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.
Dimitri Dadiomov is co-founder and CEO of Modern Treasury, which builds payments operation platforms for financial services companies.
Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Scott Engelbrecht is the chief development officer for CLA. For more than 30 years, he has dedicated his career to providing business and financial solutions to the firm's clients through its business lines: audit, tax, consulting, outsourcing and wealth advisory. In his current role as chief development officer, he is not only focusing on the firm's organic client growth but also driving forward greenfield opportunities, including opening new CLA locations and bringing other firms across the U.S. into the CLA family. He supports the development and management of the firm's financial reporting systems, and he coordinates across CLA to develop and manage appropriate measuring and reporting approaches required to accomplish the needs of the firm. Engelbrecht is also responsible for helping the firm reach stated financial goals for service lines, industry groups and geographic regions. As chief development officer, he leads and coordinates the overall facility management requirements of the firm and is responsible for coordinating a consistent approach operationally and financially regarding all lease, merger/acquisition and principal-related agreements.
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:
