Reporting software subscriptions
Generally prepaid services should be capitalized over the period prepaid. But if it is up to a year - you can just expense them. As to the technicalities - you can contact Intuit support, but you should be able to put it in the same area where you put all your other business expenses. If you're a sole proprietor - that would be Schedule C.
The websites of the most publicly traded companies publish their quarterly and annual financials.  Check the investor relations sections out at the ones you want to look at. Is there really that many subscribers? It's about 10$ a month depending on what country you live in. 100m*10*12 = 12 b revenue per year. Unless I'm wrong, but this is the internet, I am sure someone will correct me. "Since this is a cooperative I'm guessing your partners may want to be able to view the books so another key point you may want to consider is collaboration.  QuickBooks desktop has all of these same issues because it is meant to be used on a single desktop. We're in an age of mobile devices, and especially in a business like landscaping it would be nice if certain aspects of record keeping could be done at the point and time where they are incurred.  I'd argue you want a Software as a Service (SaaS) accounting package as opposed to ""accounting software"" which might come on a CD in the form of QuickBooks, Sage and others. Additionally, most of these will also have guides to help make sure you are properly entering your records. Most of these SaaS products also have customer success teams to help you along should you need assistance. Depending on the level of your subscription you may get more sophisticated handling of taxes, customized invoices or integrated payroll. Your goal is to keep accurate records so you can better run your business and maintain obligations like filing taxes. You're not keeping the records just to have them. Keep them in a place where they will work for you and provide the insights and functionality that will help your business grow and become successful. Accounting software will always win in this scenario over a spreadsheet. FULL DISCLAIMER: I work for Kashoo, a simple cloud accounting product designed for small businesses. But the points I mention above are true for Xero, QuickBooks Online and Wave as well as Kashoo. And if you really want expertise to go with the actual software consider service providers with a platform like: Indinero, Bench, easyrecordbooks or Liberty Accounting." I've been looking through annual reports of some Canadian insurance companies. Having serious trouble with their reporting; it varies widely. I've been trying to create a historic look at the combined ratios, and have been comparing income statements. Maybe that's the wrong place to look. The S&P report (aka STARS report) for each company has 10 years of financial data. These reports are available free at several online brokers (like E-Trade) if you have an account with the brokerage. Institute of Supply Management, specifically their Report on Business. Good forward looking indicator.   As far as the weekly report, I'd probably read it, maybe even contribute, but I more of a lurker on this sub. I saw your question and have had some similar experiences so I thought I could help you out. Investigative journalism is another form of entertainment. Yes, it also happens to provide a service to the public.  I have a budget and a family and I have to pick between different sources of entertainment. I *want* to give WaPo money for service, but I can't justify it at their current price. We don't go out to eat, we don't buy cable TV, and we don't go to the movies, so it's not like I can just give up a Big Mac to pay WaPo. At their current price point, they simply don't provide enough entertainment for me to give up a different source of entertainment to replace it with WaPo.  I am a relatively poor person who wants to stay informed and contribute to supporting investigative journalism, but they've price themselves out of my reach. "I use ""Money Manager Ex"" which is a Windows application I use on PC to log my transactions and for simple statistic. They have two versions, simple standlone application and self-hosted web app." Probably because it's a question of Excel vs Access, not VBA vs SQL. You probably don't need VBA for any of the calcs that the OP mentions.  Excel is the one tool everyone uses in Finance. CR and SSRS require tools and permissions that the average guy simply won't have, and a level of expertise that is not useful for most front/middle-office analysis work.  I usually see these done in Excel. SSRS and CR seem like way overkill for something done trivially and transparently in Excel, whose presentation will change frequently anyway.  Depending on what OP is talking about, analysis is not reporting, and flexibility and transparency usually win. Especially when you want to poke around the underlying data and iterate with other people.  SSRS and CR only make sense when you know what you're looking for, that the data is appropriate for it and you don't expect it to change. Sure - I honestly don't mind membership sites, and there are a bunch of sites that I do maintain active memberships to like the New Yorker, it's all about quality. I just have to keep an eye on my subscription credit card so I can make sure I'm not getting billed for a service that I've long since forgotten about. Are these estimates? I didn't see a link or source in there to actual financial statements. As a private company I'm not sure that information is public. A quick Google search didn't bring anything to light.  Regardless, I'd be much more interested in seeing Spotify's cash flow statement. For startup companies that can be much more indicative of health. Moody's is now Mergent Online. It's no longer being printed, and must be accessed digitally. In order to browse the database, check with your local public library or university to see if you can get access. (A University will probably require you to visit for access).  Another good tool is Value Line Reports. They are printed information sheets on public companies that are updated regularly, and are convenient for browsing and for comparing securities. Again, check your local libraries.  A lot of the public information you may be looking for can be found on Yahoo Finance, for free, from home. Yahoo finance, will give financial information, ratios, news, filings, analysis, all in one place. I get a subscription to WSJ through work and I use it everyday.  What is the price of the subscription though?  I find it useful and Barrons has a lot regarding business and the stock market.  A lot of professionals have subscriptions to the WSJ.  I prefer the WSJ over other services and I really like the market data they provide. I've seen this tool.  I'm just having a hard time finding where I can just get a list of all the companies.    For example, you can get up to 100 results at a time, if I just search latest filings for 10-K.  This isn't really an efficient way to go about what I want. "Is there any particular area of business that you have interest?    What free resources do you currently use (general web browsing)?  Here are some magazines out there that I find interesting:  * **Fast Company** - $12.99 / Year / 10 Issues - Magazine focused on tech, innovation, leadership and design.  I don't subscribe, but I regularly purchase Fast Company, Entrepreneur,and Inc. when I am traveling.  They make for a perfect airplane read and I typically find great takeaways or clip articles from it.  * **Entrepreneur** - $11.97 / Year / 12 Issues - Obviously by the title this is catered to the entrepreneurial mindset.  It provides informational and inspirational stories from entrepreneurs and for entrepreneurs.  I enjoy reading this and probably read 3 or 4 issues per year.  I'm not a regular reader, but at times I have felt like content may run lean at times.    * **Inc** - $12.99 / Year / 10 Issues - Inc. feels like a blend of Fast Company and Entrepreneur.  The articles are aimed at the business owner for starting and running operations.  * **Businessweek** - $5 / Year / 12 Issues - I regularly read Businessweek, but primarily on their website.  I have picked up issues occasionally which are great, but their web provides a fair amount of access.  They seem to have a nice blend of news and unique stories about specific companies, products, and investment.  Recently they had interesting articles with fair depth on the CEO of Burger King, and the history of Sriracha.  * **Forbes** - $24.99 / Year / 26 Issues - I love the volume of content that Forbes provides and they seem to have a nice mix on a variety of subjects.  I use Forbes as my frontpage of the internet for business in conjunction with several others.  I actually feel like Forbes and Businessweek provide a perfect blend of business news with shocking little redundancy.  * **Harvard Business Review** - Wasn't able to quickly see a price.  I reference HBR a fair amount in regards to business discussions and think they provide excellent research material and information.  The writing style and layout isn't quite as captivating as some of the other magazines such as Fast Company, but the quality is excellent,  * **WSJ** - Obviously putting out a high volume of content, but you definitely pay for it.  I know a fair number of people who read it, but I actually have never known anyone to subscribe to it if that makes sense.  All the readers I know either receive a subscription through their work or university.  I think that shows the content is valuable and quality, but it might not justify the cost you have to pay for it as an individual reader.  I use a variety of websites to get business news, general education, and help me overall to understand the business world.  Specifically from the ones listed above I check Businessweek and Forbes daily for morning or lunch reading.  Forbes in particular does a solid job due to all of their external content contributors.  Seems like an interesting way to provide content if you can curate it correctly.    If you're more interested in the finance/investment world then I think Yahoo Finance and CNN Money are great.  Focusing specifically on investments then I really enjoy the content I get from Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha.  Some articles get pretty deep in regards to finance and investing, but overall I think they give great insight.  I read BusinessInsider, but I'll be honest I feel dirty.  Sometimes I find an interesting piece that leads me elsewhere to research more.  The content is primarily distributed in a ""Buzzfeed"" style format which has some questionable headlines and less professional content (""7 Crazy Facts That Sound Fake But Are Actually True"").  In Summary, I think you could learn a good amount on a variety of topics while staying plugged into news and developments in the business world for free.  I'm sure a few other people will chime in with other great sources that I didn't capture and some that I didn't even know existed.  I would start by reading a few of these sites I listed regularly and continue posting in this sub to help us keep the conversation going!"