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.
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Tom Tovar is CEO and co-creator of Appdome, a no-code mobile security solutions platform. Prior to Appdome, Tom served as executive chairman of Badgeville, an enterprise engagement platform acquired by CallidusCloud; CEO of Nominum, a DNS security and services provider that was acquired by Akamai; and chief compliance officer and VP of corporate development and legal affairs at Netscreen Technologies. He began his career as a corporate and securities attorney with Cooley Godward LLP.
Tovar holds a JD from Stanford Law School and a BBA in finance and accounting from the University of Houston.
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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:
