Also known as a trading ticket, a deal ticket is a document that provides a quick and easy-to-read synopsis of the provisions that apply to a specific trade agreement. This type of document is generated after the deal or transaction has taken place, and serves as a running history of that transaction. It is not unusual for a deal ticket to be used by investors and investment companies as a means of managing the exchange control process, since the detail on the tickets effectively accounts for each transaction that occurs.
Several key elements of information are found on the average deal ticket. The basic terms and conditions relating to the transaction, such as the unit price, number of units, the names of the buyer and seller, and the date that the transaction is completed, are all found in the ticket detail. Depending on governmental regulations that are applicable to the specific transaction, other information may also be included in the text of the document.
Most types of investment trades can be tracked using a deal ticket. Investors can utilize this type of record keeping tool to build a history of any transactions involving shares of stock. In like manner, futures contracts are often tracked with a deal ticket. Various other types of derivatives and even some bond issues may be documented with trading tickets, depending on the terms of the trade and how the information is posted into the accounting records of the buyer or seller.
As with most investment documentation today, it is possible to prepare and maintain hard copies of all trading tickets in some type of physical filing environment. It is also possible to create a deal ticket in electronic form, saving the document in a format that does not allow it to be changed without proper authorization. Increasingly, investment companies and investors rely on the use of electronic tickets as a way to maintain access to the documents, but avoid the need to devote a great deal of space to storing the physical copies. Depending on how the electronic versions are named, the retrieval process may be a simple as accessing a remote storage device and conducting a search using all or part of the file name. By contrast, the task of going through hard copy folders and filing systems to locate the desired deal ticket can take a significant amount of time, especially if the filing system is not maintained properly.