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.
Carlos Netto is CEO of Matera.
Bill Loftus is a founding partner of Coastal Bridge Advisors. With a career spanning over 30 years, he has held senior executive positions at Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney as well at Coastal Bridge, which he co-founded in 2008.
His passions are financial education and philanthropy. He has been featured on Fox Business Channel and the Dow Jones Advisor Show.
Fatima Koning, Chief Commercial Officer at workspace provider IWG, is a proud champion for the hybrid model, and has helped firms around the world to embed it successfully.
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:
