You don’t have to start in accounting to find your way into this career. Harmish Naik, BS’23, MSA’26, was five months into his first finance position after college when he was laid off. He began interviewing for other roles in finance but found the process competitive and lengthy. He wanted to switch to a field with greater job security, and accounting had always interested him.
After speaking with friend and fellow Kelley alum Luke Dennison, BS’23, MSA’24, Harmish enrolled in the Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) degree at the Kelley School of Business.
“Luke talked about the transition from finance to accounting, and he gave me the heads up on the Graduate Accounting Program,” Harmish said. “During my undergraduate degree, I had some accounting courses. I like working with numbers, and as a financial analyst, I was evaluating those numbers and was curious about where they came from. I wanted to learn how accountants build financial statements.”
Harmish knew he was interested in an accounting career, but after his experience in finance, he wanted to be certain it was the right choice for him. The MSA program offers students a variety of internship opportunities to get hands-on experience with actual companies while earning the master’s degree.
Harmish began the MSA program in fall 2024 and already had an internship in audit lined up for January 2025 at DOZ accounting firm, thanks to his connection to Luke. Then he earned two more internships through the Kelley Indianapolis Career Fair. He’ll complete a summer accounting internship with Myers & Stauffer and an audit and tax internship at CBIZ in spring 2026.
“I want to experience the different parts of accounting. That’s the main reason why I decided to go with three internships – it gives me three different viewpoints to determine if I want to go into audit or tax,” Harmish said. “It sounds like a lot, but this helps me decipher what I really want to do in accounting. Seeing different companies will help ensure I’m on the right career path.”
As he moves from one experience to another, Harmish says he’s learning about different types of accounting environments as well as the different experiences based on company size. In one internship for instance, he may help audit equity, legal expenses, debts, and cash, whereas another firm is limited to auditing PP&E (property, plant, and equipment). The opportunity to explore the different areas of accounting and types of firms is helping Harmish refine his career goals.
“By joining a more mid-sized company like DOZ, I’m getting to do more types of work and learn more skills as I go,” Harmish said. “My goal with this internship was not only getting the work experience in different areas of accounting but also getting this experience in smaller or mid-sized companies that let you do more things. After my first career experience in finance, it feels like this lessens my chances of getting laid off again.”
Harmish is enjoying the internship experiences as well as the coursework in the MSA program. Ultimately, he wants to sit for the CPA exam, and he says the curriculum at Kelley Indianapolis is leading him step-by-step through the study needed to succeed.
“The Kelley School actually gears your studies to prepare for the CPA exam. That drew me into the program even more because they truly care about you passing the four sections of the CPA exam,” Harmish said. “I plan to take the FAR section next summer, and I truly draw upon these MSA classes to study. It prepares you even more to get that CPA certification and to learn fully about accounting.”
In the MSA program, students are learning from expert Kelley faculty with career connections to industry employers. Not only do Kelley faculty provide learning that is directly applicable to the accounting profession and CPA exam, but they also offer networking and career advice.
“The professors in the graduate accounting program helped me a lot with that career transition. I had class with Professor David Farber and I just asked him to meet me in office hours, not just to discuss the topics we covered in class, but also my career trajectory. He explained what roles I can expect to get over the next three, five, and ten years,” Harmish said. “Getting that career path layout really helps. In finance, there’s this term called ‘climbing the ladder,’ and there are a lot of hurdles within that. In accounting, that career progression is more stable, and there’s more room for growth.”
Just eight months into the MSA program, Harmish has a full-time job offer in audit after graduation. He negotiated the job offer deadline to extend past his final internship so he can decide which path to choose. The offer came from the DOZ internship he earned through his connections at Kelley. Harmish says making connections has been one of the greatest takeaways from the program.
“You’ll have great Kelley professors that will teach you a lot that will directly translate into preparing for the CPA exam,” Harmish said. “Building those relationships with professors and other students in the Graduate Accounting Program has really elevated me and given me the opportunity to build a more stable future and have this full-time job offer. It’s awesome.”
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