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.
Peter Nesbitt is COO of Teampay, a distributed spend management platform. He most recently served as Teampay’s vice president of finance. A former military intelligence officer, Nesbitt has a diverse background, with his expertise spanning financial leadership, fundraising and revenue growth. Prior to joining Teampay, he served in executive corporate finance roles, including director of finance at Bitly. He earlier co-founded TheFam, a music collective and events community in New York City, and served as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at an investment bank.
Sonja Kelly is the global head of Women's World Banking Institute.
Darcy Hitesman is an employee benefits attorney and owner of the HitesmanLaw firm.
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:
