You sound like an actual publisher. You’ve had to budget for these ongoing expenses. So advertisers are often delinquent in payment huh? I guess they think their client needs the ad patronage more than keeping their books in the black.
It is the nature of the business. Publication date would be 1/1/2016, you mail off proofs to the advertiser on the same day. You bill on 1/7/2016 with net 30 terms, which is common in the industry. 2/7 rolls around, advertiser still hasn't paid because it isn't past due yet (and for major advertisers, net 90 is more common than net 30.) 2/14 you make a call to find out if the check has been sent out yet, 2/21 maybe someone gets back to you to tell you that it will be sent out tomorrow and maybe if you're lucky, by 3/7 you've got a check in your hands.
It is to the point where you can walk into virtually any bank with your receivables, they ask what kind of business, you say newspaper, and they point you to the person who handles those loans. Not even the slightest blink of an eye.
My cost estimates pretty much cover the cost of printing, someone’s gas for about 1,000 miles per week, and a modest salary for someone to paginate the newspaper each week. It does not cover the cost of content. Then again, in this world, content is cheap.