A company's retained earnings increased $375,000 last year and its assets increased $973,000. The company declared a $79,000 cash dividend during the year. What was last year's net income?

To find the last year's net income, we can use the following formula:

Net Income = Retained Earnings + Dividends - Increase in Assets

In this case, we are given that the retained earnings increased by $375,000, a cash dividend of $79,000 was declared, and the assets increased by $973,000.

Plugging these values into the formula, we have:

Net Income = $375,000 + $79,000 - $973,000

Simplifying the equation, we get:

Net Income = -$519,000

Therefore, last year's net income was -$519,000. This means that the company incurred a net loss of $519,000 for the year.