SOP Hub FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about SOP Hub.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
SOP Hub Overview.
Setup
What do I need to configure before employees can start completing SOPs?
Enable SOP Hub from Admin → Apps → All Apps, then create and publish at least one SOP. A newly created SOP starts in Draft status and is invisible to employees until you publish it. When you publish an SOP that has Requires Completion turned on, the system automatically assigns it to its target audience and asks each person to complete it. A nightly check then assigns it to anyone who joins that audience later. No additional configuration is required for the basic workflow, but review the Settings tab to adjust defaults like the re-completion period, reminder frequency, and whether supervisor verification is required by default.
Who can create and manage SOPs?
Everyone sees Dashboard, My SOPs (their own pending and completed procedures) and Browse SOPs. HR Admins, Admins and above, and SOP Hub app admins also see Manage, Templates, Manuals, Reports and Settings: they author SOPs and manuals, manage templates, read the reports and change the settings. A SOP Hub app admin limited to certain locations or departments sees Manage, Templates, Manuals and Reports for the SOPs and manuals within their reach — they can use a template but not create or edit one — and does not see Settings.
Permissions and access
An employee says they can’t see an SOP I assigned — what’s wrong?
Check three things in order. First, the SOP must be Published — draft, archived, and retired SOPs are not visible to employees. Second, look at the audience setting: if Applies to All Employees is off, the SOP is scoped to the departments, locations, or groups you picked, and the employee must match every kind you used — in one of the picked departments AND at one of the picked locations AND in one of the picked groups. A picked department or location also includes the ones beneath it. If they are outside that audience, check Who else can find it on the SOP: Only the people it applies to hides it from them in SOP Hub, Search and Ask AI, and Everyone, labelled with who it’s for lets them read it. Third, confirm SOP Hub itself is enabled for your business and the employee has access to the app in Admin → Apps → All Apps. Someone who joined the audience after you published is assigned it by a nightly check, so it can take up to a day to reach their My SOPs.
Day-to-day
What happens when I edit a published SOP?
Two things happen automatically. First, the system saves a version snapshot — each edit to a published SOP increments the version number. The SOP’s page lists the latest versions in its Version History card, and View All opens every version: you can compare any two, and Restore puts back an earlier version’s title, description and steps. On a published SOP a restore is saved as a new version, and if its steps differ from the current ones, people redo it just as after an edit. Second, if the SOP requires completion and you changed its steps, every employee who already completed it is flagged for re-completion with 30 days to redo it (or the SOP’s re-completion period, if that is shorter), their step-by-step progress is reset, and they receive a notification. Employees who were partway through also have their progress reset so they work through the revised steps from the beginning. Only employees newly flagged by this edit are notified — earlier edits do not re-send.
How do I assign an SOP to a specific group of employees?
On the SOP’s create or edit form, turn off Applies to All Employees and then choose one or more departments, locations, or groups under the target audience section. When the SOP is published with Requires Completion enabled, only employees in those audiences are assigned it and asked to complete it. A nightly check assigns it to people who join those audiences later, and tells the ones who joined the organization, a targeted department or a targeted location after it was published; people added to a targeted group are assigned it without a notice.
Can I delete an SOP I no longer need?
You can delete a SOP only when it is not published, not retired, and nobody has a completion record for it. Everyone a SOP was assigned to has a completion record, and those records are kept as the audit record of who did it — so once a SOP has been assigned, it can’t be deleted. A draft or archived SOP already asks nobody, so there is no need to remove it. To take a published SOP out of use, Archive it (Reactivate as Draft brings it back) or Retire it. Retiring withdraws it — nobody is asked to complete it again, its QR labels say it is no longer in use, and its records are kept; Reactivate as Draft brings it back if you retire one by mistake.
How does supervisor verification work?
When Require supervisor verification is on — either at the SOP level or on individual steps — an employee’s completion stays in Pending Verification status until a SOP Hub admin signs it off. The request goes to one person: the employee’s manager or the procedure’s author when they manage SOP Hub (HR Admin, Admin, or a SOP Hub App Admin whose reach includes the SOP), otherwise an administrator. A manager who does not manage SOP Hub is not asked and cannot sign off. Anyone who manages the SOP can verify completions from the Completions list — or, when the work was done wrong, Send back the completion with a reason: the employee is told why and completes it again, and it comes back for sign-off when they resubmit, while the procedure still asks for one. A sign-off itself can’t be undone.
The switch applies to completions made after you change it. Turning it on does not re-label completions already done as Pending Verification, and asks nobody about them. Turning it off — on the SOP and on every step — clears the sign-offs still waiting: they count as completed, and the supervisors’ requests are withdrawn.
What is the difference between an SOP and a procedure manual?
An SOP is a single procedure with step-by-step instructions, completion tracking, and its own version history. A procedure manual bundles multiple SOPs together with chapter headers and custom sections into one browsable guide. Manuals have their own table of contents, can be published at a public URL or a custom slug, and can be exported to a branded PDF using a Document Theme.
When something looks wrong
“I completed this SOP — why does it show up again as pending?”
