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.
Hal Schwartz is the COO for Functional Finance. He can be reached for further comment or information via email at hal@functionalfi.com.
Marc Rosenberg is a nationally known consultant, author and speaker on CPA firm management, strategy and partner issues. Managing partner of the Chicago-based consulting firm, Rosenberg Associates, he is founder of the authoritative annual survey of midsized CPA firm performance statistics, The Rosenberg Survey. He has consulted with more than 1,000 firms throughout his decades-long consulting career. He is best known as the author of his acclaimed Practice Management series — a compilation of knowledge and experience amassed throughout his consulting career on key topics pertinent to CPA practice management. Rosenberg is a graduate of the University of Illinois.
Sarah Acton is the chief customer officer at BILL. She brings more than 30 years of experience in marketing, sales and brand-building work in both consumer and business markets. Prior to BILL, she led both marketing and sales at Athos, a wearables company in the athletic performance space. She was also responsible for global brand oversight during pivotal periods of growth at LinkedIn and consumer marketing leadership at Yahoo!. She was also the owner of a small retail business, and holds an MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management and a B.S. in Marketing from Tulane University.
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:
