Your reps say "I'll do it when I get back to the office" - and then they don't.
THE ACCOUNTSCOUT PLATFORM
Manage Every Dollar You Sell.
AccountScout by Fake Brains is the newspaper advertising software that runs the entire revenue workflow - CRM, ad sales, order entry, production, billing, collections, and reporting - so your team works from one source of truth instead of juggling disconnected tools.
- Prospect
- Quote
- Order
- Proof
- Publish
- Invoice
- Payment
- Renewal
Trusted by publishers across North America since 1991
Sound Familiar?
If any of this rings a bell, you're not alone - and you're not stuck.
Your sales manager has no idea what the team actually did today.
Designers are hunting for ad specs and assets instead of building ads.
Your billing clerk spends half the day chasing down payments over the phone.
Classifieds come in by CSV and get manually imported - if they come in at all.
Every department uses a different tool, and nothing talks to anything else.
ONE PLATFORM. EVERY DEPARTMENT.
AccountScout connects the entire revenue workflow.
Six core areas. One database. Every team working from the same record.
AccountScout is the operating system for the business side of publishing. Instead of stitching together a CRM, billing database, payment processor, classifieds vendor, proofing tool, page layout workflow, and email system, AccountScout gives your team one source of truth around the advertiser account.
Sales & CRM
- Sales Dashboard with color-coded goal tracking
- Lead and prospect pipeline management
- Activity manager with call/email/task scheduling
- Dormant account and expiring order alerts
- SalesScout - full web & mobile access for reps on the road
Order Entry
- Retail, classified, legal, digital, and miscellaneous orders
- Combo/package rate cards across publications
- Quotes that convert to orders in one click
- Copy changes, holds, and deadline controls
- Contract tracking and credit limit enforcement
Production
- ProofScout - electronic proofing with designer swim lanes
- Digital Asset Manager - organize creatives by advertiser
- PageScout - automated page layout, exports to InDesign
- AdScout - build ads to exact specs inside InDesign
- PDF Builder for classified display ads
Billing & Collections
- Invoicing, statements, and batch processing
- ePayments - credit card and ACH with surcharge compliance
- Payment scheduling and auto-pay (AR Zero)
- Electronic tearsheets for faster collections
- Aging, interest calculation, and credit controls
Marketing
- Bulk email marketing with segmentation
- Personal Email Tracking - opens, clicks, last URL
- Campaign segmentation by section, history, or status
- Email templates with merge fields
- Store 'N Send document manager
Reporting
- 300+ built-in reports with drill-down and filtering
- Year-over-year revenue comparisons
- Sales rep dashboards for weekly meetings
- Memorized reports and scheduled delivery
- Company-wide and per-publication views
HOW THE WORK ACTUALLY FLOWS
One record, start to finish.
- Prospect
- Quote
- Order
- Proof
- Publish
- Tearsheets
- Bill
- Renew
Every step feeds the next. Nothing gets re-keyed, nothing gets lost.
You decide when you get paid.
Most systems make billing the last step. Ours moves.
At yes
Card or ACH when they accept the quote. The payment is what converts it to an order.
At order entry
Quick Pay takes the full amount or a deposit, right in the order screen.
After it runs
Invoice, statements, aging, interest. The way you've always done it, for the accounts that earn it.
BUILT FOR EVERY SEAT IN THE BUILDING
One platform. Six very different jobs.
AccountScout gives every role what they actually need - not a stripped-down version of someone else's tool.
Publisher / Owner
- See the full revenue picture without chasing reports
- Standardize workflows across every publication
- Spot dormant advertisers and missed renewals
See solution ->
Sales Manager
- See rep activity without asking
- Track pipeline, quotes, and goals by rep and team
- Spot at-risk and expiring orders before they slip
See solution ->
Sales Rep
- Pull up any account from a phone, tablet, or laptop
- Log calls, visits, and follow-ups in seconds
- Convert quotes to orders without a desktop
See solution ->
CSR / Ad Entry
- Enter retail, classified, legal, and digital orders in one screen
- Apply rate cards and combos automatically
- Stop hunting for advertiser history
See solution ->
Production / Designer
- One queue of ads with status, specs, and assets
- Proof approvals tracked from markup to sign-off
- Pagination and InDesign export without scavenger hunts
See solution ->
Bookkeeper
- Invoices and statements from the same order data
- ePayments auto-post and auto-release holds
- Lock periods, reconcile, and close the month cleanly
See solution ->
PART OF ACCOUNTSCOUT
The modules that make it whole.
Some are included with every subscription. Some are add-ons. All of them share the same data.
SalesScout
Your Sales Team, Untethered.
Web and mobile access to AccountScout built for reps and sales managers. Included with every subscription.
Explore SalesScout ->
Production Suite
From Sales Order to Print-Ready Page.
ProofScout, AdScout, PageScout, and DAM working as one pipeline from order to InDesign to press.
Explore Production Suite ->
Advertiser Portal
Let Your Advertisers Help Themselves.
Self-service invoices, payments, and proof approvals. Embedded on your site. Payments auto-credit in AccountScout.
Explore Advertiser Portal ->
ClassifiedScout
Classifieds, Online, On Your Site, On Autopilot.
Self-service classified ordering and presentment that syncs live to AccountScout. No CSV. No re-entry.
Explore ClassifiedScout ->A NEWSPAPER AD SALE IS NOT A GENERIC CRM DEAL
Generic tools weren't built for the way publishers actually work.
Generic CRM
- Tracks contacts and deals
- Doesn't understand rate cards or run schedules
- No production or billing connection
- Requires duplicate entry
Billing-Only Software
- Sends invoices
- No view of ad orders, proofs, or sales history
- Limited pipeline visibility
- Disconnected from production
Production-Only Tools
- Manage creative work
- No view of advertiser history or balances
- Another silo to maintain
- Disconnected from billing
AccountScout
- Publisher-native CRM and order entry
- Rate cards, schedules, contracts, proofs, and pagination
- Billing, payments, and advertiser portal
- Reporting across the full workflow
The value isn't one feature. It's the connection between departments.
35+
Years building software for publishers
100s
Publications running on AccountScout
8
Connected modules sharing one database
Included
SalesScout web and mobile access
We've been doing this since 1991.
Fake Brains has built newspaper software, and only newspaper software, since 1991. AccountScout is what more than 35 years of listening to publishers looks like.
Colorado-basedBuilt in-houseReal humans on the support line at 303-791-3301
What publishers are saying.
"Fake Brains has surpassed all the others we have worked with, as their team understands the meaning of partnership, and their products deliver at speed for a price that makes the others seemingly laughable."
Jim Goodlett
President of Morris Technology, a customer and technology partner
"I only use the AccountScout Mobile app. I don't have time to go into the office. I drive 1,000 miles a week, I use it everyday. It's Fake Brains at your fingertips."
Calvin
Sales Rep
"This sounds like it would solve so many problems for so many people."
Dawn
CSR
Common questions.
AccountScout doesn't charge per seat - create accounts for your whole staff without paying for every name on the list. A three-person weekly and a twelve-title group don't need the same system, so we scope pricing to your operation during a consultation rather than publish a number that would be wrong for both. As Jim Goodlett, President of Morris Technology - a customer and technology partner - puts it: "their products deliver at speed for a price that makes the others seemingly laughable."
See It In Action
See AccountScout running on your workflow.
We'll walk you through a live demo tailored to your publication - your data, your workflow, your questions. No generic slide deck.
Or call 303-791-3301