How can we help?
Contact support
Already using Express Desk? The fastest way to reach us is Report a problem, the flag button at the top of every page in the app. It sends us the page you were on, your browser and any recent errors, so you don't have to explain where you were. You can follow every ticket under Help & support in the app.
Not signed in, or can't get in? Email support@expressdesk.net with your paper's name and what you were trying to do. A screenshot helps.
The in-app manual (Help & support, then Manual) answers most how-to questions, and every page has a ? button that opens the article for that page.
Getting started
- Start a trial at expressdesk.net/signup. No card is needed for the 14 days.
- Follow the setup wizard: your paper, business and taxes, publications and rate cards, pricing rules, subscriptions, people and permissions, importing accounts, then go live.
- Load the sample paper to look around first. One click removes it when you're ready to start clean.
- Want us to do it? Done-for-you setup is $750 and includes moving your accounts and rate cards in.
Accounting: QuickBooks, Sage and Xero
Yes. Under A/R, Accounting export builds files your accounting software imports cleanly: invoices, customers and payments for any date range.
- QuickBooks Online: invoice and customer CSV files in QuickBooks' own import layout (QuickBooks takes up to 100 invoices per file, so we split bigger months). QuickBooks Online doesn't import payments from a file, so you also get a payments list to match in your bank feed.
- QuickBooks Desktop: one IIF file with customers, invoices and payments.
- Sage 50 and Sage Accounting: sales invoice and receipt CSV files.
- Xero: a sales invoice CSV.
- Anything else: a plain spreadsheet your accountant can use.
Map your income accounts once, per publication if you like. Each export is logged, and marking it exported keeps the next file from repeating anything.
Phones, tablets and apps
Express Desk runs in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Chromebook, and it's built to work on a phone. You can add it to your home screen today for an app-style icon.
Installable apps for the App Store, Google Play and the Microsoft Store are on the way. Carriers already use the Delivery routes page on their phones with a Carrier login that shows only their routes.
BLOX and online classifieds
If your site runs on BLOX, export your self-serve classified and notice orders as a CSV and import them under Classifieds & Notices. Express Desk matches existing customers, creates new private-party accounts, books each ad on the right dates and marks free listings as no charge.
A live connection that pulls BLOX orders automatically needs API access that TownNews grants to each newspaper. Email us when you're ready and we'll work through it with you and TownNews.
Advertiser portal and online orders
Each advertiser gets a private link where they approve proofs, see their ad schedule and invoices, and pay by card or bank transfer. They can save a payment method and turn on autopay, so contract invoices pay themselves. Payments go to your paper's own Stripe account.
The online order form goes on your website with one embed code. People write their classified or obituary, see it as it will print, pay, and it lands on your classifieds desk for review.
Email, proofs and reminders
Proofs, confirmations, renewals and past-due notes come from email templates you can edit, with your name and signature logo filled in. Today you send them from your own email in one click. Sending directly from Express Desk, and emailed reminders for follow-ups, start when your paper connects its email.
Every person picks which notifications they want, and your publisher decides which roles hear about new orders, proof approvals and signatures.
Your data and security
- You own your data. Every list and report exports to a spreadsheet. If you leave, we don't delete anything without asking.
- Each person has their own login. Roles control what each person can open and change, and reps can be limited to only their own accounts.
- Proofs and files are stored with your account and kept as long as you keep the order.
- Payments are handled by Stripe. Card and bank numbers never touch Express Desk.
Billing questions
Plans are priced by active advertisers: those you invoiced in the last 90 days. Weekly is $199 a month for up to 300, Regional $499 for up to 1,000, Group $999 with no limit. Annual plans get two months free. Every plan includes unlimited users.
Go over your limit and nothing stops. Your publisher gets 30 days' notice to move up. Change plans, update your card or download invoices under Settings, Plan & billing. Questions about a charge? Email support@expressdesk.net.