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.
Jenny Buckley is a Senior Vice President at ISN, overseeing ISN's Contractor Development, RAVS and Monarch Consulting Team. Prior to her current role, she held several management roles, most recently overseeing ISN's efforts in the Energy industry and the Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.
Since joining ISN in 2006, Jenny has held various business development, management and leadership roles within the organization. Her experience includes leading teams at ISN focused on contractor management across various industries, such as Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Mining, Utilities and Public Sector in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Jenny led operations across the Asia Pacific and Western Canada regions while living in Sydney and Calgary respectively.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.
Steven Cooley is the founder of Mortgage Advisor Tools and a former director at Finance of America.
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:
