Employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic claimed some outlandish expenses this year, including pricey exercise bikes, facelifts and private jets.
Emburse, an expense management software company, released a compilation Wednesday of some of the craziest expenses it has seen claimed this year, some of which were actually approved. That included $1,895, which was approved as a contribution for an employee's Peloton Bike under the explanation of “for health and wellness.” On the other hand, a $7,600 expense claim for a facelift was submitted under the category of “repairs and maintenance” but was rejected, despite the pressing need to look one’s best during a Zoom meeting.
Carlton 'Carl' Doty leads Forrester’s global research in emerging technologies. He helps Forrester clients assess disruptive technologies and evaluate new ventures that drive business innovation. Prior to this role, Carl founded Forrester’s customer insights practice and led a global research organization that helped B2C and B2B marketers select and implement marketing technologies and services.
Earlier in his tenure, Carl managed Forrester's consumer product strategy practice, where he led a research agenda on product innovation that spawned Forrester's book, Digital Disruption. He began his Forrester career in 2006 as an analyst covering digital channels, healthcare technology, and consumer-directed health plans.
Previous Work Experience
Prior to joining Forrester, Carl spent a decade in IT, implementing digital portals and applications for a large regional health insurer to improve customer and partner experiences. He also worked in two early-stage startups, and served as vice president of consulting at a global marketing services provider.
Education
Carl attended Tulane University as an NROTC Midshipman and holds a B.S. in civil engineering management from the University of Vermont.
Rodney Joffe is senior vice president, senior technologist and fellow at Neustar. He has been a sought-after cybersecurity expert who, among other notable accomplishments, leads the Conficker Working Group to protect the world from the Conficker worm. Providing guidance and knowledge to organizations from the United States government to the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Mr. Joffe is a pioneer in the domain name system (DNS) and cybersecurity markets and has demonstrated his expertise in developing new solutions at Neustar such as NeuSentry.
Tony has devoted 15-plus years to leadership and business development positions within the financial services community. His primary areas of expertise include leadership and organizational development, sales and negotiation tactics, strategic planning, merger planning, enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance and project management. Tony has served as the ERM Officer since 2009. Primary responsibilities include ERM program development, integration and administration. Tony oversees the ERM function working closely with senior management and the Board of Directors in interpreting and managing a strong risk culture and facilitating organizational planning and risk mitigation efforts.The Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) function ensures that Bellco actively assesses its risk exposures, evaluates alternative responses to those exposures, reports risks to the Board of Directors and considers risks in the strategic planning process. Bellcos ERM program is focused on strategy integration and the optimization of the risk framework to enhance the achievement of its goals.
Some expenses weren’t for working from home, but more about getting out of the house safely. An expense claim for a private jet charter costing over $20,000 was submitted and approved under the explanation of “required to limit COVID exposure for international shoots.” Another travel-related expense claim was $2,500 for a helicopter ride, which was not approved.
The $79 expense claim for a dog crate could perhaps be used for travel at some point when that's safer, but in these times it was more plausibly to provide "crate training [for] a new COVID puppy to not run into Zoom meetings."
Below is an infographic produced by Emburse showing this and several other head-scratching claims:
