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.
Michael Simon is a consultant for ABBYY and the principal of Seventh Samurai, an e-Discovery and information governance expert consulting firm. Michael is a legal technology thought leader, having made over 100 presentations and written dozens of articles on e-Discovery and legal technology topics, including a book on Internet Law in 2002. He received his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and his B.A. cum laude from Tufts University.
Andrew Pery is a marketing executive at ABBYY, a global leader in content IQ and AI technologies and solutions. He has over 25 years of experience in the high technology sector focusing on content management and business process automation. Andrew holds a Master of Law degree with Distinction from Northwestern University, is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/C) and a Certified Information Professional (CIP/AIIM).
Olivia Diaz is a business analyst at eTatvaSoft.com, an enterprise level web and mobile application development company. An avid reader and a passionate writer, she enjoys sharing her ideas on ground-breaking IT solutions, current IT trends and more.
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:
