Accounting

Degree Requirements

The PhD in accounting is typically a five-year program.

The curriculum includes:

Courses, which students take during their first five semesters in the program
Two summer papers, which students complete after their first and second years in the program
A comprehensive exam, which students take after their fourth semester in the program
A dissertation, which students work on during their third, fourth, and fifth years
An interview for an academic placement during students’ fifth year in the program
Research papers written in collaboration with faculty and fellow doctoral students, with the goal of having research papers published and/or in progress before graduation

This page outlines the program’s degree requirements. For more detailed information about the program, including suggested course schedules, download the following document:

Accounting PhD Program Overview

Required Coursework

The coursework for a PhD in accounting consists of a series of six required seminars in accounting, four courses in research methodology and statistics, and three or four courses in a minor/supporting field of the student’s choice. The minor/supporting field must be approved by both the Department of Accounting and the department of the minor/supporting field. Each PhD student is also required to take a teaching development seminar.

Accounting Seminars

A601 Capital Markets-Based Research in Financial Accounting (6 credit hours)
A602 Experimental Research in Accounting (6 credit hours)
A603 Selected Topics in Accounting Research (6 credit hours)

Research Methods and Statistics (9-12 credit hours), choose from many options, including:

X610 Statistics for Research
X611 Statistics for Research
Z798 Seminar in Research Methods
Other relevant methods or statistics classes

At least three courses from a supporting field (such as finance or psychology)

X630 Teaching Development Seminar

Research

During the first two summers in the program, students are required to write research papers. These papers must be completed by the first day of the fall semester (approximately the third week in August). Students work with a faculty supervisor throughout the summer paper process.

The first-year summer paper requires an in-depth literature review and research proposal, which identifies a research question, a set of testable hypotheses, and a research design. The second-year summer paper is an original piece of research with a research question, a set of testable hypotheses, a research design, and data analysis for archival studies or development of the experimental materials for experimental studies. Students present their summer papers to accounting faculty and PhD students in a research workshop at the start of the fall semester.

To receive financial support in non-teaching semesters and summers, doctoral students work as research assistants (RAs) for tenure-track faculty during the first four years of the program. This assignment exposes doctoral students to different research topics and methodologies and provides opportunities for students to co-author research with faculty.

The Department of Accounting provides each doctoral student with a Research and Teaching Supplement (RATS) of $500 per year, which can be used for travel expenses, books, journal subscriptions, association fees, and other program-related expenses.

To encourage doctoral students to participate in conferences, the Accounting Doctoral Committee gives each student a designated travel budget of $1,000 per year for the first five years of their program. This is in addition to the annual RATS allocation that can also be used for travel expenses. The department also pays for other travel opportunities during the program; for example, the doctoral committee selects and nominates one student per year to attend the American Accounting Association Doctoral Consortium, and the department pays the fee.

The Indiana University Graduate School, Kelley PhD Programs, and Department of Accounting provide assistance with expenses related to dissertations. For example, the University Graduate School provides two grant-in-aid competitions per year for up to $1,000. The most common costs are those associated with administering experiments. The Department of Accounting also maintains a human subject pool that doctoral students may use for their dissertation or other research.

The Department of Accounting holds research workshops Friday afternoons during the fall and spring semesters. These workshops play a key role in the development of doctoral students’ research expertise. We expect students to attend all workshops and to participate in research discussions.

Students also have opportunities to meet with speakers outside of the workshop, which offers a great opportunity to discuss topics both in and outside of students’ research areas.

Teaching

To receive financial support throughout the program, doctoral students are required to teach 6 hours over the first four years of the program. Students typically fulfill their teaching requirements during the first four years by teaching discussion sections of A201 Introduction to Financial Accounting or A202 Introduction to Managerial Accounting. They then work as a teaching assistant for a 300-level accounting course to receive full financial support during the fifth year of the program.

Other teaching opportunities include lecture sections of A201 and A202 during summer session I (six weeks between early May and mid-June) and summer session II (eight weeks between late June and early August). Students also may teach a lecture section of an upper-level course, if available and desired by the student. Opportunities include A311 Intermediate Financial Accounting I, A312 Intermediate Financial Accounting II, A325 Cost Accounting, and A329 Taxes and Decision Making. Doctoral students work with the faculty teaching these courses to develop a syllabus and teaching plan.

Comprehensive Exam

The comprehensive exam is a written exam that is administered after students’ fourth semester in the program. The exam is administered over two days and consists of two equally weighted parts:

Part 1: The first part consists of questions based on the material covered in the six required accounting seminars. The student is allowed seven hours to answer these questions.
Part 2: At the conclusion of part 1, the student will receive a working paper to read and review. The paper is likely to have been submitted to a top-tier accounting journal for publication, and the student is given 24 hours to prepare a formal review of the paper, its potential to be published, and its contribution. The typed review should consist of a letter to the editor of the journal and a memo to the authors.

Students must obtain an overall average score of marginal pass or better on all questions. Students who fail the exam are required to take all or part of the exam again. A second failure results in dismissal from the program.

Dissertation

Students develop a dissertation idea and choose a dissertation chair in the third or fourth year of the program. Students also submit a description of their dissertation idea to the Accounting Doctoral Committee at that time. This document includes a discussion of the research question, the motivation and expected contribution of the paper, and the methodology by which the research question will be investigated, including sources for data or experimental participants. Students should present their dissertation idea in an accounting workshop or brown bag by the end of their fourth year.

Students form a dissertation committee with the input of their dissertation chair, and successfully complete a formal defense of the dissertation proposal prior to start of their fifth year in the program.

Students also have opportunities to meet with speakers outside of the workshop, which offers a great opportunity to discuss topics both in and outside of students’ research areas.

Students complete a formal defense of their final dissertation in front of their dissertation committee.

Degree Requirements

Required Coursework

Accounting Seminars and Research Methods Courses

Accounting Seminars

Research Methods and Statistics (9-12 credit hours), choose from many options, including:

Courses in a Minor Field

Teaching Development

Research

Summer Papers

Research Assistant Assignments

Research and Travel Support

Accounting Workshops

Teaching

Comprehensive Exam

Dissertation

Stage 1: Development of Dissertation Idea

Stage 2: Defense of the Dissertation Proposal

Stage 3: Accounting Workshop Presentation

Stage 4: Final Defense of the Dissertation

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