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.
Emma Bienias is managing director of Stout, a global advisory firm specializing in corporate finance, accounting and transaction advisory, valuation, financial disputes, claims, and investigations. She has a background in performing valuation engagements for various purposes including financial reporting, tax valuations, business reorganizations, pre-acquisition diligence, post-acquisition disputes, fairness and solvency opinions and other management planning and corporate-related matters. Emma has experience providing expert litigation support for analyses of economic damages resulting from the infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property rights. She has performed damage analyses that included consideration of unjust enrichment, loss profits, and reasonable royalty. Emma also combines financial, market and competitive information to value intellectual property for a variety of objectives such as regulatory compliance, licensing and sale transactions, and securing financing for corporate acquisitions and expansion.
Alessio Alionço is the founder and CEO of Pipefy, a leading process management and AI platform. Brazilian-born Alionco is a high-impact global leader and has grown Pipefy from its founding in 2015 to a company with hundreds of customers worldwide. Pipefy delivers a business process automation platform that improves productivity and efficiency, centralizes data, and standardizes processes for teams in insurance.
Date: Monday, September 15, 2025
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:
