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.
David Sharp is president of PaySimple. He has 21 years of experience in the payments and software industry, including eight years as vice president of the Western region for global payments. During his career, he has led business development for payment network processing, agent bank and ISO programs, as well as a variety of alternative payment solutions. David served as a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army following graduation from the Defense Language Institute and holds a BBA in international business from the University of Georgia.
Lisl Dutterer is executive director at Wnet.
Myron Schwarcz is executive vice president of Strategic Resource Management.
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:
