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.
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Anne-Lise Dorry is the senior director of corporate finance products at the Tax and Accounting business of Thomson Reuters. She is a CPA in the State of New York and holds the equivalent certification in France. She has over 23 years of accounting and auditing experience. Dorry started her career at one of the Big Four accounting firms, first in France, then in New York. She has served clients that prepared financial statements in accordance with US GAAP, IFRS, French GAAP, and statutory accounting principles. Her main areas of expertise include IFRS conversions, business combinations and financing transactions, foreign exchange, international accounting, fair value measurements, and investments. In 2018, she received industry recognition when winning a Gold Award for Female Employee of the Year at the 15th Annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Dorry is a graduate from HEC, School of Management (in France).
Taylor Nicole Rogers is a reporter at Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser.
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:
