In the weekly computer run to prepare payroll checks, a check was printed for an employee who had been terminated the previous week. Which of the following controls, if properly utilized, would have been most effective in preventing the error or ensuring its prompt detection?

(a) a control total for hours worked, prepared from time cards collected by the timekeeping department

(b) requiring the treasurer's office to account for the numbers of the prenumbered checks issued to the EDP department for the processing of the payroll

(c) use of a check digit for employee numbers

(d) use of a header label for the payroll input sheet