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.
Rashed Haq is the global head of AI, robotics and data and group vice president at Publicis.Sapient. Over the past 20 years, Rashed has helped companies transform and create sustained competitive advantage, through innovative applications of artificial intelligence, dynamic optimization, advanced analytics and data engineering. Prior to joining Sapient, Rashed worked in Silicon Valley startups and has done research in theoretical physics at the Los Alamos National Lab and the Institute for Theoretical Science. His research included gravitation and black holes, astrophysics, quantum computing and quantum cloaking.
Charles Kolstad is a partner in the Los Angeles office of the international law firm Withersworldwide. He assists clients in tax and corporate planning relating to the acquisition, disposition and restructuring of businesses, corporations and partnerships both domestically and internationally. He frequently advises foreign individuals moving to the U.S. on pre-immigration, income, gift and estate tax planning opportunities. He also focuses his practice on the cannabis industry/cannabusiness, crypto assets and block chain technology, and tax issues related to initial coin offerings.
Marissa Buckley oversaw marketing and communications at Security First Insurance and is responsible for the implementation of the company’s customer experience strategy. She has more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and 15 years’ experience in software development and database management. Prior positions range from digital marketing, computer programmer, and web developer. Her unique skillset and expertise across technology and marketing have allowed her to effectively collaborate throughout system development and identify opportunities to improve the user experience across applications, increase conversion, and integrate marketing analytics to drive iterative development.
Leading the company’s user experience design and development, Marissa has also been involved with the company’s development of mobile applications and the nation’s first social media disaster response communications system. Her effort in the creative development of personalized customer videos garnered recognition as Celent’s 2015 Model Insurer, winning in the digital and omni-channel category. She earned her bachelor of science degree in management information systems from University of Central Florida and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication at West Virginia University.
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:
