Ruxil, Master of Accounting
Ruxil Narula, '18 MAcc, began his career working in the family business, but always knew he wanted a career in accounting. Driven by wanting to know what makes a business tick, he enrolled in the Master of Accounting program, learning the finer aspects of accounting and a wide variety of business skills. Now working at a major accounting firm, Ruxil's degree allowed him to learn more about himself and has given him all the tools he needs to move forward.
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Creativity in business: The best of both worlds
Ruxil Narula, MAcc ‘18, is no stranger to entrepreneurship. Having grown up with two hard-working and ambitious parents, Ruxil spent many days helping out at their liquor store businesses. It was there, among the shelves of endless glass bottles and the quiet hum of refrigerated coolers, that Ruxil began to understand how creativity could be applied to business.
“I like being creative,” said Narula. “It’s harder to do that when you’re working for someone else, compared to when you build the enterprise yourself. As a business owner, you can take more risks. For me, entrepreneurship is about creativity, so when I think about business it’s a means to get creative.”
Narula looked to his parents for inspiration on how to approach his career. While his mother runs most of the family business, his father—who helps on the side—brings in expertise from his full-time job as an auditor at a large financial institution. These living examples marked the best of both worlds for Narula—business ownership and focused business acumen—and from there he set off to pursue his Master of Accounting (MAcc) degree.
In pursuing the MAcc degree, Narula was able to dive deeper into the technical world of audits and taxes. However, there was one class in his MAcc program that stood out: it was another best-of-both-worlds situation that echoed his parents' experience and presented entrepreneurship through a different lens.
“SMO 610: The Manager as Strategist class was a highlight for me,” recalled Narula. “The class had nothing to do with accounting directly, but it had everything to do with business in general. In theory, accounting is about business, but up until then, I hadn’t seen any other universities tying in accounting to real-world business scenarios. That class focused on how to get accountants to think like business owners, and that had a huge impact on me.”
The depth of expertise he found in the MAcc program was not only eye-opening for Narula; it also provided him with ways to expand and apply his creative thinking. No longer was he thinking in black and white. A whole new way of thinking had just presented itself.
“The master's program really changed my way of thinking. It taught me to shift my thinking from a simple ‘what is right or wrong in theory’ to a place now where I also consider the grey area in the middle, because that might be the best solution for the client,” said Narula.
As for the future, Narula plans to take what he’s learned from the MAcc program and start his own business (he’s leaning towards fashion photography), and gain some more experience in advising on tax law. Whichever route he takes, Narula will undoubtedly continue to apply the skills taught to him by his parents, and in the Master of Accounting program.