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.
Martin Kleinbard is the founder of Granular Fintech LLC, which advises fintech lenders and vendors on processes and strategies. He previously helped stand up new consumer credit products and teams at American Express and Bread Finance (acquired by Alliance Data Systems in 2020) before leading the CFPB's market research in fintech topics such as BNPL and solar financing.
Astrid Malval-Beharry is the Founder and President of StratMaven, a boutique strategy consulting and M&A advisory firm specializing in the intersection of P&C Insurance and Technology. With over 20 years of experience in growth strategy and M&A, she partners with insurance providers, solution vendors, and private equity firms to drive innovation and value creation in the InsurTech sector.
Suzanne M. Holl, CPA, is executive president of Loss Prevention Services with CAMICO. With more than 30 years of experience in accounting, she draws on her Big Four public accounting and private industry background to provide CAMICO's policyholders with information on a wide variety of loss prevention and accounting issues.
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:
