Vince Sloyan
head of external reporting, Reuters Group, UK
The opportunity to work in different business sectors was a major influencing factor for Vince Sloyan when it came to choosing ACCA. 'I was looking for a professional qualification that was well-respected and would provide me with a solid base within industry and commerce. ACCA seemed to meet all these requirements whilst enabling me to gain practical experience during my period of training,' he recalls.
He is in no doubt that he made the right choice and regards ACCA's global reputation among one of the greatest benefits of membership 'ACCA is a recognised worldwide qualification which has assisted me in gaining a responsible position in a top FTSE 100 company.'
Vince's career started in the UK's National Health Service where he spent nine years before moving into the corporate sector and a position at Reuters. 'When I joined Reuters in 1978, I was initially responsible for the head office management accounting function which expanded to include bought ledger, payroll and cashiering activities. I then switched my attention to financial reporting and subsequently became head of external reporting with responsibility for technical accounting interpretation and implementation,' explains Vince.
During his time at Reuters, Vince has been involved in a number of major developments and is currently leading the project team with responsibility for implementing international accounting standards across the Group. However, he rates the challenges associated with the simultaneous dual listing on the London Stock Exchange and the New York NASDAQ, which Reuters successfully achieved in 1984, as the most memorable point in his career to date.
In the future, Vince feels the profession needs to embrace modern technologies to facilitate the exchange of information. He says: 'The profession needs to be able to respond effectively and efficiently to the ever-changing, information-hungry, and electronically-based world in which we operate.'