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.
Aaron Harris has more than 25 years of high-tech engineering experience in business applications and software development strategies. From Sage Intacct's earliest days, Aaron has led the company's product vision and technology direction. A pioneer in cloud computing, Aaron helped Intacct build the world's first cloud architecture delivering on-demand financial applications. He regularly contributes to the development of best practices for cloud computing, service-oriented architecture, platform as a service, and accounting and finance technology standards.
As Sage's Global CTO, Aaron is responsible for Sage's technology and product vision. Aaron is hands-on leading investments in AI/ML, blockchain, and other emerging technologies to transform the way people think and work.
Aaron holds a Master's degree in information systems and a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Brigham Young University.
Christopher D. Maher is the chairman and CEO of OceanFirst Bank in Toms River, New Jersey.
Ian Cohen as CEO & Founder of LOKKER, provider of data privacy and compliance solutions for the enterprise, Ian is dedicated to providing solutions that empower companies to take control of their privacy obligations.
Before founding LOKKER in 2021, Cohen formerly served as CEO for Credit.com, and CPO for Experian, where he focused on consumer-permissioned data.
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:
