Accounting - financials and journal questions

[Karen Kasjaniuk]

I am an accountant, but my 9 to 5 is in hospital, accrual accounting, not real estate, cash accounting.  I am a newbie to real estate investing and am trying to get my journals/financials set up and have several specific questions:

1.  Do you prepare monthly or quarterly financials? 

2.  Is the "cash" portion of the initial purchase to something like owners equity contribution, since there technically is no cash in the new property account? 

3.  Do you ever relieve the owners equity contribution?  Is it a distribution / expense?  

4.  I think I've concluded that you cannot deduct your mortgage points paid in one year, but over the life of the mortgage.  Does that just live on the balance sheet and get expensed monthly to interest expense?  

This may be a long shot, but would anyone be willing to share a set of their financials for one property (a single family home type) and the related journal entries?

Thanks,

Karen