# Confluence SOP template: a worked supplier-request example

If you want a native Confluence starting point, use Atlassian’s official SOP template. The original outline below shows how one administrative procedure can fit into a page. Adapt its headings and roles to your editor and process; the download is a portable Markdown draft, not an installed Confluence template or an integration.

Fictional example OPS-014, revision 1. It prepares a complete supplier request for a designated reviewer. Purchase authorization and payment follow separate organizational rules. No request has been submitted or approved through either product for this example.

## Outcome

The receiving coordinator accepts a complete request and records the next action.

## Start and prerequisites

A teammate needs a supplier item. Prepare the item description, quantity, needed-by date, business reason, approved contact and supporting record links.

## Maintaining owner

Operations lead maintains these instructions. The requester supplies missing details; the receiving coordinator checks completeness. Editing and approval permissions are configured separately.

## Working steps

1. Requester checks the required information. 2. Add links to authorized supporting records. 3. Resolve missing or ambiguous details. 4. Receiver accepts responsibility for the next review action. 5. Save the request reference, procedure revision and acceptance.

## Exception

If the contact or required information is missing, leave the request open and return it to the requester with a named follow-up owner.

## Completion evidence

Request ID, receiver, next action, unresolved items, acceptance time and procedure revision. Store sensitive records in the authorized system.

## Maintenance trigger

Review when the request form, responsible roles or decision rules change, and at the interval chosen by the owner.

## Example record

Completed fictional record: SR-042 had no contact at first. The requester supplied the approved contact; the coordinator accepted the completeness review and recorded the next action. The work record refers to OPS-014 revision 1. Approval of these instructions and acceptance of this request are separate decisions.

## Confluence SOP approvals: check the native workflow

Confluence Cloud documents native approvals for pages on Premium and Enterprise. They do not apply to live docs or blog posts. The documented workflow supports approval requests, responses and an activity log; do not assume a third-party approval app is always required.

Space admins can enable statuses with approvals, select required approvers and require approval before publishing new pages. Check the current plan and actual space settings. For revisions to an already published procedure, test the behavior your policy needs instead of assuming a new-page rule covers every change.

A status label is useful context. For formal signoff, inspect the approval request and its recorded decision. Atlassian documents separate status behavior in view and edit modes, so check what readers and authors actually see.

Read Atlassian’s native approval documentation: https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/request-and-manage-approvals-in-confluence/

Open Atlassian’s official SOP template: https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/templates/sop

## Evaluate the procedure, its approval and one execution

Use OPS-014 in both environments. First prepare the instructions, then test a normal request and one missing-contact case. This is a pilot plan for your team, not a completed competitor benchmark.

1. Find the instructions: a teammate should reach the intended page or published SOP from the normal team entry point. Confirm the owner and procedure reference are visible.
2. Review a change: rename one field in a draft. Ask the authorized reviewer to identify the change and record the decision. In Confluence, inspect the native approval settings and activity log available on the selected plan.
3. Check reader access: verify that the intended teammate can read the approved instructions and that the editing/approval rules match your policy. A written role name does not grant permission.
4. Perform the work: create a fictional supplier request and have the receiver accept its next action. Choose where each completed request is recorded; approval of the reference page alone is not that request’s execution record.
5. Try the exception: remove the contact, confirm that the request remains open, and record who must resolve it. Change the instructions if the next action is unclear.
6. Revisit the revision: confirm what later readers see and retain the reference used by earlier work. In SOPFlow, inspect the separate review, training and run records needed for your workflow.

Confluence is a good candidate when the procedure belongs beside existing Atlassian knowledge and project work, with the required approval setup available. Evaluate SOPFlow when you want procedure ownership, learning assignments and individual runs organized around the SOP. Compare the actual configuration and remaining manual work in each.

SOPFlow · https://sopflow.io/compare/sopflow-vs-confluence/