Personal, one-on-one financial coaching for Christian families growing into faithful stewards over a lifetime.
“Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.”
Proverbs 27:23 (ESV)
I'm a former accountant and a pastor, and I started Take Account because faith and finances were never meant to be separate. I've spent years in both worlds, walking with families through their hardest seasons and understanding how money actually works.
Most families don't have a math problem. They have a stewardship problem that happens to show up in the bank account. My work is helping Christian families become faithful stewards, so they manage well, give generously, and find that peace and unity follow.
Most families don't have a math problem. They have a stewardship problem that happens to show up in the bank account. We help you close the gap between what you believe about money and how your family actually lives.
Tired of the tension and ready to be free, so you can steward well and give the way your heart wants to.
Building on a faithful foundation from the beginning, rather than learning the hard way later.
Getting organized enough to give generously and faithfully, with giving built into the plan rather than left over.
It starts with real work on our end before we ever meet. Then we meet to set your plan, and meet each month to keep you faithful to it.
You complete a detailed intake about your finances. Then we study it closely and build your Take Account Scorecard across all seven areas. The professional work starts before we ever meet.
We meet together and walk you through what we found. We talk honestly about where your family stands, and we set clear, measurable strategic goals with real timeframes.
Each month we meet to re-score your card, review your progress, and hold you to the goals you set. Faithfulness is the behavior; growth is the result.
Your finances, scored objectively across seven pillars. It's the deliverable from your assessment, and the number you'll watch climb over time.
Are you living within your means, with real margin each month?
What you owe, what it's costing you, and whether you're climbing out or digging deeper.
Your emergency fund, savings rate, and what your family owns.
Are you giving faithfully and growing toward the full tithe?
Are you contributing, and on track for your age and stage?
Basic insurance and a will. The gap most families miss.
A working budget, organized accounts, and a system that holds.
Everything starts with your first appointment, where we look honestly at where your family stands and build your plan. But knowing what's wrong isn't what changes things. The change comes from what happens next, month after month.
Take Account provides financial coaching and planning, not investment, tax, or legal advice.
For years I've lived in two worlds: the pastor's study and the account ledger. Most people keep them apart. I've come to believe that's the very reason so many faithful families still feel anxious, stuck, or ashamed about money.
The deepest question isn't “how do we get out of debt” or “how do we build a budget.” It's “how do we faithfully steward what God has entrusted to us?” When a family answers that, the budget, the debt, the giving, and the peace all begin to fall into place.
That's the whole of what Take Account does, and why I treat it as ministry as much as method.
— Marc Cogan
So there's no confusion about how I can help your family, here are honest answers to the questions people ask most.
First you book and complete a detailed intake about your finances. Then I review and analyze everything closely and build your Take Account Scorecard. Next we meet for a strategy meeting where I walk you through what I found and we set your goals together. That review and meeting is the one-time $299. After that, families who want ongoing help continue with monthly accountability meetings at $99 a month.
No. Take Account is financial coaching and planning. I help your family budget, get out of debt, build savings, give faithfully, and grow your net worth over time. I do not manage your money, recommend specific investments, or sell financial products. When you need investment, tax, or legal advice, I'll point you toward a licensed professional.
A good budgeting tool makes the work far easier, and I'll help you choose one that fits how your family operates. I most often point people toward Monarch or YNAB, but the right tool depends on your situation, and for some families a simpler approach works just as well. We'll settle on the right fit as part of your plan. (I'm not paid by any app I recommend.)
Never. You stay fully in control of your own accounts at all times. My role is to coach, build your plan, and hold you accountable to it. Nothing moves without you, and I never have access to your funds.
A monthly coaching and accountability meeting where we review the choices you made that month, re-score your card, and honestly check your progress against the goals you set. It's month to month, with no long-term contract. The reduced rate of $59 a month applies while your family's net worth is still negative.
Both, in a sense. The whole approach is built on biblical stewardship: the conviction that God owns it all and we're entrusted to manage it faithfully. Giving and generosity are part of the plan, not an afterthought. You don't have to be a member of any particular church, but this is openly Christian coaching.
No. Faithful giving is one of the seven areas we measure and a goal I'll coach you toward growing into over time. But if your family is carrying heavy debt, we may need to stabilize first. This is grace, not a performance test.
Yes. Meetings happen online, so your family can work with us from anywhere. The whole approach — the financial review, the strategy meeting, the monthly accountability — is built to work just as well across the country as it does across town.
As long as it serves them. The assessment and plan happen up front; the monthly accountability continues for as long as you find it valuable. Many families stay through a full season of change, then check in less often once the habits hold. There's no lock-in.
Book your strategy meeting and we'll look honestly at where your family stands and set a plan to steward faithfully from here.
