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.
Justin Bakst has over 15 years of experience leveraging data analytics and advanced models into actionable insights for financial institutions. He is the executive director of the Darling Consulting Group and the former managing director of Talisai. He has a B.S. in finance from Bentley University and an MBA from Babson College, and served on the executive board of the Boston Product Managers Association. Bakst is a speaker and published author featured in publications including American Banker, The RMA Journal, Financial Times, Chief Information Officer Magazine and The Banking Exchange.
Ron Neumann is president and CEO of OCCU.
Greg Arnette is technology evangelist and Sonian chief technology officer at Barracuda Networks.
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:
