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.
Melbourne O'Banion is Bestow's CEO and co-founder. An entrepreneur and seasoned investor, O'Banion has a track record of start-up success. Before Bestow, he was a founding member of Presidio Title, a leading title insurance agency in Texas. And together with his wife, he founded Beauty Bioscience, a luxury skincare line. He's a member of the National Advisory Council for the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, where he studied Finance and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and is on the board of the SMU Tate Lecture Series.
Rodrigo Liang is co-founder and CEO of SambaNova Systems.
As U.S. chief operating officer at Esker, Steven Smith is responsible for all operations in North, South and Central America. He joined Esker in 2003 as the director of sales. Prior to Esker, He spent 17 years at Equitrac Corporation as the senior vice president of worldwide sales and two years in sales at Pitney Bowes.
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:
