How to write SOPs your virtual assistant will actually follow

Why most SOPs don’t work

Most standard operating procedures fail in one of two ways. Either they’re too vague (“update the CRM after calls”) or so long that nobody reads them. A good SOP sits in the middle: specific enough that someone who has never met you gets it right, and short enough to skim in a minute.

A simple SOP format

Every SOP answers the same questions in the same order:

1. Name: a verb and an object, like “Send monthly invoices.”
2. Trigger: what starts it. “On the 1st of every month” or “When a new lead fills in the contact form.”
3. Tools: every app involved, with links.
4. Steps: numbered, one action per step, with a screenshot where a click could go wrong.
5. Decisions: the if-then rules. “If the invoice is over $5,000, send it to me for review first.”
6. Done means: how anyone can check the task is complete and correct.
7. Owner and last updated: who keeps it current, and when it was last checked.

Record first, write second

The fastest way to create an SOP is to record yourself doing the task with a screen recorder like Loom, talking through what you’re doing and why. Explaining your decisions out loud captures the judgment that written notes usually miss.

Then hand the recording to your VA and ask them to write the SOP in the format above. They’ll spot gaps you didn’t notice, and writing it forces them to understand it. Review it once, fix anything they got wrong, and you’re done.

An example

Send monthly invoices

• Trigger: 1st business day of each month
• Tools: QuickBooks Online, the client list in Google Sheets
• Steps:
  1. Open the client list and filter to active retainer clients.
  2. In QuickBooks, create an invoice for each client using the “Retainer” template.
  3. Check the amount against the client list. If it differs, stop and message the owner.
  4. Send the invoice with the standard email.
  5. Mark “Invoiced” and the date in the client list.
• Decisions: invoices over $5,000 go to the owner for review before sending.
• Done means: every active client shows “Invoiced” with this month’s date.

Keep them alive

SOPs go stale the moment a tool or process changes. Make updating them part of the job: whenever your VA finds a step that no longer matches reality, they fix the SOP that day and note the change. A quarterly review of your most-used SOPs catches the rest.

When a process is complex or spread across a team, our business solutions work maps and documents it for you before we staff the role.