Published: 17 September 2026

TL;DR: A DealSheet is the bilateral record of agreed deal terms written at the time of negotiation and held by both the buyer and publisher independently. It captures what was agreed before any impression is served: the CPM, the inventory scope, the audience conditions, and the delivery commitment. It is distinct from a deal ID, which is a platform reference held by one party, and from an impression log, which is generated after delivery.

The phrase "deal sheet" has different meanings depending on who uses it. In some contexts, it refers to a sales document used during pre-negotiation. In the context of agentic advertising, a DealSheet is a specific technical artefact: the bilateral record of agreed terms produced at the moment buy-side and sell-side agents reach agreement.

This piece defines what a DealSheet contains, who holds it, how it differs from related concepts, and why it matters for reconciliation.

What a DealSheet Contains

A DealSheet is produced when a buy-side agent and a sell-side agent agree on deal terms through an agentic marketplace. It contains the following elements.

The agreed CPM is the first element. The DealSheet records the exact cost per thousand impressions that both parties agreed to. This is the figure that governs billing and reconciliation. It is not a floor or a ceiling. It is the agreed price.

The inventory scope is the second element. The DealSheet records which inventory the deal covers: the publisher's properties, the placement types, the contextual categories. The scope defines what the publisher committed to deliver and what the buyer committed to accept.

The audience conditions are the third element. If the deal was negotiated against specific audience parameters, those conditions are recorded. This protects both parties: the buyer can verify that the audience they paid for was the audience delivered, and the publisher has a record of what they represented.

The delivery commitment is the fourth element. The DealSheet records what volume of impressions or inventory was agreed, over what period, and under what conditions. This is the commitment against which delivery data will be measured at reconciliation.

The agent identities are the fifth element. The DealSheet records the identities of the buy-side and sell-side agents that negotiated the deal. This establishes the chain of accountability: the agents that agreed the terms operated under mandates approved by their respective principals.

The timestamp is the sixth element. The DealSheet is timestamped at the moment of agreement. This establishes that the record was written before delivery began, not reconstructed after the fact.

How a DealSheet Differs from a Deal ID

A deal ID is a platform-generated reference number that a buyer uses to access a specific pool of inventory on a platform. It is a routing mechanism. The buyer holds one reference; the platform holds the corresponding record. The publisher may or may not have direct access to the underlying terms associated with the deal ID.

A deal ID is unilateral. One party generated it; the other party uses it as a key. There is no shared document that both parties agreed and hold independently.

A DealSheet is bilateral. Both parties hold the same document. The terms recorded in it were agreed by both parties before delivery began. Neither party can alter the record after agreement without creating a detectable discrepancy.

The practical difference becomes apparent at reconciliation. A buyer trying to reconcile against a deal ID must request the associated records from the platform. A buyer with a DealSheet already has the agreed terms and can compare them against delivery data independently.

How a DealSheet Differs from an Impression Log

An impression log is a record of what was delivered: the impressions fired, the inventory served, the timestamps of delivery. It is generated after the fact.

The problem with relying solely on an impression log is that it records what happened, not what was agreed. If delivery departed from agreed terms, the impression log reflects the departure. It cannot tell you what the original terms were, because it was not written until after the campaign ran.

A DealSheet is the pre-delivery record. It captures what was agreed before a single impression was served. The reconciliation process compares the impression log against the DealSheet. Discrepancies between the two are what give rise to disputes. Without the DealSheet, there is no independent pre-delivery reference point.

Why the DealSheet Matters

For buyers, the DealSheet is the document that makes verification possible. Without it, the buyer is dependent on platform-generated records to understand what was agreed. Those records are controlled by a single party and may not reflect the full picture.

For publishers, the DealSheet records the commitments they made and the terms they agreed to. It protects them from buyers who claim to have agreed different terms and from marketplaces that alter records after the fact.

For the marketplace, the DealSheet is the neutral record that both parties can rely on. Its value depends on the marketplace that holds it having no commercial interest in its content.

The DealSheet is, in this sense, the operational foundation of trustworthy agentic advertising. It turns the moment of agreement into a durable, verifiable record that both parties hold independently.