Michael Torres
Partner, Perez-Abreu, Aguerrebere, Suiero & Torres, P.L.
A lifelong CPA, Michael Torres is a founding member of Gables-based PAAST, one of the fastest growing CPA firms in South Florida. As much an advisor as an accountant, Torres has worked in a wide variety of areas, including hospitality, financial institutions, and real estate, with a specialty in sports and entertainment. His clients include a roster of sport superstars, including baseball great Jon Jay and the Miami Heat’s Andre Iguodala, and entertainers including actor, singer, composer, and TV personality Carlos Ponce (“Couples Retreat,” “Rio,” “Ice Age,” “7th Heaven”). On a personal level, he is periodically fearless: For his 40th birthday he swam among great white sharks off the coast of South Africa, and for his 45th birthday he ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. “That was probably the craziest thing I have ever done… I felt a survival instinct I had never felt before.”
Latest Achievement
PAAST has won numerous accolades, consistently ranking among the best accounting firms in South Florida, based on billings, rapid growth, and work environment. In the past year, however, Torres considers the firm’s greatest achievement to have successfully navigated the pandemic, keeping all 60 employees on staff. “It was a challenge that we never saw coming, but were able to follow through and service clients,” he says. Torres also continues to be a media interview source for Univisión, Bloomberg en Español Radio and CNN en Español Radio.
with nothing.”
What He Says
“My favorite thing is the deal side, helping companies with due diligence, analyzing companies,” says Torres. “Entrepreneurial clients are really good at what they do, but they need help on the business side.” Working with high profile entertainment and sports figures has put Torres in an advisory as well as a CPA role. “On the sports and entertainment side, we help clients, really becoming their business managers. Of course, we help with their tax returns. With athletes, they have to pay taxes in every state they play in. It gets complicated.”
