What is an SOP? A standard operating procedure: the written and approved way a repeatable business task is done, kept at one current version so the same task is done the same way whoever does it. The initials also mean statement of purpose on an admissions form, which is not this page. For the person who owns a process, an SOP is the difference between a business that runs on its people's memory and one that runs on its own record.
The shape of one
Purpose, scope, roles, materials or systems, the procedure as numbered steps with decision points made explicit, the records produced, and the version and review history. The EPA's guidance on preparing SOPs, cited below, lays out that shape; the standard operating procedure template on this site counts those sections from your own steps and prints the reading and training time that follow.
The three words in the name
Standard means one agreed way, not the way each person prefers. Operating means it is about doing the work, not describing the policy behind it. Procedure means ordered steps with a start and an end. A document that fails any of the three is a memo, a policy or a checklist, each useful and none an SOP.
What it produces
A procedure that is followed leaves a record: a sign-off, a log entry, a completed form. That record is what an auditor, a customer or a new manager reads to know the procedure was followed, and it is the reason SOPs are kept in software rather than a drawer. The free tools size the procedure; the subscription keeps the record.
When a business needs one
When a task runs often enough that doing it differently each time costs money, or matters enough that doing it wrong once costs more. Onboarding, closing the books, fulfilling an order, handling a complaint: the operations manual template on this site counts how many a business has.
Questions people ask about what is an sop
What does SOP stand for?
Standard operating procedure. On a university application it means statement of purpose, a different document entirely.
Is an SOP the same as a process?
The process is what happens; the SOP is the written procedure for doing it. Process documentation describes the process; the SOP tells one person how to run it.
Who approves an SOP?
The person accountable for the outcome, after the person who does the work has reviewed it. The template counts the approvals a procedure needs.