Your CRM, ad order entry, classifieds, production queue, and billing live in different tools that do not talk to each other, so the same ad gets entered three or four times.
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FOR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
Software built for community newspapers, not borrowed from another industry.
AccountScout by Fake Brains runs the whole shop for community weeklies, small dailies, shoppers, and free papers - ad sales, classifieds, production, billing, and collections on one platform that already speaks your language.
- Built for the newspaper workflow since 1991, 100% in-house in Colorado
- One platform for CRM, ad sales, classifieds, production, billing, and reporting
- 300+ built-in reports out of the box
- No per-seat fees — accounts for your whole staff
- Delivered from the Fake Brains cloud — no server to maintain
The pains of running a small paper on a patchwork of tools.
When ad sales, classifieds, production, and billing live in separate systems, your team spends the week re-keying what they already entered once.
A small staff wears every hat. The same person who sells the ad also chases the proof, runs the statement, and makes the collection call.
Advertiser A/R drags on because the only way to pay is to mail a check or call the office during business hours.
Proof approvals get lost in email threads, and copy changes show up after the page is already built.
Classified orders come in by phone, email, and walk-in, then somebody re-types them into the system by hand.
Reporting means exporting to a spreadsheet and stitching numbers together, so the publisher never sees a clean picture of what is sold and what is owed.
ONE PLATFORM
Everything a community paper runs on, in one place.
AccountScout was built for the newspaper workflow - book an order, send the proof, lay out the page, bill it, collect it - so your whole team works from the same advertiser record.
One screen for every ad type
Book retail and ROP, classifieds, legals, inserts, and digital from one order screen, priced by modular or column inch the way your paper actually sells.
CRM and sales from anywhere
Reps pull up advertiser history, balances, and recent orders, then quote, rerun an ad, and log a visit from the road with SalesScout on a phone or browser.
Classifieds without re-typing
ClassifiedScout takes orders and payments online and syncs them straight to AccountScout - no CSV exports, no manual import, no walk-in re-keying.
Production that doesn't fight you
ProofScout, AdScout, PageScout, and DAM carry the order's specs and assets into InDesign, so designers stop chasing copy and pages place themselves from booked ads.
Get paid faster
Statements, recurring billing, and ePayments by card or ACH with automatic surcharge compliance, plus electronic tearsheets and affidavits that speed up collections.
Reporting that's already built
300+ built-in reports cover ad sales, A/R, aging, production status, and rep performance, so the publisher sees what's sold and what's owed without a spreadsheet.
CLASSIFIEDS
The classified counter, open with nobody standing at it.
Phone, email and walk-in orders all end up re-typed by somebody on your staff. Put the counter on your own site and the reader does that typing - and pays while they are there.
- Readers browse your categories and place their own ad, with photos straight off a phone
- The order lands in AccountScout already paid, with the images attached
- Staff still take phone orders in the same system, so there is one queue rather than two
GETTING PAID
Stop being the only way to pay you.
A small paper's receivables age because the only routes to paying are a cheque in the post or a call during office hours. This is the third option, and it works at nine at night.
- Advertisers see their open invoices and balance and pay by card or ACH
- Payments auto-credit in AccountScout, so nobody re-keys a cheque
- The same login approves ad proofs, which takes that thread out of email too
OUTGROWING THE PATCHWORK
When you've outgrown a stack of point tools.
Many community papers run a standalone CRM, a billing system, a classifieds vendor, and a pile of spreadsheets. Consolidating onto one platform means one vendor, one invoice, and one source of truth.
From four systems to one record
Replace the separate CRM, order entry, classifieds tool, and billing package with one platform where the advertiser, the order, the proof, and the invoice share the same record. Enter it once; the rest of the workflow already has it.
One vendor, one invoice, one source of truth
A patchwork stack means juggling logins, contracts, and support lines that point fingers at each other. Bringing classifieds, payments, and production in-house means a single team that built the whole system answers when you call.
Built for your size, priced for your size
AccountScout has no per-seat fees, so a small staff that wears many hats isn't penalized for the number of people who need access. Give everyone an account; pricing is scoped to your operation in a consultation.
Community newspaper software questions, answered.
Community newspapers use AccountScout by Fake Brains to manage advertising from first sale to paid invoice. It combines CRM, ad order entry, classifieds, production, billing, and reporting on one platform, so a single advertiser record drives the sale, the proof, and the invoice instead of living in four separate tools.
Products community papers lean on most.
Start with the platform, then add the pieces that match how your shop runs.
AccountScout
The platform community papers run on - CRM, ad order entry, production handoff, billing, A/R, and 300+ built-in reports.
ExploreSalesScout
Web and mobile CRM for reps and sales managers - account history, pipeline, quotes, and activity from the road.
ExploreClassifiedScout
Online classified and legal-notice ordering and payment that syncs back to AccountScout with no manual import.
ExploreBilling & Collections
Invoice from order data, manage A/R and aging, collect with ePayments, and speed collections with tearsheets and affidavits.
ExploreSee It In Action
See AccountScout run on your publications.
We'll walk through ad sales, classifieds, production, and billing using the way your community paper actually works - book an order, send the proof, lay out the page, and collect.
Or call us at 303-791-3301