{"id":1810,"date":"2020-01-29T09:04:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T09:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2020-01-29T21:26:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T21:26:13","slug":"resasonsforsop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/","title":{"rendered":"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Instructing employees on what to do is not nearly as effective as having a set of written guidelines they can follow with clear, detailed directives for each task. That\u2019s where Standard Operating Procedures, or\u00a0SOPs, <\/strong>come in.\u00a0An SOP is a set of instructions for carrying out a myriad of business tasks\u2014everything from compiling budget statistics to overseeing travel arrangements. Not only are\u00a0SOPs crucial to every successful organization and business, no two organizations will have the same SOPs. Take a look at these reasons\u00a0every<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>organization needs SOPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12 Reasons for well-written SOPs:<\/strong>
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  1. Offer step-by-step guidance for tasks and processes an organization carries out repeatedly<\/li>
  2. Help employees complete tasks successfully and dependably\u00a0<\/li>
  3. Clearly communicate responsibilities so employees need not rely on memory, guessing or pestering others for help<\/li>
  4. Let everyone know who is responsible for what aspect of each task, who is approved to help out, and what steps must be taken should a mistake occur\u2014despite SOP guidelines\u00a0
    1. Offer standards for handling internal and external requests and requirements<\/li>
    2. Ensure quality control and accepted, quantifiable outcomes<\/li>
    3. Help people and teams reach goals more smoothly and effectively <\/li><\/ol><\/li>
    4. Allow anyone to be able to complete a task or project easily, efficiently and with few mistakes\u00a0<\/li>
    5. Let another employee take over a coworker\u2019s tasks when that person is on vacation, out sick, or has left the job\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>
    6. Allow managers to assess and address employee successes and failures during performance reviews<\/li>
    7. Improve employee motivation\u2014because it\u2019s always easier to do things right with a \u201cblueprint\u201d to work from<\/li>
    8. Let employees help each other learn new procedures<\/li>
    9. Reduce training time for new employees, who can refer to them as often as needed\u00a0<\/li>
    10. Make delegating tasks a breeze\u00a0<\/li>
    11. Help resolve issues and\u2014hopefully\u2014remove emotion from discussions about failures and\/or significant issues<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      All that said, SOPs must be reviewed periodically to reflect changing roles, regulations and responsibilities, and to incorporate lessons learned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Standard operating procedures (SOP) are of utmost importance for an organization’s operational well being. Ensuring consistent quality support training and reducing risk of error. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,73,7,71,65],"tags":[159,160],"yoast_head":"\nReasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must - O'Connor CPA Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are an important way to ensure consistent quality, support training and reduce risk.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must - O'Connor CPA Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are an important way to ensure consistent quality, support training and reduce risk.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"O'Connor CPA Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lorrie.toillion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-29T09:04:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-29T21:26:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/\",\"name\":\"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must - O'Connor CPA Firm\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-29T09:04:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-29T21:26:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef553847f4ae3933d168f0793a2e36b4\"},\"description\":\"Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are an important way to ensure consistent quality, support training and reduce risk.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"O'Connor CPA Firm\",\"description\":\"Denver CPA Firm and Business Advisor\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef553847f4ae3933d168f0793a2e36b4\",\"name\":\"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc2449874ed2e5059111740cd975800d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc2449874ed2e5059111740cd975800d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae\"},\"description\":\"Accounting Specialist, Tax Assistant, and Client On-Boarding Associate.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lorrie.toillion\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lorrietoillioncfp\/\",\"Lorrie\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/author\/lorrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must - O'Connor CPA Firm","description":"Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are an important way to ensure consistent quality, support training and reduce risk.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must - O'Connor CPA Firm","og_description":"Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are an important way to ensure consistent quality, support training and reduce risk.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/","og_site_name":"O'Connor CPA Firm","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lorrie.toillion","article_published_time":"2020-01-29T09:04:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-01-29T21:26:13+00:00","author":"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/","url":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/","name":"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must - O'Connor CPA Firm","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-01-29T09:04:32+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-29T21:26:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef553847f4ae3933d168f0793a2e36b4"},"description":"Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are an important way to ensure consistent quality, support training and reduce risk.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/resasonsforsop\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reasons Standard Operations Procedures are a Must"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/","name":"O'Connor CPA Firm","description":"Denver CPA Firm and Business Advisor","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef553847f4ae3933d168f0793a2e36b4","name":"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc2449874ed2e5059111740cd975800d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc2449874ed2e5059111740cd975800d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lorrie Toillion, CFP\u00ae"},"description":"Accounting Specialist, Tax Assistant, and Client On-Boarding Associate.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lorrie.toillion","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lorrietoillioncfp\/","Lorrie"],"url":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/author\/lorrie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1810"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1913,"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions\/1913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}