Suralink launched three AI products in 90 days. Their platform now covers the full audit from first document upload to final sign-off. Claude and Microsoft Copilot are built in. More than half of the top 100 accounting firms use Suralink. Those firms now have AI running workpaper creation, document review and financial statement tie-out.

The Signal  — Full-audit AI is not coming. It is already available for the firms that use this platform. The speed gains are real. Suralink's customers grew 84% faster than peers in 2025. But the platform does not close every gap. One control still has to be human: a named person who reviews AI outputs before work moves to the next stage. Without that written rule, the efficiency gain creates a new audit risk. What to watch: Whether your firm has a written review rule before enabling AI at any stage of the audit workflow.

The Treasury Inspector General confirmed the IRS moved more than 1,100 staff into new roles following the agency's mass layoffs. For accounting firms, this is a practical signal. IRS response times and processing capacity may shift. Build extra time into client timelines for anything that touches IRS correspondence.

Crowe LLP announced a significant equity investment from KKR, expected to close in Q3 2026. It joins a growing list of large accounting firms taking PE money. If your clients use Crowe, they may have questions about what changes when private equity owns the auditor.

Gusto rolled out AI agents designed to help accounting partners spot growth opportunities and manage client relationships. If you use Gusto for payroll clients, the accountant-facing tools are getting a real upgrade.

The AICPA filed formal comments on proposed updates to accounting method change procedures. If your firm handles method changes for clients, this is worth tracking as the rules develop.

Adaptive built AI agents for project accounting in the construction sector — one of the harder places to apply AI because of how complex job costing gets. Worth reading if you have construction clients or want to see how vertical AI is being built for regulated, high-complexity finance environments.

The PCAOB is advancing targeted updates to audit quality control standards. As AI-assisted audit work grows, these standards will shape how firms document and review AI outputs. Better to read this now than catch up when the final rule drops.

Perplexity Pro (perplexity.ai)

Perplexity Pro is an AI search tool that shows its sources for every claim and lets you click through to check them in real time. For accounting and finance research, it is the fastest way to cross-check an AI-generated claim against an actual source. Useful for quick verification of stats, regulatory summaries and industry benchmarks before they go into client work.

The wait is over. Whispers of Nystad is out now. A historical thriller where a coded letter can end a war. Follow Elsa across a frozen Baltic frontier as empires collide and every message carries a price. Available in paperback and ebook.

New tools and web apps are rolling out. See what's live and what is next.

Answer 16 questions about what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for. Nexairi Wayfinder maps the overlaps and tells you exactly what it means for your career.

That's the dispatch.

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— Jim

Jim Smart  ·  Founder, Nexairi

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