SOP Generator (Standard Operating Procedures for Your Business)
Procedures people can follow: steps, decisions, roles, checks and document control.
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Your procedures
Document control
Purpose and scope
Roles
The people or jobs that do the work. Mark who does each step in the RACI matrix below the procedure.
Definitions
Words, abbreviations and forms that a new member of staff might not know.
Equipment and safety
Procedure
One action a step, written as an instruction (“Count the packages”). Make a step a decision to ask a yes-or-no question with a way on for each answer.
Numbers and bullets are removed; a line that ends with “?” becomes a decision. The steps are added after the last one.
RACI matrix
R Responsible does the step, A Accountable answers for it (one a step), C Consulted is asked before, I Informed is told after.
Records
What the procedure produces as evidence, where it is kept, for how long and who keeps it.
Measures (KPIs)
How you know the procedure works: what is measured, the target, and how and when it is measured.
References
Approvals
The document has room for each person to sign next to their name.
Revision history
Checks
Your SOP as a document
The flowchart outline is Mermaid text, which Mermaid’s own editor and many diagram and documentation tools draw. The checklist opens in the Checklist Maker to print, tick on a phone or turn into a recurring sheet.
A backup of this SOP as a file, to keep it or open it in another browser:
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About the SOP Generator (Standard Operating Procedures for Your Business)
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of written instructions for a routine job, so that everyone does it the same, correct way — the U.S. EPA’s guidance on preparing SOPs describes it as written instructions that document a routine or repetitive activity of an organisation. This generator builds one with the parts that guidance lists: a document-control block (SOP number, version, owner, effective and review dates, approvals and a revision history), purpose and scope, roles, definitions, equipment and safety, the numbered procedure, records, measures (KPIs) and references.
Each step is an action or a decision point: a yes-or-no question with a way on for each answer. Mark who does each step in a RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed), add a warning, the how-to and a quality check to any step, and the checks flag what to fix: steps that cannot be reached, a procedure that never ends, steps without anyone responsible, steps that say “you”, placeholders still to fill and missing review dates. Start from a template — opening and closing a shop, receiving goods, customer complaints, onboarding a new employee, cash handling or IT access — or paste the steps from your notes.
The document has the control notation on every page and the flowchart as an appendix. Without a pass, everything you type, the RACI matrix and the checks work in full and the pages show as a free preview; a Pro pass unlocks the PDF, the editable Word file, the one-page checklist, the flowchart outline, the Markdown and the hand-over to the Checklist Maker.
How to use it
- Pick a template and press Use (it opens as a new procedure), or press New for a blank one. Fill in the title, SOP number, version, owner and dates.
- Write the purpose and scope, then add the roles that do the work.
- Add the steps one at a time, or paste them from your notes (one a line; a line that ends with “?” becomes a decision). For a decision, choose where If yes and If no lead; for an action, choose what happens After this step.
- Fill in the RACI matrix — one R (or more) and one A for each step — and add warnings, how-to notes and checks where they help.
- Work through the Checks, fill in the [placeholders], and add the records, measures, approvals and the revision history.
- Look over the pages under Your SOP as a document. With a Pro pass, download the PDF, the Word file, the checklist, the flowchart outline or the Markdown, copy the Markdown, or open the steps as a checklist; in the free preview the pages are marked and these stay locked.
Examples
1. Check the delivery note against the order 2. Count the boxes before the driver leaves Is everything there and undamaged? - Sign the note and record the goods received
Four steps; step 3 is a decision (both answers continue until you point one elsewhere).
Step 5: Is the delivery complete and undamaged? If yes: step 7. If no: continue with step 6.
In the document: “5 Decision: Is the delivery complete and undamaged? Yes: go to step 7. No: continue with step 6.” In the flowchart: a diamond, an arrow down labelled No, and “If yes: go to step 7” beside it.
Step 4: You should check that the seal is not broken.
Tip: step 4 says “you”: write it as an instruction (“Check the seal”, not “You should check the seal”).
What goes into an SOP
The EPA’s guidance for preparing SOPs describes a title page with a title that clearly identifies the activity, an SOP number, the date of issue or revision, the unit it applies to and the signatures of those who prepared and approved it; then the purpose and scope, definitions of specialised terms, the procedure in sequential steps with the equipment, qualifications and safety considerations it needs (safety preferably in bold), the quality checks, the records and the references. There is no one correct format: optional sections here are left out of the document when they are empty, and the rest are numbered in order.
Writing steps people can follow
- One action a step, written as an instruction in the active voice and the present tense, without “you”: “Count the packages against the delivery note”, not “The packages should be counted”. The checks point out steps that say “you”, may be in the passive voice or run past 35 words.
