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.
Vicente Diaz joined Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research & Analysis Team in November 2010. As a principal security researcher, he specializes in threat intelligence and malware research. Vicente is the author of several software tools and is active on the conference circuit, both as an organizer and speaker. He was a member of the advisory board for the Source Conference and is a co-founder of Edge –Security, a security group dedicated to research and the organization of non-profit events.
Jeffrey Shood is founder and CEO of Intuvo, a firm that helps its customers boost their lending business by automating the analysis of their customer base and then triggering personalized marketing via email, direct mail and sales force automation.
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:
