The standard operating procedure format is a page layout a reader can navigate without having read the document before: a header block that identifies the version, seven sections in a fixed order, numbered steps with the role first, decision points as their own steps, and a version history at the end. The standard operating procedure template on this site sizes the document from your steps; this page is the layout the sized document goes into.
Header, then purpose and scope
Document number, title, version, owner, approver, effective and review dates first, because a reader checks them before trusting anything below. Then purpose in a sentence or two, and scope that says when the procedure applies and when it does not, which is the section that stops it being used for the wrong task.
Roles, materials, then the procedure
Who is involved and what each is responsible for; what forms, tools or systems are used; then the numbered steps, each one action starting with the role, sub-steps lettered, decision points as their own numbered steps that say where to go next. The template adds a section per decision point so the branches can be found.
Records, history, attachments
What the procedure produces and where it is filed; then every version with what changed, who approved it and when; then the forms as numbered attachments referenced from the steps that use them. The EPA's SOP guidance, cited below, closes its procedures in the same order.
The format scales down as well as up
A five-step procedure keeps every section and makes each a line. The format's job is that the reader knows where the roles are without reading the purpose; the length is the task's, and the reading time the tool prints is the check.
Questions people ask about standard operating procedure format
Is there a required format?
A conventional one, described in guidance such as the EPA's, and none mandated for an unregulated business. Consistency across your own set matters more than the choice.
Should the format use tables?
For the roles and the version history, yes; the steps read better as numbered prose with the role first.
Where do screenshots go?
In a work instruction, one per step. The SOP references the work instruction rather than carrying the pictures.