Many accounting firm owners believe growth is primarily about winning new clients. Michael Coronado argues that sustainable growth depends on something far less exciting—but far more important: cash flow, pricing discipline, and building systems that allow a firm to scale without sacrificing profitability.
In this episode of Humans in Accounting, Michael Coronado, President of Pronto Advisors, shares lessons learned after more than 35 years of building an accounting firm that successfully evolved from a traditional tax practice into an advisory-focused business serving real estate investors, high-net-worth individuals, and business owners. He explains why cash flow matters more than revenue, why firms consistently underestimate how long growth takes, how specialization creates competitive advantages, and why accountants shouldn’t be afraid to charge appropriately for the value they provide.
As firms grow, many also reach a point where senior professionals become overwhelmed with compliance work instead of focusing on higher-value advisory services. Understanding how South Offices works can help firms build additional capacity with bilingual accounting professionals from Latin America while allowing experienced team members to spend more time serving clients strategically.
Michael Coronado is the President of Pronto Advisors, an accounting and advisory firm founded more than 35 years ago after his father decided to build his own practice following a corporate layoff. What began as a small tax-focused firm eventually evolved into a modern advisory practice specializing in real estate investors, business owners, and high-net-worth individuals.
Throughout the episode, Michael explains how Pronto Advisors reinvented itself multiple times—from embracing electronic tax filing in the early 1990s to transitioning from Pronto Income Tax to Pronto Advisors as the firm’s services expanded beyond compliance. Today, the firm focuses heavily on advisory services, tax planning, cash flow management, and technology designed specifically for accountants and business owners.
Rather than discussing theory, Michael shares practical lessons learned through decades of operating an accounting firm, including mistakes, pricing decisions, client selection, technology investments, and leadership challenges that many firm owners eventually face as they grow.
This article includes the full transcript of Michael Coronado’s conversation on Humans in Accounting. If you’d rather watch the discussion, you can view the complete interview below before continuing with the written key takeaways and transcript.
One of Michael’s strongest messages is simple: “Cash flow is king.” Revenue may look impressive on paper, but businesses fail when they don’t have cash available to meet payroll, invest in growth, or manage unexpected expenses. Firm owners should build their financial planning around cash availability—not just top-line revenue.
Cash flow forecasting also becomes increasingly important as firms grow. Having visibility into future cash positions allows owners to make better hiring, investment, and expansion decisions before problems arise.
Entrepreneurs naturally tend to be optimistic. According to Michael, one of the biggest mistakes new firm owners make is assuming they’ll acquire clients faster than reality allows.
Whether the goal is reaching the first $100,000 in annual revenue or building a multi-million-dollar practice, growth almost always takes longer than expected. Planning for a slower timeline—and maintaining enough cash to survive that period—significantly improves the odds of long-term success.
Today, Pronto Advisors is well known for serving real estate investors and high-net-worth clients, but Michael emphasizes that specialization wasn’t something the firm forced from day one.
New accounting firms often need to accept a broader variety of work while building their client base. As the business grows, patterns begin to emerge, allowing owners to identify industries where they create the most value and gradually position themselves around that expertise.
The goal isn’t simply having a niche—it’s developing one naturally while continuing to deliver exceptional service.
Michael believes many accounting firm owners are uncomfortable charging appropriately for additional work. His advice is straightforward: don’t be afraid to say yes—but charge accordingly.
New entities, additional advisory work, special projects, or requests outside the original engagement should be treated as new services rather than absorbed into existing fees. Firms that consistently discount their work often attract clients who demand more while contributing less to long-term profitability.
Learning when to increase fees—and confidently communicating that value—is one of the most important business skills an accounting firm owner can develop.
One of the most interesting parts of the conversation focuses on Pronto Advisors’ internal technology initiative: building an accounting platform specifically designed for accountants and business owners.
Rather than replacing accounting professionals, Michael envisions technology that automates routine processes, consolidates financial information, improves cash flow forecasting, and gives advisors more time to help clients make better business decisions. He believes the future isn’t about removing humans from accounting—it’s about allowing them to spend less time processing transactions and more time delivering strategic advice.
As firms transition from compliance work toward advisory services, senior accountants often become the bottleneck. Every hour spent on bookkeeping, reconciliations, or repetitive accounting work is an hour that can’t be invested in higher-value client conversations.
Many firms solve this challenge by expanding their teams with nearshore accounting and finance professionals, allowing experienced staff to focus on tax planning, advisory, and client relationships instead of day-to-day production work. Firms making that transition often begin by hiring a Nearshore Staff Accountant or Nearshore Senior Bookkeeper to create additional capacity without sacrificing quality.
"Cash flow is king. Period."
"It's going to take longer than you think."
"Determine a niche if you can."
"Don't be afraid to say yes... and it's going to cost you extra."
"No one works for free."
Alex Roman: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Humans in Accounting, where leaders and humans share the story behind their spreadsheets. I'm Alex Roman, and this podcast is brought to you by South Offices, connecting accounting talent across borders.
Today's guest is Michael Coronado, President of Pronto Advisors, an accounting and advisory firm based in Miami.
Michael Coronado: Pronto Advisors has been in business for more than 35 years. My father started the firm after being laid off in 1991. He had been doing tax and accounting work at night and on weekends, and after the layoff he decided he never wanted to work for someone else again.
The business began as Fast Refunds, then became Pronto Income Tax, and later evolved into Pronto Advisors as the firm expanded beyond tax preparation into advisory, tax planning, accounting, and cash flow support.
Michael Coronado: On the personal side, we work with high-income and high-net-worth individuals who need tax planning. On the business side, we work with business owners, many of whom are involved in real estate or have multiple entities.
The goal is not only compliance. It is helping clients grow, understand their financial position, and do so in a tax-efficient way.
Michael Coronado: Pronto Advisors is building its own ledger solution designed to sit between business owners and accountants. The goal is to give business owners visibility into their numbers while allowing accountants to do the work efficiently.
The platform is designed to connect with banks, payroll systems, and future integrations like Stripe and PayPal. Instead of forcing owners to manage bookkeeping themselves, it gives them real-time visibility into cash flow, reports, and financial decisions.
Michael Coronado: Business owners need real-time financial gauges, just like pilots need gauges to make decisions. They need to know how much money is in the bank, what their expected cash position will be, and whether they can afford a new investment or capital expense.
Technology should not remove humans from accounting. It should give advisors better tools so they can spend more time helping clients make decisions instead of only processing transactions.
Michael Coronado: The first lesson is that growth takes longer than you think. The second is that cash flow is king. It does not matter how much revenue you generate if you do not have the cash available when you need it.
For accounting firms, there is still a major opportunity to differentiate by offering high-touch service, especially as private equity continues acquiring firms across the industry.
Michael Coronado: Determine a niche if you can, but understand that early on you may need to focus on reaching your first $100,000 in revenue before you can say no to certain clients.
As the firm grows, saying no becomes important. So does learning to say yes with the right price. If a client asks for something outside the engagement, do not be afraid to say: yes, we can do that, and it will cost extra.
Accounting firm owners often regret discounting their work, especially when price-sensitive clients end up requiring more time and attention than expected.
Alex Roman: Michael, thank you so much for being part of Humans in Accounting. It was a pleasure having you.
Michael Coronado: Thank you so much for having me.
South Offices places pre-vetted, bilingual accounting professionals from Latin America for U.S. CPA firms. Whether you need bookkeepers, staff accountants, senior accountants, or controllers, we help firms scale without sacrificing quality.
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