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.
Dr. Lynne Y. Williams is a professor in the School of Business and Information Technology at Purdue University Global. She has won numerous teaching, research, and service honors, including the Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Member award for 2014. Williams’s research has been published in a variety of journals and books and she has been cited for her expertise on cybersecurity and online privacy issues in publications such as the Computer Technology Review, Techonom and Computerworld. Most recently, Williams has been researching the legal and ethical implications of passive digital footprints with an emphasis on data gathered through the Internet of Things.
Jerry Shultz is president of Lightbeam Health.
Neekis Hammond, managing director with Sageworks, provides financial institutions with advisory services and thought leadership, and consults with product development on compliance and accuracy. He specializes in the Allowance for Loan Lease Losses; CECL preparation and methodology; acquired loan accounting and valuation, stress testing, and various portfolio analysis topics. Prior to joining Sageworks, he held a key role within Elliott Davis Decosimo’s FIG Consulting division where he provided valuation, accounting and loan analysis services. Prior to Elliott Davis Decosimo, he was with a multi-billion dollar financial institution where he worked on acquisitions ranging in size from $130 million to $2 billion and was an auditor with a regional CPA firm.
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:
