Good question! I am also curious about the relationship between practice and academia research. I think practice is very important for finding interesting research topic. Personally, I do not think one without any accounting practice could solve or even find important problems in accounting. Once one is not confident with the importance of his research, he will lose motivation finally. Without motivation, research is really tough and boring. As a result, I think practice is necessary for research. If you do not have experience in practice, it may also help if you could read some books about accounting experience. Accounting textbooks or books on accounting theory are not enough for a good researcher.