A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a written, step-by-step instruction for how a specific task is done in a business, so anyone trained on it can produce the same result. For UK SMEs, good SOPs are short (under 1 page), action-oriented, and stored in a single searchable location everyone uses.

SOPs are what let a business stop depending on the person who happens to know how to do the thing.

When you need an SOP

Write an SOP for a task when:

• It''s done more than once a month.
• Multiple people do it, or could do it.
• Mistakes are costly (financial, reputational, regulatory).
• The current "knowledge" lives in one person''s head.
• You''re training someone new.

Don''t write SOPs for: one-offs, things that change frequently, things only one person could ever do anyway.

The structure

Every SOP should have these sections:

1. What this SOP is for

One sentence. "How to onboard a new client to our accounting package."

2. Who does it

Role, not a specific person. "Account manager assigned to the client."

3. When it''s triggered

The event that starts the work. "Within 2 working days of contract signature."

4. The steps

Numbered. Each step starts with a verb. Action-oriented. One action per step.

Bad: "Set up the client''s account." Good: "5. Open the practice management software. 6. Click ''New Client'' → ''Limited Company''. 7. Fill in the company''s legal name, UTR, registration number, and Companies House URL. 8. Set the engagement letter due date to today + 7 days."

5. What success looks like

One or two outcome statements. "The client has received: signed engagement letter, welcome email with portal access, calendar invite to kick-off call."

6. Edge cases (only if they exist)

Common variations and what to do. Don''t pre-empt every possible variation — capture the ones that actually happen.

7. Related SOPs

Links to neighbouring SOPs (e.g. "When onboarding fails KYC, follow ../kyc-rejection-handling").

The right level of detail

The 80/20 question: would someone with the role''s expected baseline knowledge be able to produce the right result by following the SOP?

• For an SOP written for an experienced bookkeeper: "Post the invoice to the relevant nominal" is enough.
• For an SOP written for a brand-new admin assistant: "Open Xero → Business → Invoices → New Invoice → Select [Client] → Add line items → Save".

Match the detail to the audience.

Where to store SOPs

Single source of truth, accessible to everyone who needs them. Common options:

• Notion / Confluence / Coda: best for richer formatting, embedded checklists, version history.
• Google Docs in a structured folder: cheap, works, but discovery suffers as you grow past 30-50 SOPs.
• Internal wiki (Slab, Tettra, GitBook): purpose-built for this, decent search.
• Built-in to your process tool (Process Street, Trainual, Tango): good if you want SOPs as runnable checklists, not just documents.

The right answer is: somewhere everyone already goes for other reasons, with great search. Two clicks to find the SOP, or it won''t get used.

Keeping SOPs current

The biggest failure mode is SOPs that go stale. Defences:

• Date every SOP. "Last reviewed: 2026-05-11".
• Owner per SOP. The person responsible for keeping it current.
• Quarterly review reminder on every SOP owner''s calendar.
• Update trigger: when a process changes materially (new tool, new regulation), the change-maker updates the SOP as part of the change. Not after.

A worked example — invoice raising

SOP: Raising a monthly invoice for a recurring services client

Who does it: Account manager.
When: 1st working day of each month, or per the client''s agreed billing cycle.

Steps:
1. Open Xero → Business → Invoices → New Invoice.
2. Select the client from the dropdown.
3. Set invoice date to today; due date to today + 30 days (or per client terms).
4. Add the recurring service line(s) from the client''s engagement letter.
5. Add any one-off line items recorded in the time-tracking export.
6. Verify totals against the prior month — flag if more than 20% variance.
7. Save and email through Xero (uses the standard template).
8. Mark the corresponding task complete in the project management tool.

Success: Invoice sent, task marked complete, client copy on file.

Edge cases:
- Client on Direct Debit: trigger the DD draw via GoCardless 3 working days before due date.
- Client disputes the amount: see ../invoice-dispute-handling.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. Owner: Sarah, Head of Client Operations.

What NOT to put in an SOP

• Generic best-practice principles. SOPs are about how to do this specific thing.
• Background reasoning. Save that for training materials.
• "It depends" branches with no decision rule. Pin down the decision.
• Information that lives better elsewhere (a price list, a customer database). Link to the source.

What to do this month

• List the top 10 processes in your business that produce the most output. Of those, which exist as written SOPs today?
• Pick the highest-volume process without an SOP. Write one this week.
• If you have SOPs but they''re stale: schedule a quarterly review. The next quarter is when you''ll have them in shape.