Supplier invoice approval at Quenby Payroll, a fictional payroll company
SIPOC slide that scopes an invoice approval process
A SIPOC slide sets the edges of a process before anyone changes it, listing who supplies it, what goes in, the main steps, what comes out and who receives it. This one scopes supplier invoice approval at Quenby Payroll, a fictional payroll company, from an invoice arriving to the weekly payment run.
What is on the slide
- Title and scope
- Invoice Approval SIPOC. Quenby Payroll accounts payable, from a supplier invoice arriving to the payment run.
- Suppliers and inputs
- Suppliers: software vendors, office and facilities suppliers, contract trainers. Inputs: tax invoice by email, purchase order number, cost centre and budget code.
- Process
- Match invoice to order, budget holder approves, finance checks and schedules.
- Outputs and customers
- Outputs: approved invoice in the ledger, payment in the weekly run, remittance advice. Customers: suppliers who get paid, budget holders, the month end close team.
When this is the right slide
Pick this slide at the kickoff of a process improvement project, when the team must agree where a process starts and ends and who supplies and receives it before anyone maps the detailed steps.
What to swap it for
Grouping: Value Chain (5 Primary). Use the value chain layout when the question is where the whole business adds value across its primary activities rather than the scope of one process.
What this slide shows
The title reads Invoice Approval SIPOC, and the framing line sets the scope for Quenby Payroll accounts payable: from a supplier invoice arriving to the payment run. Five tall coloured cards follow, each with an icon, the column name and a caption. Suppliers, captioned who sends in, lists software vendors, office and facilities suppliers and contract trainers. Inputs lists a tax invoice by email, a purchase order number and a cost centre and budget code. Process lists match invoice to order, budget holder approves, and finance checks and schedules. Outputs lists an approved invoice in the ledger, payment in the weekly run and a remittance advice. Customers lists suppliers who get paid, budget holders and the month end close team. The colours of the five cards are different on purpose. They separate the columns without borders or lines, and the process column sits in the middle of the slide where the eye lands first. The lists are centred under each caption, which suits short phrases of two to five words and keeps every column visually balanced.
When this is the right slide
This is the right slide at the start of an improvement project, when a team needs to agree what process it is fixing and who it touches before mapping any detail. It is short enough to agree in ten minutes and specific enough to stop scope creep later. It is the wrong slide for showing how the work flows or where it gets stuck, because it has no order and no decisions; use a flowchart for that. It also does not show where value is added for the whole business. The value chain example shows that wider view, with one card per primary activity. A SIPOC slide is also a quick way to bring a new manager up to speed on an unfamiliar process, because it names the people and documents involved in a single view. For audit preparation it shows the reviewer that the team knows where the process begins and ends and who relies on what it produces.
How to adapt it
First, add a fourth or fifth item to a column when one supplier or customer group is genuinely distinct, such as a separate list for overseas suppliers who invoice in other currencies. Second, add a volume to the framing line, for example 1,200 invoices a month, so the room knows the size of the process. Third, mark one input in bold when it causes most of the rework, such as a missing purchase order number, and use the next slide to show the fix. Keep the column labels exactly as Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Customers so people who know the method recognise it at once. Once the slide is agreed, reuse its column headings as the outline for the project charter. The suppliers and customers listed here become the people to interview, the inputs become the data to collect, and the outputs become the measures of success. That way the scoping slide keeps doing work long after the kickoff meeting has ended.
What makes this slide work
The framing line fixes both ends
The line under the title says the process runs from a supplier invoice arriving to the payment run. That one sentence settles the most common scoping argument before it starts: purchasing and supplier onboarding are outside, and the remittance advice is the last thing in.
Every column holds three items
Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers each carry exactly three entries. The even weight keeps the eye moving across the five cards rather than sticking on the longest one, and three is enough to name the real players without turning the slide into an inventory.
Captions say what each list is
Under each column label sits a plain caption: who sends in, what arrives, core steps, what leaves, who receives. A finance manager who has never heard of SIPOC can still read the slide correctly, because the captions explain the method in five short phrases.
Questions people ask
When in a project should the SIPOC slide appear?
At the start, in the kickoff or scoping meeting, before anyone maps the detailed steps. Its job is to agree the boundaries: where the process begins, where it ends and who sits on each side. Bring it back at the end of the project to check that the fix stayed inside the scope everyone signed up to.
How many items should each SIPOC column hold?
Three to five. This layout gives each column a short list of three, which keeps the slide readable from the back of a meeting room. If suppliers or customers run to ten, group them into types, such as software vendors or budget holders, and keep the full list in the project document.
Should the process column list every step?
No. The P in SIPOC is the high level process, usually three to seven steps, written as verb and object. Here it is match invoice to order, budget holder approves, finance checks and schedules. The detailed steps, decisions and exceptions belong on a flowchart that comes later in the deck.
Which column of a SIPOC slide do people fill in first?
Many teams start with the process column, then customers and outputs, then inputs and suppliers. Agreeing the steps first gives the group something concrete, and working back from the customer keeps the outputs honest. Writing the columns left to right tends to produce a long supplier list that nobody uses.
Is a SIPOC slide the same as a process map?
No. A SIPOC is a scoping table: it says what is in and out of the process and who is involved, without showing order or decisions. A process map or flowchart shows the sequence and the branches. Most improvement projects use both, the SIPOC first to agree scope and the map second to find the waste.
How do I present a SIPOC slide to a project team?
Read the process column aloud first, so everyone knows which process is on the table. Then walk out to the customers and back to the suppliers, asking the room what is missing. Mark changes on the slide or in the notes during the meeting, so the agreed version is ready to send round the same day.
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