Once upon a time... there was a small business owner. It was hard to send out invoices, pay bills, do banking and keep track of financial statements manually. Then a fairy godmother said "go to Staples and buy Quickbooks -- it will make your life easier". And it did -- for many, many years. That software was always stable and prepared to do AR/AP and anything that the business owner wished for. When the business owner wanted to take advantage of an upgrade, they went back to Staples, got a new CD, and upgraded to the latest version, which would also serve the business owner well.
Then one day, someone at Intuit said "Wait -- we can make more money if we force everyone to a subscription model! They can pay us every year, and they get the latest update -- whether they want it or not". Well, the revenue stream probably increased at Intuit, but the poor small business owners are frustrated. Every 8 weeks, their businesses are severely disrupted by some new "known problem" that rears its ugly head. The software that we have grown to depend on to make our lives easier, is now making our lives stressful. Can't do payroll -- there is a problem!! Can't sent out invoices -- there is a problem! They've expired my software -- can't do anything! It is unbearable.
How can the small business owner live happily ever after? Perhaps it is time to find new accounting software. I wonder if whomever thought a subscription model would increase revenue, factored in long-time users who banished this software to the trash bin, never to use it again!
