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.
Brian Portnoy is the co-founder of Shaping Wealth, a Chicago-based firm that educates and trains financial advisors, companies and investors on behavioral finance concepts. He has held senior investment and education roles in the hedge fund and mutual fund industries and earned a Ph.D. in International Political Economy at the University of Chicago. An expert on the psychology of money, he is the author of The Geometry of Wealth.
Chad Witcher is chief operations officer at Synergi Partners.
Steve Perkins is CIO of Top 100 Firm HoganTaylor LLP, where he provides strategic leadership and is responsible for the planning, implementation and oversight of all firm technology innovation and process improvement initiatives. The inaugural recipient of the "Bridging the Gap in Technology" Award from Boomer Consulting Inc., Perkins is a member of the AICPA, and the Tulsa CIO Forum. He earned a BBA in Finance from Northeastern State University and an MBA from Oklahoma State University, and is also a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma for CPAs.
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:
