Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Template

SOP-OPS-027: Customer refund processing — orders over €500

Department
Customer Operations
Process Owner
MCMarie Claessens
Effective Date
03/02/2026
Review Frequency
Every 6 months

🎯 Purpose

This procedure defines the steps for processing customer refund requests where the original order value exceeds €500. It ensures consistent handling, proper authorisation, and accurate financial reconciliation across all EU fulfilment centres.

📐 Scope

Applies to all refund requests received via customer service (phone, email, or chat) for orders placed through elium-shop.eu. Excludes B2B contract returns, which follow SOP-SALES-009.

📝 Procedure

Step 1 — Verify eligibility

Confirm the request falls within the 30-day return window. Check the order in the ERP system (SAP) and verify that the item condition meets return criteria. If the item is opened software or a custom configuration, escalate to Team Lead before proceeding.

Step 2 — Obtain manager approval

Submit the refund authorisation form to the Customer Operations Manager. Include the order number, refund amount, reason code, and any supporting documentation (photos, correspondence). Approval must be received within 2 business days.

Step 3 — Process refund in ERP

Once approved, open SAP transaction VA02. Enter the credit memo with the original order reference, approved refund amount, and reason code. Attach the signed authorisation form as a PDF. The system will route the credit to the Finance reconciliation queue automatically.

Step 4 — Notify the customer

Send confirmation email using template CS-REFUND-CONFIRM. Include the refund reference number, expected processing time (5–7 business days for card refunds, 10–12 for bank transfers), and the customer service direct line for follow-up queries.

👥 Roles and responsibilities

RoleResponsibilityEscalation
Customer Service AgentVerify eligibility, submit authorisation request, notify customerTeam Lead
Customer Ops ManagerApprove or reject refunds over €500Head of Operations
Finance TeamReconcile credit memos, confirm payment executionFinance Controller

🔗 Related documents

  • SOP-SALES-009 — B2B contract return procedure
  • POL-FIN-003 — Refund and credit note policy
  • CS-REFUND-CONFIRM — Customer notification email template

📅 Revision history

VersionDateAuthorChange
1.015/09/2024Marie ClaessensInitial release
1.103/02/2026Marie ClaessensAdded Step 3 ERP instructions; updated approval threshold from €300 to
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Standardise recurring procedures so every team member follows the same steps. This template structures each process from purpose and scope through step-by-step instructions to approval sign-off — so critical knowledge lives in a shared, searchable format, not in someone’s head.

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What is a standard operating procedure?

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a documented set of step-by-step instructions that describes how to carry out a routine task. It defines the purpose, scope, responsibilities, and exact sequence of actions required to complete a process consistently, regardless of who performs it.

SOPs are the backbone of operational consistency. In regulated industries — manufacturing, logistics, finance, healthcare — they ensure repeatable tasks produce the same reliable outcome every time. Without them, process knowledge stays tribal — trapped in the habits of experienced staff and invisible to new hires.

The cost is measurable: errors multiply, onboarding slows, and compliance audits surface gaps. When procedures exist only as informal practice, they drift until the same task is performed differently at every site.

Who should use this template?

This template is for teams responsible for operational consistency:

  • Heads of Operations — standardise processes across departments or sites so every location follows the same proven steps
  • Quality Managers — ensure procedures meet regulatory and internal standards before approval and distribution
  • Knowledge Managers — capture process knowledge in a structured, searchable format rather than tribal memory
  • Team Leads and Supervisors — give frontline staff a single trusted reference for how each task should be performed

What’s included in this template?

The template has two parts: structured metadata fields and narrative sections.

Metadata fields capture the essentials:

  • Process name and identifier (e.g. SOP-OPS-014)
  • Department or business unit
  • Process owner — the person accountable for keeping the SOP current
  • Effective date and next review date
  • Approval status (draft, approved, retired)

Narrative sections walk through the procedure in full:

  • Purpose — why this procedure exists and what outcome it ensures
  • Scope — which teams, sites, or situations the SOP covers and any exclusions
  • Procedure steps — numbered instructions with decision points, tools required, and expected outputs
  • Roles and responsibilities — who does what, including escalation paths and approval
  • Related documents — links to supporting policies or forms
  • Revision history — log of changes with dates, authors, and reasons

How to create and customise this template in Elium

  1. Open the Template Builder — Go to your profile menu and select the Template Builder tab, or click “+ Create” and choose “Create a new template”.
  2. Set the scope — Choose an icon, enable the template, and decide whether it applies platform-wide or to specific spaces (e.g. Operations only).
  3. Add structured fields — Click “Field” to add metadata: text field for process name, tag field for department, user field for process owner, date fields for effective and review dates, and tag field for approval status. Mark process owner and approval status as mandatory.
  4. Build the body structure — Use the “+” button to add content blocks for each narrative section: purpose, scope, procedure steps, roles and responsibilities, related documents, and revision history.
  5. Preview and save — Review the layout, then save. Team members can now select it when creating new articles, and you can apply it to existing content in bulk.

How AI helps you create and use this template

Capture faster. Feed Elium’s AI a rough description of the process — bullet points from a subject-matter expert, an email chain, or walkthrough notes. It generates a structured first draft with numbered steps and decision points that you refine, rather than writing from scratch.

Retrieve smarter. Once your SOPs are in Elium, anyone can ask a specific question instead of reading an entire document. A warehouse operator asks: “What are the steps for processing a customer refund over €500?” — and the AI surfaces the exact procedure, approval chain, and exceptions from your SOP.

Why teams use Elium for process documentation

The real value of SOPs appears when they are living documents, not PDFs gathering dust on a shared drive. Hundreds of consistently structured SOPs become the operational backbone of your organisation. Elium makes this practical by combining structured templates with AI-powered search, so teams find the right procedure when they need it.

Bouygues — 53,500 employees across construction, telecoms, and media — faced this challenge at scale. By centralising operational knowledge in Elium, they gave distributed teams a single source of truth for procedures, reducing cross-site friction and keeping critical process knowledge accessible regardless of location.

Frequently asked questions

A standard operating procedure is a documented set of steps describing how to perform a routine task consistently. Without SOPs, process knowledge stays informal — dependent on experienced individuals rather than shared systems. When people leave or change roles, undocumented procedures leave with them, causing errors, inconsistency, and slower onboarding.
A complete SOP includes structured metadata (process name, owner, department, effective date, review schedule) and narrative sections covering purpose, scope, step-by-step instructions, roles and responsibilities, and revision history. The best SOPs also define decision points — where the process branches depending on conditions — and name the person authorised to approve exceptions.
Standardised procedures reduce errors by ensuring every team member follows the same proven steps. SOPs shorten onboarding, provide auditable compliance evidence, and surface inefficiencies when processes are documented in one place. Over time, consistent documentation reveals patterns — steps ripe for automation, bottlenecks that slow output, and exceptions that need clearer rules.
Start with the outcome: what should be true when this procedure is completed? Work backwards, noting tools, inputs, and decision points at each step. Keep language direct — “verify the order total” rather than “the order total should be checked.” Assign a process owner, set a review frequency, and ensure every revision is logged with a date and reason.
An SOP defines the overall procedure for a process — the sequence of steps, decision points, and responsibilities. A work instruction goes deeper into a single step, providing detailed technical guidance on exactly how to perform it. Think of the SOP as the route map and the work instruction as turn-by-turn directions for one specific junction.

Related reading: Read more on our blog