Three things re-open a completion. First, if the SOP has a re-completion period (the default is 365 days), a nightly check re-opens it once that period has passed since your last completion. Second, if someone changes the steps of a published SOP — by editing them or by restoring an earlier version — every prior completion is re-opened so everyone works through the updated procedure. In both of these cases you have 30 days to redo it (or the SOP’s re-completion period, if that is shorter), and it shows Overdue once that deadline passes. Third, a SOP Hub admin who finds the work was done wrong can Send back your completion with a reason, which your SOP page shows. A re-opened completion reads Re-completion Required, or Sent back when an admin sent it back. Your earlier step progress is cleared, and you are told, unless your admin turned that notice off.
“I scanned the QR code but it says the procedure is no longer in use”
The QR scan only opens published SOPs. If the SOP was unpublished, archived, or retired after the label was printed, the scan says “That procedure is no longer in use, so there is nothing to complete.” Ask your admin whether the SOP should be published again. A code that matches no SOP — or a SOP you are not allowed to read — says “Invalid QR code. SOP not found.” instead. If Enable QR Code Access is turned off in SOP Hub settings, every scan says “This procedure can’t be opened by scanning right now.”
“I’m blocked from starting an SOP — it says I need training first”
Your admin linked a training course as a prerequisite for this SOP. You must complete that course before you can record any steps or submit the SOP. Open the SOP to see which courses are outstanding. If Training Connect is not enabled for your business, prerequisite links are ignored and will not block you.
“My progress got reset — I was halfway through”
When the steps of a published SOP are edited, or an earlier version with different steps is restored, in-progress work is reset so you complete the revised procedure from the beginning. You will see a notice that your progress was reset. This is intentional — on safety or compliance SOPs, carrying over step ticks from a previous version would mean the system recorded you as having done steps you never saw.
Licensing and limits
What settings can I configure in SOP Hub?
Open the Settings tab (visible to HR Admins, Admins and above, and SOP Hub app admins — not to a SOP Hub admin limited to certain locations or departments). The available settings and their defaults are:
- Enable SOP Hub AI Agent — on by default. Lets people ask Ask AI about your SOPs.
- Generate AI Summaries of Procedures — on. Writes a short summary of a procedure whenever its steps change (in production only). Summaries already written stay when you turn it off.
- Allow AI to Draft Procedures — on. Shows the AI drafting panel — describe a procedure, or upload a PDF or Word document — on the new procedure and new template pages.
- Default Re-completion Period (days) — 365 days. Pre-sets the validity window on new SOPs; existing SOPs keep their own, and you can change it per SOP. Also used as the content-governance review interval (30–365 days).
- Require Supervisor Verification by Default — off. When on, new SOPs start with verification turned on; existing SOPs keep their own setting.
- Enable Multi-Language Support — on. Turning it off closes the Translations page and stops showing existing translations to employees.
- Enable Public SOP & Manual URLs — on. Covers both SOP share links and public manual URLs. Turning it off pauses every share link; the same links work again when you turn it back on. To issue a new link, use Reset share link on the SOP’s or manual’s page: a SOP’s old link stops working; on a manual the token link stops working, while a custom slug URL keeps working until you change the slug.
- Enable QR Code Access — on. Turn it off to stop every QR scan from opening a SOP.
- Enable Offline Mode — off. When on, a procedure opened by scanning its QR code keeps working if the connection drops, and so do the phone app’s SOP Hub pages — where emails and notifications open a procedure on a phone — once the procedure was started with signal. Step completions made without a connection are queued on the device and sent once it returns. Opening a procedure needs a connection.
- Notify Employees on SOP Updates — on. Tells the SOP’s audience when the title, description, or steps of a published SOP are edited.
- Tell Employees When a New Procedure Needs Completing — on. Tells employees when a published SOP is assigned to them — at publish (or when you widen its audience), and when the nightly check assigns it to someone who joined the organization, a targeted department or a targeted location after it was published (people added to a targeted group are assigned it without a notice). A Teams or Slack message, where your organization connected one, goes out when the SOP is published or its audience is widened — never from the nightly check. With it off the SOP is still assigned and tracked.
- Send Reminders for Outstanding Completions — on, with Reminder Frequency (days) — 7 days. How often the system re-sends reminders for pending completions.
- Tell Employees When a Completion Has Expired — on. Tells employees when their completion has passed its re-completion period.
- Tell Employees When a Procedure They Completed Has Changed — on. Tells employees who are flagged for re-completion because the steps changed.
- Ask Supervisors to Sign Off on Completions — on. Sends the sign-off request for completions that need verification; with it off nobody is asked.
- Confirm Sign-Off Back to the Employee — on. Tells the employee once their completion is signed off.
How many reminders does the system send for overdue completions?
The system sends up to 5 automated reminders per completion, spaced by the Reminder Frequency you set (default: every 7 days). After 5 reminders the system stops. Reminders also stop 90 days after the completion was assigned, whichever comes first. You can send reminders manually from the Compliance Report at any time.
What languages can I translate SOPs into?
When Enable Multi-Language Support is turned on, you can translate an SOP into any of 15 languages: Spanish, French, German, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Portuguese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Tagalog, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Italian, and Polish. You can translate into several languages at once. Translations carry a structural completeness score, and a human can review and verify them. If you later edit the source SOP, its translations are flagged as stale.
Does SOP Hub require a license?
Yes. SOP Hub requires a license and is disabled by default. Turn it on from Admin → Apps → All Apps and click Enable. If your organization is not licensed for it yet, the message there says how to add it to your plan.
More help
- SOP Hub Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers SOP Hub questions from these articles.