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.
Melinda Lucy (formerly Huspen) covers financial technology for American Banker and is based in New York, NY. Previously, she was a business reporting intern with Digital Insurance via the Dow Jones News Fund. She is a graduate of Fordham University with a major in communications/journalism and a minor in business.
Annabel Burba is a reporting associate for National Mortgage News.
Donna Gambrell was director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund from 2007 to 2013. She is currently president and CEO of Appalachian Community Capital, an intermediary and certified CDFI.
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:
