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.
Dr. Cole Barfield has served as Chief Medical Officer of on-demand virtual care provider First Stop Health since 2024. As a board-certified Internal medicine physician, Dr. Barfield spent the first ten years of his career treating patients in inpatient, outpatient, and virtual primary care settings before co-founding and serving as CMO of Wellview Health, which later merged with SentryHealth before being acquired by First Stop Health in late 2023.
Joe Myers is executive vice president of global banking at Diebold Nixdorf.
Suresh Sadhu is an expert in SAP Master Data Governance and financial data management, helping organizations achieve clean, compliant, and centralized master data across complex ERP systems. He specializes in implementing governance frameworks, automated workflows, and data validation processes that improve accuracy, reduce errors, and enhance operational efficiency. Surresh partners with finance teams and business leaders to enable confident, data-driven decision-making and support sustainable business performance.
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:
