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.
The pandemic won’t halt the Cincinnati bank's plan to open about 100 branches in the Southeast, but features could be added to accommodate social distancing.
Michael Ramos is the founder and managing partner of MRA Learning, a full-service learning and development consulting firm that specializes in curriculum design and custom learning solutions. Reach him at mramos@mralearning.com.
Zac McClure is the co-founder of TokenTax, prior to which he spent his career in international finance and accounting spanning JPMorgan, Imprint Capital, Bain and Elsevier. He has worked in over a half-dozen countries and received his MBA from the UPenn Wharton School and BS’s in both Accounting and International Finance from the University of Southern California.
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:
