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.
Roland Chan is the founder and CEO of FindBob, an enterprise platform accelerating transition behavior for insurance and financial service companies by focusing on the needs of agents and advisors and empowering the enterprise with a talent management operating system to protect and grow their book of business.
PJ Patel is co-CEO of Valuation Research Corporation and can be reached at ppatel@valuationresearch.com or (609) 243-7030.
Wes Bricker is vice chair and U.S. Trust Solutions co-leader at PwC US. He previously served as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s chief accountant beginning in 2016. He returned to PwC in July 2019, where he previously served clients in the banking, capital markets, financial technology, and investment management sectors, and served as a member of the firm's National Quality Organization. His responsibilities in his current role at PwC encompass audit quality, business development and portfolio strategy, human capital, diversity, innovation and technology.
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:
