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.
Mark Lipton is a graduate professor of management at The New School in New York and the author of "Mean Men: The Perversion of America’s Self-Made Man" (Voussoir Press, September 2017). For more than 40 years, he has been a trusted adviser to Fortune 500 corporations, think tanks, philanthropies, nonprofits and startups.
Scott Sargent is of counsel in the law firm Baker Donelson's financial services practice.
Ingo Bednarz advises Devo (www.devo.com) as its corporate counsel. Following a tenure with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in Frankfurt, Germany, Ingo has managed the legal and compliance departments of several portfolio companies of Insight Venture Partners throughout Europe and the US.
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:
