Sadly, this is just one of the 'perks' of modern car ownership. Most (I believe) new cars have service indicator lights to remind owners to get their motor serviced and yes generally the easiest option is the dealer resetting the service indicator using their diagnostic equipment. Like you, I prefer to service my own vehicle, trouble is as we all well know, those first two or three years of ownership from new or nearly new effectively forces you to to go to a main dealer (or a good independent able to carry out service work conforming to warranty under block exemption rules) just to get the required stamps in the service log. I'm lucky, following a bit of research on 'tinternet' I discovered a way to reset my service indicator light on my own (non Fiat) motor, by carrying out a simple set of procedures involving the ignition and foot brake which then allows resetting of the service indicator in the settings menu. (This won't work on Fiat's by the way). I also bought a Scangauge II, which I use to monitor engine performance and it will also display any trouble codes and allow me to clear them, but again, I've not used it on the 500 yet. You can however from reading other posts on the forum, buy diagnostic hand scanning tools specifically for Fiat which can apparently reset the indicator. If your intention is to keep the car for years and carry on doing your own servicing, It would undoubtedly be worth investing in such a tool.
Alternatively, you could just do what one of my mates has done for the last couple of years and not bother getting the service light reset. He does his own servicing, knows his own car and looks after it and he certainly isn't bothered about a constant reminder flashing on his instrument panel.
