Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) can be released from soils to the atmosphere through microbial decomposition of plant residues or soil organic carbon, root emission, evaporation of litter-stored BVOCs, and other physical processes. Soils can also act as a sink of BVOCs through biotic and abiotic uptake. Currently, the source and sink capabilities of soils have not been explicitly accounted for in global BVOC estimates from the terrestrial biosphere. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of soil BVOC processes and aim to propose a generic framework for modelling soil BVOCs based on current understanding and data availability. To achieve this target, we start by reviewing measured sources and sinks of soil BVOCs and summarize commonly reported compounds. Next, we strive to disentangle the drivers for the underlying biotic and abiotic processes. We have ranked the list of compounds, known to be emitted from soils, based on our current understanding of how each process controls emission and uptake. We then present a modelling framework to describe soil BVOC emissions. The proposed framework is an important step towards initializing modelling exercises related to soil BVOC fluxes. Finally, we also provide suggestions for measurements needed to separate individual processes, as well as explore long-term and large-scale patterns in soil BVOC fluxes.