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hello mam, hope youre well,
Sometimes the related questions say ”items that SHOULD be included in the letter” so in the written answers the examiner gives all the matters the ones that should be included, the ones that will be included and the ones that may be included (without any categorization)
However in some MCQs they put the same question like ”items that SHOULD be included” and in the answer they exclude the items that ”may be” included.. (for e.g. fee and billing basis)
COuld you please confirm what exactly is it that is expected of us to know? any latest development in ISAs? regarding ”should be” ”may be”
Hmmm without looking at the specific questions that you refer to, I cannot confirm the distinction – and if your exam is on Monday, I don’t think you should worry about it – especially if you are seeing these in a “kit” rather than in published ACCA Qs/As where authors may be less exact about the distinction.
Essentially, read “should” as “must” in OTs e.g. which of the following should … select 1 from 4 … choose the one that must.
But in a written question “what information should be included ….” this is an open questions, so as well as the information that must be included (in any circumstance) there may be information that must be included only in some/relevant circumstances. Therefore it would be correct to say that it may be included (because it depends on whether it is relevant) but equally correct to say that it must be included – when relevant.
That said, you should be guided by the marking scheme too – so if for 4 marks go for the 4 “most required” contents – rather than everything that might possibly be included.
In a written question, the requirement will often ask what the auditor should do/obtain/implement etc. It’s not asking what they absolutely must do – but rather what it is that will be appropriate for them to do/obtain, etc.
What the requirement should not ask is “what could the auditor do… ” because there may be lots of things that the auditor could do but not necessarily correct/appropriate/relevant – hence “should”.
In a similar vein, a candidate will not be asked “what would you do …” because although what they answer might be a correct account of what the student would do in the circumstance – it may not be appropriate – hence “what should …”.
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