Navas 28 April 2020 at 15:01 PM

The board of directors of Northern Corp. met on May 5, 20X5 and declared a quarterly cash dividend in the amount of $800,000 ($0.50 per share). The dividend was paid on May 28, 20X5 to shareholders of record as of May 15, 20X5.
Assume that the only transactions that affected Northern during May 20X5 were the dividend transactions and that the closing entries have been made.
Northern's total equity is
A) Unchanged by the dividend declaration and decreased by the dividend payment.
B) Decreased by the dividend declaration and unchanged by the dividend payment.
C) Increased by the dividend declaration and unchanged by the dividend payment.
D) Unchanged by either the dividend declaration or the dividend payment.