Final answer:
A debit to the Cash Short & Over account when replenishing a petty cash fund indicates a shortage of cash; in this case, it means $10 was missing from the fund.
Step-by-step explanation:
If the Cash Short & Over account is debited for $10 in the journal entry for replenishing the fund, it indicates that there was a $10 shortage in the petty cash fund. This situation is associated with the process of handling the company's petty cash system, which is a small amount of cash kept on hand for minor or incidental expenses.
When the petty cash fund is replenished, the amounts spent from the fund are accounted for by various expense accounts. If the total expenses are less than the amount of cash that should be in the fund, there is a cash over. If the total expenses are more than what should be in the fund, there is a cash short. A debit entry to the Cash Short & Over account indicates a cash shortfall, signaling that cash has gone missing from the petty cash fund. The petty cash custodian must then account for this discrepancy.
To directly answer the student's question - yes, if the Cash Short & Over account is debited for $10 during replenishment, it means $10 was missing from the fund at the time of replenishment.