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.
Felipe Wagner is the Americas Senior Intelligence Analyst at Healix's Vancouver office, where he plays a key role in delivering high-quality intelligence reports that provide timely and actionable insights. With an academic background in International Relations and a
specialisation in investigations utilising Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques, Felipe works closely with operations teams to enhance situational awareness and support crisis management capabilities.
Keren Bar-Hava, Ph.D, CPA, is head of the Department of Accounting at the Hebrew University Business School and currently serves as a member of the Israel Accounting Standard Board. Her research focuses on market efficiency, corporate governance, fair value versus cost and adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards.
Mike Belshe is the co-founder and CEO of BitGo.
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:
