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The ad desk for community newspapers

Sell it, proof it, print it, bill it. One desk.

Express Desk runs the whole advertising side of a weekly or county paper: insertion orders priced from your rate card, classifieds and legal notices, proofs and approvals, the run sheet, billing, and the sales numbers your publisher asks for on Monday morning.

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No credit card to start. Your whole staff included on every plan. The demo needs no sign-up.
Mon call listTue ordersWed noticesThu proofs outFri invoices
app.expressdesk.net
The Express Desk dashboard for a sample paper: outstanding receivables, this month's bookings, follow-ups due and the sales pipeline
How it works

Built around a press week, not a sales funnel.

Generic CRMs were made for software companies. Express Desk follows the week your ad department already works, from the first call to the last invoice.

Monday

Call list

Follow-ups due, contracts up for renewal and advertisers who went quiet, sorted for each rep.

Tuesday

Orders

Pick the size and the dates. Contract tiers, frequency discounts, premium positions and add-ons are figured for you.

Wednesday

Notices

Build classifieds, obituaries and legal notices exactly as they will set in the column, priced by the line.

Thursday

Proofs out

Send proofs, log approvals and check the run sheet for anything still waiting before press night.

Friday

Invoices

Bill what ran, record payments, send statements and see who is past due.

Ad entry

Price every ad the same way, every time.

Your rate cards, contract tiers and discounts live in Express Desk, so a new rep quotes the same number as your best rep.

  • Flat sizes, column inches or per line
  • Contract, frequency and special discounts stack correctly
  • Premium positions like page 3 or the back cover
  • Upsells such as ad design or an online bonus
An insertion order for a half page with a back page premium, contract discount and frequency discount
Classifieds and notices

Legal notices that set themselves.

Type or paste the notice and watch it set in your column at agate size, with the line count and price beside it.

  • Classifieds, obituaries and legal notices in one place
  • Consecutive-week publication scheduled for you
  • Line-ad proofs your customers can approve by email
  • Affidavits signed online and tracked through to filing
A legal notice for a public hearing with a live print preview, 15 lines, 3 runs and a total of $76.75 including the affidavit
Production

Know what's ready before press night.

The run sheet shows every ad in the issue, which proofs are approved and which still need work.

  • Production board with designer assignments
  • Proofs, client approvals and change requests logged
  • Page dummy with placement conflicts flagged
  • InDesign placement scripts and tagged text for classifieds
  • Contracts, insertion orders and proofs signed online with OpenSign
The issue run sheet showing 8 of 9 ads complete with a proof status for each ad
Sales reporting

See who stopped advertising, and win them back.

Compare this year to last year month by month, see which advertisers you lost and which ones are spending less, and start a win-back call in one click.

  • Lost and shrinking advertisers, by rep
  • Pacing against last year, by month and by rep
  • Leaderboards and monthly goals
  • Every report exports to a spreadsheet
Lost advertisers report comparing advertisers by month, this year against last yearPacing by month, this year against last year

Screens show a sample paper that comes with every trial. Try it yourself in the live demo.

Also included

Everything a small ad department runs on.

Accounts and contactsEvery advertiser, contact, contract and conversation, searchable from any screen.
Pipeline and follow-upsDeals by stage, weighted forecast, renewals and reminders for each rep.
Billing and A/RInvoices, payments, aging, statements, credits and finance charges.
SubscriptionsPrint and digital subscribers, plans and renewals beside your advertisers.
Your team, your rolesUnlimited logins. Sales, business office, production and editors each see what they need.
Help when you need itA built-in manual and a Report a Problem button on every page.
Live demo

Take it for a spin. No sign-up, no sales call.

Open The Larkspur Falls Ledger, a made-up county weekly with a year of advertisers, orders, legal notices, proofs and invoices already in it. Click anything, change anything. Nothing is saved, nobody gets emailed, and it starts fresh every time.

Open the demoOr start a free trial
Sit in a different chair
PublisherRevenue, pacing and who stopped advertising Sales repMy accounts, call list and orders Business officeInvoices, payments and past due ProductionProofs, run sheet and page dummy
app.expressdesk.net/demo
The Express Desk dashboard for the demo paper, showing outstanding A/R, bookings, production and a revenue trend
Five things to try
  1. Write an insertion order and watch the contract and frequency discounts apply
  2. Set a legal notice and see the line count and price as you type
  3. Drag an ad on the page dummy and send the edition to InDesign
  4. Record a payment and watch the aging update
  5. Find lost advertisers and start a win-back call
Pricing

Priced the way you price ads: by what actually runs.