- Enough detail for a newcomer. The EPA’s guidance asks for enough detail that someone with limited experience of the procedure, but a basic understanding, can carry it out unsupervised. Put settings, form names and tips in the step’s how-to notes, so the step itself stays short.
- Warnings before the step. A warning or caution is printed above the step it belongs to, in a shaded box, so it is read before the action.
- Decisions as questions. A decision is a yes-or-no question; each answer continues with the next step, jumps to another step or ends the procedure. The checks find steps that no way leads to, and a procedure whose every path loops back.
RACI: who does each step
Each role gets a column of the matrix and each step a row. R (Responsible) does the step; A (Accountable) answers for it and has the final say — one role a step, which the checks ask for; C (Consulted) is asked before; I (Informed) is told after. The document lists each step’s responsible roles under it, and prints the matrix in the roles section. For a matrix of a whole project rather than one procedure, use the RACI Matrix Generator.
Document control and reviews
Number every SOP (SOP-WH-004, for example) and give it a version, so a printed page can be traced. As the EPA’s guidance describes, every page after the first carries a control notation at the top right — here the title, SOP number, version, effective date and “Page 2 of 6” — so anyone can see which issue they hold and whether their copy is complete. The approvals table leaves room to sign. Update and re-approve the SOP whenever the work changes, and review it periodically even when nothing seems to have changed: the guidance gives every one to two years as an example, says to record the review date, and to withdraw a procedure that is no longer followed. Record each issue in the revision history; the checks warn when the history and the version disagree.
The files
- PDF: the SOP on A4 or US Letter by your country, with the flowchart as an appendix.
- Word (DOCX): the same document to edit in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice, with the control notation and page numbers in the header and the flowchart as pictures.
- Checklist (PDF): the steps on one page with a box to tick, room for initials and the time, Yes and No boxes for decisions and a sign-off line — the EPA’s guidance notes that a checklist is a part of an SOP, not the SOP itself.
- Flowchart outline: the procedure as Mermaid flowchart text, which Mermaid’s editor and many diagram and documentation tools draw.
- Markdown: the whole SOP as text with headings and tables, for a wiki or a manual.
- Open as a checklist: hands the steps to the Checklist Maker, to print, tick on a phone or turn into a recurring sheet.
- Backup: the procedure as a small file you can open again here — your own data, always available.
Limitations
- Templates are general starting points: amounts, times, systems, retention periods and what the law requires in your country are left as [placeholders] for you, and nothing here checks a procedure against a law or a standard.
- Up to 60 steps, 8 roles and 20 procedures in this browser.
- The flowchart is drawn top to bottom in step order; a jump to another step is written beside its step (“If no: go to step 9”) rather than drawn as a long arrow.
- The PDF and the checklist draw Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Vietnamese letters; text in other scripts shows as “?” there, and the page says so — the Word file and the Markdown keep it.
- Procedures are kept in this browser on this device: save a backup to move one to another device or to share it.
Privacy
On this device; its files download once
Everything happens in your browser. Your procedures are kept in this browser’s storage on this device and are never uploaded; only the PDF and Word engines and the fonts are loaded from this site.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, SOP Generator (Standard Operating Procedures for Your Business) shows your procedure, its RACI matrix and the checks in full, and every page of the SOP as images marked “MySmartCoPilot preview · not for use”. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded, copied or opened in another app. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
What is the difference between an SOP and a checklist?
The SOP explains the job: its purpose and scope, who does what, how each step is done, the warnings and checks, and the records it leaves. A checklist is the short list used while doing the job, to tick each step. As the EPA’s guidance puts it, the checklist is a part of the SOP, not the SOP — this generator makes both from the same steps.
How detailed should an SOP be?
Detailed enough that a person with a basic understanding of the work, but little experience of this procedure, could follow it without supervision. A critical or rarely done job needs more detail than a frequent, simple one. Keep each step to one action and move the detail to its how-to notes.
How often should an SOP be reviewed?
Whenever the way the work is done changes, and on a regular cycle otherwise — the EPA’s guidance gives every one to two years as an example. Set the next review date in the document control; the checks point it out when it is missing or more than two years after the effective date.
Does “SOP” here mean a statement of purpose?
No. Here SOP means a standard operating procedure: written instructions for a routine job in a business or an organisation. A statement of purpose for a university application is a different document.
Are my procedures private?
Yes. They are kept only in this browser on this device and never sent to MySmartCoPilot or anyone else. Anyone using this browser profile can open them.