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.
Andrew Metz has been working in a SaaS sales capacity for over 15 years. In his career he has climbed the corporate ladder from a BDR to a vice president of sales, overseeing a 100-person sales team currently at Zywave (SaaS Insuretech leader). He has developed new leaders within the sales organization and has personally hired over 200 sales professionals.
Andrew frequently guest lectures to business students at the University of Marquette. He also presents for the MBA program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee several times a year. Andrew is also an active content creator on LinkedIn and has created multiple viral posts, with millions of views. He currently has an audience of over 15,000 LinkedIn followers.
Itamar Romanini is vice president and general manager of HSA Store and a long-time leader and innovator in consumer-directed healthcare and HSAs. HSA Store is part of the Health-E Commerce family of brands, which also includes FSA Store, WellDeservedHealth and Caring Mill.
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:
