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.
Alon Muroch is an Israeli entrepreneur, and has been developing code from an early age. He began working for many different startups over the past decade, taking many different roles. In 2014, he read the Satoshi white-paper which inspired him to explore and get deeply involved in the world of blockchain and crypto technology. He was a code contributor to Bitcoin, Ethereum, developed his own multi-sig P2P wallet, and later on co-founded Blox.io 2017, where he serves as the company’s chief executive officer. Muroch continues to be passionate about the ways decentralized finance is transforming and opening up the traditional financial industry in a way never before imagined.
Jeff Butler is a speaker, author and consultant on attracting millennials as employees and customers.
David Scamehorn is vice president of global data analytics and customer insights at the Radisson Hotel Group.
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:
