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.
Matt Schulz is a senior analyst at CreditCards.com.
Mounir Hahad is head of threat research at Juniper Networks.
Phil Zongo is an experienced head of cybersecurity, strategic advisor, author, and public speaker. He is the 2016-17 winner of the ISACA’s Michael Cangemi Best Book/Article Award, a global award that recognizes individuals for major contributions to publications in the field of IS audit, control and/or security.
In 2016, Zongo won ISACA Sydney's first Best Governance of the Year award, a recognition for the thought leadership he contributes to the cybersecurity profession. Over the last 14 years, Zongo has advised several business leaders on how to cost-effectively manage business risk in complex transformation programs. Zongo regularly speaks at conferences on disruptive trends, such as cyber resilience, blockchain, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
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:
