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.
Robert Sheen is the founder and CEO of Trusaic.
Karen Buck is executive vice president and chief administrative officer of EagleBank. Her most recent roles include executive vice president — director of operations/contact center at Flagstar Bank in Michigan and executive vice president — commercial, retail/payment operations at TD Bank. Ms. Buck earned a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in finance and Spanish from La Salle University in Philadelphia. She has been recognized by South Jersey Biz Magazine as one of the 25 Women to Watch, NJBIZ Journal as one of the Best 50 Women in Business, the American Banker Most Powerful Women Team Award and Crain's Detroit 100 Most Influential Women.
Atty Bruggemann, Esq. is a partner at Dimopoulos Bruggemann P.C., a matrimonial and family law firm based in Westchester County, New York that specializes in high-net-worth divorces.
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:
