Some good questions. I like cloud based accounting for a few reasons
1. No need to keep software up to date as this is done by the cloud provider.
2. Good data protection strategy. Dont need to be worried about daily backups and loss of data.
3. Can do invoicing on your iphone, android etc while at the client and can email to them straight away. If you have a virtual terminal can take immediate credit card payment at the same time.
4. Allows your accountat and bookkeeper to access reports etc over the web to provide business planning advice.
Good points re the monthly subscription and if you close down the business unless you keep the subscription your data would be gone. Could extract to excel but agree that would be a hassle.