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Which internal control is intended to ensure that a company does not mistakenly pay a supplier for an invoice that includes more items than were actually received?
The correct answer is D. The control designed to prevent payment for goods not actually received is the receiving function's preparation of a receiving report, which is then sent to accounts payable and matched against the supplier invoice and purchase order. This is the essence of a three-way match: purchase order, receiving report, and vendor invoice. AccountingTools explains that payables staff should match the supplier invoice to the related purchase order and proof of receipt before authorizing payment.
Option A is helpful for controlling check completeness and sequence, but it does not verify quantities received. Option B adds authorization control over disbursements, but it also does not confirm whether the shipment matched the invoice. Option C helps ensure purchases are approved before ordering, but it still does not prove what was actually delivered. The receiving department's counting and inspection of goods, followed by forwarding the receiving documentation to accounts payable, directly addresses the risk that a supplier invoice includes more items than were received. Therefore, the best internal control is Option D.