dates. If the thing you need is a document once, a template is enough; if you need the twentieth run to match the first, you need the record, which is what the subscription on this site is.
Questions people ask about sop meaning
What does SOP stand for?
Standard operating procedure, in a business. On a university application the same initials mean statement of purpose, which is a different document for a different person.
Who writes an SOP?
The person who owns the process, reviewed by someone who does it and approved by whoever is accountable for it. The template tool on this site counts the sections and the training time that follow.
How is an SOP different from a checklist?
A checklist is the ticks; the SOP is the procedure the ticks come from, with the purpose, the roles and the decision points written out.