You pay for active advertisers, the businesses you have invoiced in the last 90 days. Prospects and past clients are free. Every plan includes every feature and as many staff logins as you need.

Express Desk rate card · effective 2026
The community weekly

Weekly

The diner, the hardware store, the real estate brokers and the school board's notices. Everything your paper sells, on one desk.

$199/month
Under $7 a day
Up to 300 active advertisers
  • Every feature
  • Unlimited staff and publications
  • Built-in manual and support tickets
Start free trial
For county papers
The regional paper

Regional

Hospitals, car dealerships, grocery chains and every town in the county. Room for a full sales team and a busy classifieds desk.

$499/month
About $16 a day
Up to 1,000 active advertisers
  • Everything in Weekly
  • Guided setup call with our team
  • Unlimited staff and publications
Start free trial
The publishing group

Group

Three or four neighboring papers in one advertiser database. Sell across the region and report on all of it, with no ceiling.

$999/month
One price for every paper
Unlimited active advertisers
  • Everything in Regional
  • Several papers combined in one database
  • Data migration and priority support
Start free trial

What counts as an active advertiser

Any business with an invoice in the last 90 days. The count updates itself every day from your billing, so there is nothing to report and nothing to audit.

Law office billed for a notice in Augustcounts until November
Prospect your rep is still callingfree
Ski shop that last ran two winters agofree
Done-for-you setup, $750 one time

We load your rate cards, discounts and team, import your advertisers and train your staff, so you go live in days.

If you go over your plan, nothing stops working. You get 30 days to move up.

All rates net · no per-seat charges · cancel any time, export your data
Questions

What publishers ask first.

How does the free trial work?

Sign up with your paper's name and you are in. The setup wizard walks you through rate cards, discounts and your team, and you can load a sample paper to explore first. No card is needed. Pick a plan any time in the 14 days and your work carries over.

Do we pay per user?

No. Every plan includes as many logins as your staff needs. Give every rep, designer and clerk their own so their dashboard, proofs and follow-ups are theirs.

What if we go over our plan's limit?

Nothing stops working. Your publisher sees a notice with 30 days to move up a plan. If your count drops back under the limit first, the notice goes away.

Can we bring our advertisers with us?

Yes. Import accounts and subscribers from any spreadsheet in minutes. Group plans and the done-for-you setup include moving your data for you.

Does it export to QuickBooks or Sage?

Yes. One click builds import files for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Sage 50, Sage Accounting and Xero: invoices, customers and payments, mapped to your own income accounts. Each export is logged so nothing gets entered twice. How it works.

Can advertisers approve proofs and pay online?

Yes. Every advertiser gets a private portal link to approve proofs, see their schedule and invoices, and pay by card or bank transfer. They can save a card for autopay. Money goes straight to your paper's own Stripe account.

Is there a phone app?

Express Desk works in any browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and you can add it to your home screen today. App Store, Google Play and Microsoft Store versions are coming.

Does it work with InDesign?

Yes. Express Desk builds a placement script that drops labeled ad frames on the right pages, and exports classifieds and notices as tagged text with your paragraph styles.

Who owns our data?

You do. Every list and report exports to a spreadsheet, and if you leave we never delete your data without asking.

How do we pay?

By card or bank transfer (ACH). Annual plans get two months free and can be invoiced to your business office.

What if something isn't working?

Click Report a Problem on the page where it happened. The page details come with it, so you don't have to explain where you were. Or email support@expressdesk.net. Support center.

We use BLOX for online classifieds. Does that work?

Yes. Import your BLOX classified and notice orders from a CSV and they land on the classifieds desk, booked on the right dates with customers matched. A live BLOX connection needs API access from TownNews, which we'll set up with you.

Can reps see each other's accounts?

Only if you want them to. Roles decide what each person can open and change, and reps can be limited to their own accounts, orders and numbers while managers see everything.

Run your next press week on Express Desk.

Fourteen days free. No card. Your whole staff included.

Start your free trialTry the demo first