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.
Jenny Small is a partner at Otteson Shapiro, advising banks and fintechs on regulatory compliance and bank transactions. She spent over a decade at the OCC, having served as legal counsel to examiners supervising community, midsize, credit card, technology service providers, trust and novel banks; a licensing analyst on large bank transactions; and a payment policy analyst.
Chloé Dolsenhe is principal managing director of regulatory strategy at Vantro Advisors, where she advises financial institutions, stablecoin issuers, and technology companies on supervisory strategy and resilient product development. She formerly served as an enforcement attorney at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
BJ Gardner is the director of IT Development & Operations forPennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (PLM).
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:
