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.
Pamela Mattsson is SVP of People and Organizational Development at Outreach. Before Outreach, Pamela was the Global Head of Executive Development for Amazon. Pamela is a seasoned executive coach, dynamic facilitator, course designer, and innovative leader in Executive Development and Organizational Culture.
William Marr is responsible for delivering Welton's investment solutions to the wealth management community, including brokerage houses, RIAs, private banks and family offices.
In previous roles he led due diligence and allocated to hedge funds and CTAs as Global Head of Hedge Fund Research at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. He also headed Alternative Investments at Zurich-based bank Julius Baer and Boston-based State Street Global Advisors. Most recently he founded and managed Granite Street Capital, a consultancy focused on developing and implementing growth strategies for alternative investment managers.
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:
