I like working with professionals and those that actually pay on time  EVERYTIMEOur fund is blended NPL/PL fund and we've retained a 3rd party fund administrator to handle the bookkeeping, tax reporting, investor reporting and auditing.

You will incure this expense after you buy unless you self manage and work for free- book keeping.  

However, I'll spare you the pain and just say: pay the business bills with a business check to your credit card company.I've been thru three IRS audits, leave bookkeeping to the bookkeeper, tax returns to the CPA and the pensions to the pension people.

I am by no means an EA or CPA, but I know the fundamentals of bookkeeping and how to do rather complicated taxes.- I take every legitimate deduction possible.

Index funds...took a week or two to learn a proper allocation and takes a little time each year to reallocate and tax loss harvest, if applicable.Done correctly, there are no passive investments in real estate...there are just some that are less active than others...or they are very active in the building years and then can be systematized.I only spend a couple of hours per month on my active investments now...doing bookkeeping but I spent substantial time in acquiring and rehabbing them and getting the right management solution in place. 

With a HH, you can learn how to analyze properties & markets, how to find an investor-friendly agent, how to spot value-add opportunities at properties, how to engage in a strong due diligence process, how to screen tenants, how to manage the property, how to build a network of contractors, plumbers, electricians and other pros, how to manage the book keeping of the property, etc., etc., etc. 

How much do you spend in tax preparations, bookkeeping, and preparing financial statements when you first start your business?

Just to stay on topic with the OP, my check might be net profit or just net sales - depends on whose doing the bookkeeping I guess.

I also have them do my social media, executive assistant and small bookkeeping tasks. 

Everything is approved BEFORE it happensBetter for bookkeeping and it stops a tenant from pulling "I fixed the faucet in the bathroom and a screen door so I took $100 off the rent this month...ok?"