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.
Zachary Decker is a master of accounting student at the University of Northern Iowa and serves as a sergeant in the Iowa National Guard. He served as the president of the accounting clubs at the University of Northern Iowa and Des Moines Area Community College and held positions as Treasurer of the University of Northern Iowa's Veterans Association and Global Business Club. He recently accepted a position to start his accounting career at PwC in Austin, Texas.
Attila Toth is the founder and CEO of ZestyAI, a risk platform for property and casualty insurers. With over two decades of experience building high-growth businesses at the intersection of data and climate science, Attila has worked with insurers and regulators across the U.S. to scale AI adoption responsibly. Before founding ZestyAI, he held leadership roles at C3 AI and SunEdison and was a strategy advisor at McKinsey & Co.
Steve Dean is the chief investment officer at Compound Planning, a $2.5 billion digital family office and tech-enabled RIA.
He leads the investment team, developing and overseeing the deployment of the public and private model portfolios. Dean has over 30 years of experience researching markets and implementing investment strategies for both institutional and wealth advisor clients. He began his career in the economic research department of the Federal Reserve before joining a large global quantitative equity manager, working with endowments, pension plans and fund providers.
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:
