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.
Fara Haron is CEO of CRM Solutions for Arvato North America and Philippines and is a member of the Arvato CRM board.
Michael Lebor is CMO and SVP, Innovation for AmTrust Financial Services, a multi-national property and casualty insurer. Contact him at michael.lebor@amtrustgroup.com.
Rachel Witkowski was the tech/AI reporter at Financial Planning. She was previously a lead editor at Forbes Advisor, overseeing their loans and housing verticals. During her career, she reported on financial regulation and fintech at American Banker and The Wall Street Journal.
Witkowski was also a finalist for a Jesse H. Neal award for business journalism for her coverage of employee discrimination at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which led to several hearings in Congress and a $5 million reimbursement to CFPB staff.
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:
