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 Hustler is vice president of engineering at AppNeta.
John Dugan led the OCC as U.S. comptroller of the currency from 2005 to 2010. He is currently the lead independent director of Citigroup Inc. He is a former chair of the bank regulatory practice at the law firm Covington & Burling.
Charles Noski has served since 2016 as chairman of the Financial Accounting Foundation, the nonprofit body that appoints, funds and oversees the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and formerly chaired the FASB’s Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council. Earlier in his career, he was chief financial officer of Bank of America and a member of the board of directors of Morgan Stanley.
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:
