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.
Justin Cooper leads Orrick's Finance Sector and is a member of the firm's Board. He also serves as co-leader of Orrick's Public Finance department and chair of the firm's nationally prominent housing finance group.
Zack Schuler is the Executive Chairman and Founder of NINJIO, a leading cybersecurity awareness training company. With over 1,000,000 viewers a month, NINJIO empowers employees at some of the world's largest organizations to protect themselves against cyberthreats and scams. Prior to NINJIO, Zack founded Cal Net Technology Group, an I.T. Consulting and Security firm in 1995. Zack grew Cal Net into one of the larger MSPs in Southern California before selling the company to a private equity firm in 2013.
Mary de Wet has about 25 years of experience in financial journalism. Before joining American Banker, she led the Dow Jones Newswires Americas team in covering corporate disclosures and analyzing news from Canada to Brazil. Her articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch and Barron's.
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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:
