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.
Michael Cerami is vice president of strategic alliances and business development at CPA.com.
Dr. Arindam Samanta leads property underwriting product management efforts in the areas of weather and natural hazards, including FireLine, Verisk’s wildfire risk management tool for the insurance industry, and a range of other property risk assessment tools related to hail, wind, and lightning. Additionally, he supports ISO’s personal lines product innovation pipeline and agenda.
Dr. Samanta did his academic and research work at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Caltech, and Boston University. National and international news media—including the BBC, as well as Nature and Science magazines—have highlighted his research. He has contributed to articles and been quoted by trade journals such as Insurance Journal, Business Insurance, CLM Magazine,PropertyCasualty360,Risk & Insurance, and Canadian Underwriter. He has also received Verisk’s highest award: the Verisk Citizenship Award.
Chris Mier is President of Rosebud Strategies LLC
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:
