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.
James (Chip) S. Mahan III is the chairman and CEO of Live Oak Bank.
Steve Stock is an ACA-qualified accountant and ICAEW member who trained at KPMG. Over the 15 years since, he moved from group reporting accountant to financial director and shareholder across industries including automotive leasing, professional services and pharmaceuticals, working with both IFRS and U.K. GAAP along the way. He now leads FRS 102 Section 20 support and training at Crunchafi as U.K. accounting manager, support and education, helping chartered accountancy firms across the U.K. and Ireland move onto the standard's on-balance-sheet lease model.
Deb Misra is founder and CEO of Engineersmind, a New Jersey-based AI and data engineering firm serving financial services, healthcare and enterprise clients since 2016.
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:
