Underlying Agreement is a field on the DPA Cover Page. It identifies the primary commercial agreement - such as a Cloud Software Agreement or Professional Services Agreement - that the DPA is being signed alongside.

A DPA governs how personal data is processed on behalf of another party, but it doesn't stand alone. It is almost always paired with a separate underlying agreement that describes the actual business relationship - what services are being provided, by whom, and for how long. The Underlying Agreement field tells both parties which agreement the DPA is attached to.

You have two options:

Common Paper agreement - If you already have (or are creating) a Common Paper agreement with this counterparty, select it here. Use the Select an agreement dropdown to choose the relevant agreement from your account.

Describe the agreement - If the underlying agreement lives outside of Common Paper, use this option to describe it in plain language. Include the agreement type, the date it was signed, and the parties involved. For example: Cloud Software Agreement signed on January 10, 2026 between Acme Corp and DataLily AI.

NOTE: It is unusual to sign a DPA without any underlying commercial agreement to reference. If you don't have one in place yet, consider whether a Cloud Software Agreement, Professional Services Agreement, or similar agreement should be established first.

Default: No default - you must select one of the two options before sending.