Fewer duplicate entries
Billing starts from AccountScout order data, so accounting is not re-keying what sales already sold.
Fake Brains Software
Bill from the same data your team already sold.
AccountScout Billing & Collections by Fake Brains is the newspaper billing software that turns booked ad orders into invoices, statements, and paid balances without re-keying. It runs A/R aging, surcharge-compliant ePayments, electronic tearsheets, and legal affidavits from the advertiser record. Built for community newspapers and multi-property media groups.
When you get paid
Collected at the orderStill out, by age
Current31–6090+ days
- Quick Pay
- Card or ACH
- Surcharge-compliant
CONNECTED TO ACCOUNTSCOUT
Billing runs on your real order data.
The same account, order, publication, rate, and advertiser history that sales and production use also drives billing, collections, tearsheets, and affidavits.
Invoices and statements
Generate invoices and statements from the same ad orders your team entered once, with no separate billing re-entry.
A/R and aging
See balances, aging, credits, holds, and account status from the advertiser record instead of a side spreadsheet.
Surcharge-compliant ePayments
Collect by credit card, ACH, saved payment method, payment link, or advertiser self-service portal with surcharge-compliant card processing.
Tearsheets and affidavits
Produce electronic tearsheets, legal affidavits, and proof of publication tied to the run and the order so collections and legal customers get verified proof fast.
Holds and credit controls
Flag balances, holds, and credit limits so your team sees them before the next order goes through.
Collection reporting
Give accounting and management a clear view of what is owed, what was collected, and which accounts need attention.
ORDER TO PAYMENT
The billing workflow starts before the invoice.
AccountScout keeps billing connected to the sale, the order, the proof, the published run, and the customer relationship.
1
Order
Start from the same advertiser, publication, rate, and schedule data used by sales and CSR teams.
2
Invoice
Generate invoices and statements without rebuilding the order in a separate billing tool.
3
Publish & verify
Generate electronic tearsheets, legal affidavits, and proof of publication from the actual published run.
4
Collect
Take payment through surcharge-compliant ePayments, payment links, saved methods, or the Advertiser Portal.
5
Reconcile
Keep receipts, applied payments, credits, aging, and holds connected to the account for a clean month-end close.
FOR BOOKKEEPERS AND A/R TEAMS
Spend less time cleaning up billing work.
Billing & Collections is built for the people who close the loop after the sale: invoices, payments, receipts, tearsheets, affidavits, account status, and month-end cleanup.
Faster collections
Payment links, surcharge-compliant ePayments, and advertiser self-service give customers more ways to pay without another phone call.
Built-in legal proof
Electronic tearsheets and legal affidavits come straight from the published run, so proof of publication is ready when advertisers and courts ask for it.
CONNECTED PRODUCTS
Billing works better when the surrounding tools share the record.
Billing & Collections is part of the AccountScout commercial workflow, and it connects to advertiser self-service, classified payments, and role-specific accounting workflows.
AccountScout
The newspaper advertising platform for CRM, order entry, production, billing, A/R, payments, and reporting.
ExploreAdvertiser Portal
Self-service invoices, payments, receipts, balances, and online proof approvals for advertisers.
ExploreClassifiedScout
Online classified ordering and payment flow that syncs back to AccountScout.
ExploreAccounting role page
See how Billing & Collections helps bookkeepers and A/R teams work from cleaner account data.
ExploreBILLING & COLLECTIONS FAQ
Common questions about newspaper billing software.
Most newspapers use a publishing-native platform like AccountScout by Fake Brains rather than a generic accounting tool. AccountScout Billing & Collections invoices directly from booked ad orders, runs A/R and aging, takes surcharge-compliant payments, and generates tearsheets and affidavits, all tied to the advertiser record so nothing is re-keyed.
See It In Action
Walk through billing and collections on your workflow.
We can show how AccountScout turns order data into invoices, statements, surcharge-compliant ePayments, electronic tearsheets, legal affidavits, aging, holds, and reconciliation.