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.
Julie Genjac is a vice president and managing director of Applied Insights at Hartford Funds. With over 20 years of experience, she helps financial professionals and teams optimize their practices by enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness. She is also a co-host of the Hartford Funds Human-centric Investing podcast, featuring thought leaders from inside and outside the industry.
Donna M. Massanova is EBP Center of Excellence global lead at Makosi, where she is also a member of the company's Advisory Board. She retired as a partner from Baker Tilly with over 30 years of experience in public accounting. She built and led one of the largest employee benefit plan audit practices in the U.S. and spearheaded the Philadelphia market's construction and real estate practice.
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:
