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.
Janice Kirkel is a senior reporter at Financial Planning.
Robert Smithson is the founder and CEO of Just Insure, a pay-per-mile insurance technology company that uses telematics to set prices, rewarding safe drivers and reducing bias. A successful entrepreneur, Robert also founded PythonAnywhere, a leading Python platform-as-a-service, and Genius Sports Group, which was sold for $280 million in 2018.
Prior to his entrepreneurship, Robert held several fund management positions including investment director at GAM, a pure-play asset management group headquartered in Zurich. He was also a partner at both THS Partners and Arete Research in the United Kingdom.
Robert graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in philosophy and currently resides in Los Angeles, California where Just Insure is headquartered.
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:
