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.
Jitesh Ghai is the senior vice president and general manager, data quality, security & governance, at Informatica.
Joseph L. Breeden, Ph.D., is the chief executive of Prescient Models LLC, a models and analytics consultancy. He has published papers and given lectures on retail lending analytics and economic capital around the world. In April 2010, his book “Reinventing Retail Lending Analytics” was published by Riskbooks. Strategic Analytics, of which Dr. Breeden was a founder, has grown to become an industry power and its software and services are used to analyze over $2 trillion in credit cards, auto, home equity, mortgage and other consumer credit portfolios.
Sam Taussig is head of global policy at Kabbage Inc., an online lender for small businesses.
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:
