Quickbooks keeps it's grip because it's what CPAs like to work with. There are literally thousands of startups taking on Quickbooks, and many have succeeded within particular markets--mostly sole proprietor/freelancer/small, decentralized businesses.
Just a few examples: Freshbooks, Wave Accounting, Harvest, Xero, Invoicera
There is this program: http://www.avanquest.com/USA/Bookkeeper-2012
I love my quickbooks! I just did a search on google and I've always found a pretty healthy discount from retail price. I forget where I bought the last one from.
Those are all cloud providers so they compete for the same space but it's not a direct competitor to installed software.