Most of us have said we'd rather stick with non-subscription desktop software, like in "the old days" when you could buy QuickBooks once and use it for several years--as long as you wanted, if you didn't need payroll updates and such.

But the "subscription noose" is tightening. Even many of the remaining desktop products have gone the way of a subscriber business model, such that you may lose access to your own data if you stop paying the subscription fee.

OK, I know there are still farm-specific desktop software products that aren't fully subscription based. But even many of those charge an annual support or maintenance fee. The reality of the software business is that there are a lot of ongoing expenses regardless of whether customers are buying upgrades, etc. So the subscription model is here to stay. (And it isn't entirely a bad thing if it means software is better supported, bugs are fixed quickly, etc. Unfortunately, some companies seem more interested in a "take the money and run" approach, siphoning off more profits than they plow back into product development and support.)

So, I'm going to ask a dumb question:  "How much are you willing to pay annually for an accounting software subscription?". 

It's a dumb question because we all need something different. If your needs are really basic you probably don't want to spend much--maybe you've eyed the "free" small business accounting packages like Wave, or are seriously interested in Quicken. Others of us wouldn't mind spending $2,000 a year if a package had all the features we want.

As for me, $50 per month ($600 per year) is about my absolute top-end limit for a small business accounting package that I can make work for my farming operation, and which has all the bells and whistles I want. At that price it would need to have almost everything I want--the way QuickBooks desktop Premier Accountant editions did. 

For a lesser package just adequate for income tax records (including fixed asset purchase and sale records), payables management, etc., my top-end limit would be more like $25 per month ($300 per year).