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Good morning, friends. Two regulators moved last week: the PCAOB put audit AI on its formal research agenda and the SEC proposed cutting quarterly filing requirements in half, which sounds like less pressure until you realize internal close discipline is much harder to maintain without an external deadline. Digits moved fixed asset schedules inside the general ledger, eliminating one of the most common sources of month-end reconciliation errors. And Google quietly made Gemini available to every Workspace accounting firm for free — most just haven't turned it on yet.
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In This Morning's Issue
| 01 |
Digits Moves Fixed Asset Schedules Into the Ledger
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| 02 |
PCAOB Puts Audit AI on Its Research Agenda
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| 03 |
SEC Wants to Let Companies Report Twice a Year
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| 04 |
Google Gemini Is Already in Your Accounting Firm
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No. 01
| ACCOUNTING
| Lead Story
Digits Moves Fixed Asset Schedules Into the Ledger
Digits launched Schedules, a feature that moves fixed asset depreciation and prepaid expense tracking directly into the general ledger. The system detects which transactions need a schedule, drafts the amortization math and holds the entry for accountant approval before anything posts.
The Signal — Most month-end close errors in fixed asset schedules start because the schedule and the ledger don't talk to each other. Moving this workflow inside the accounting system closes that gap and gives reviewers a clear source trail. Firms doing high-volume close work stand to recover real time on reconciliation. What to watch: Whether Xero and QuickBooks build equivalent embedded schedule management. This kind of feature tends to spread across mid-market platforms within 12 months of a smaller vendor proving the concept.
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No. 02
| REGULATION
PCAOB Puts Audit AI on Its Research Agenda
The PCAOB listed audit technology as a formal research priority on May 5. The regulator is examining how firms use AI tools during audits, with plans to develop standards covering tool selection, supervision and testing.
The Signal — This is the first clear signal that audit technology will get its own standards — not just fall under existing quality control rules. Any firm using AI in audit work without documentation of how those tools were chosen and supervised is now behind where standards are heading. What to watch: The PCAOB's research-to-standard timeline typically runs 18 to 24 months. Firms that build documentation practices now will be ahead of the formal requirement rather than scrambling to meet it.
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No. 03
| FINANCE
SEC Wants to Let Companies Report Twice a Year
The SEC proposed on May 5 to let public companies switch from quarterly to semiannual external reporting. The change would be optional — companies that prefer quarterly filings could keep them.
The Signal — Fewer external deadlines don't mean less internal close work. Boards, lenders and operations still need quarterly data. When the pressure of a regulatory deadline disappears, internal reporting becomes the only thing maintaining close discipline — and internal deadlines are easier to slip. What to watch: Whether early adopters who switch to semiannual reporting see finance team productivity gains or experience drift in internal reporting quality within the first 12 months.
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No. 04
| AI TOOLS
Google Gemini Is Already in Your Accounting Firm
Google added Gemini AI features to every Business and Enterprise Workspace plan at no added charge. For accounting firms already on Google Workspace, that means AI built into Docs, Sheets, Gmail and Drive — no new software purchase needed.
The Signal — Gemini can draft engagement letters from your existing templates and prior client emails, categorize expenses in Sheets and route invoice attachments into a tracking spreadsheet automatically. Workspace Studio lets staff build no-code workflows, and the AI Control Center governs which tools each person can access. Most firms haven't activated any of them. What to watch: The window to get ahead of peers closes as adoption normalizes. Firms that test and deploy one Gemini workflow this quarter will be ahead of clients who will expect AI-assisted service as a baseline.
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External links — the most worth-clicking AI items from around the web this week.
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Workflow of the Week
AgentPeek
AgentPeek puts a live view of Claude Code and Codex sessions in your Mac menu bar. For teams running AI automation agents in the background, it cuts the context-switch cost of checking whether they're done.
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NOW AVAILABLE: Whispers of Nystad
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.
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Nexairi Sandbox
New tools and web apps are rolling out. See what's live and what is next.
Visit Nexairi Sandbox →
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From the Archive
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That's the dispatch.
If something here changed how you think this week, hit reply and tell me. I read every one.
— Jim
Jim Smart · Founder, Nexairi
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— The Letters Desk —
Write back. We're listening.
Every reply lands in the editor's inbox. Tell us what hit, what missed, or what we should chase tomorrow — one sentence is plenty.
Or just hit reply. [email protected]
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