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.
Lisa McGreevy is the president and CEO of the Online Lenders Alliance — the association for the growing industry of companies who make and facilitate loans over the internet.
Shawn Panson is the U.S. Private Company Services leader for PwC. In this role he has a team of over 190 partners and more than 2,400 audit and tax professionals across 20 markets dedicated to serving private companies and their owners. PwC's Private Company Services practice serves the majority of the companies on the Forbes U.S. Largest Private Company list.
Sasha Orloff is CEO and co-founder of LendUp, an online lender.
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:
