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.
Adam Spigelman is the vice president of retention at Planet Home Lending
Thomas Reid is senior consultant at LibertyFi, where he manages the billing for its partner firms executed through the Envestnet platform. Previously, he worked in SEC compliance and regulatory reporting at two large regional banks headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
Zack Scott serves as Management Consulting’s Strategy Lead for Financial Services International at digital consultancy Publicis Sapient, delivering large-scale digital transformation programs across EMEA. Previously, he was Principal at Oliver Wyman within the financial services practice, investment analyst at Hay Creek Hospitality and he’s on the Board of Trustees of Wyman Worldwide Health Partners.
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:
