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.
Corey Heldreth is chief accounting officer at OLarry. With over 15 years of experience in public accounting, he was previously a principal at Seiler LLP, where he focused on complex tax matters for high-net-worth individuals. He has successfully developed internal training programs focusing on building team collaboration, advancing technical skills, soft skills, and developing the firm's next wave of leaders.
Sam Chang is a wealth advisor with Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services organization committed to helping people lead lives of service and faith.
After immigrating to the United States when he was 5 years old, he had a 16-year career on Wall Street before joining Thrivent. He's passionate about helping people of all backgrounds use their money as a tool to lead a life of higher purpose.
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:
