1. Yes, but do well in the masters program to be sure. Your GMAT scores and solid grad. grades will go far in strengthening your profile. I'm not very familiar with accounting programs in general (I'm in finance) but you've figured out the method most of us use to gauge schools. Figure out universities that place into the type of institution you'd like to be a part of.
2. Accounting is a little different because there is a direct professional tie, but cruising journal articles, asking questions on your own, and talking to practitioners are all great ways of finding interesting topics.
3. Most high-end research in any field is too theoretical for direct application by practitioners. Cabell's lists 188 journals in accounting (there are certainly more, but 188 made the cut), so hopefully you can find something interesting going on in at least 2 or 3 (but then again... it is accounting).
4. In 04-05, the last in depth salary review I could find, the 25th percentile of newly minted PhD's teaching in public colleges made $85k. Check the link for more details
http://www.myalsb.org/SalarySurvey.pdf . It's not quite $100k for everyone, but it will be by the time you finish a program.