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.
Leslie Helou, PharmD, is the VP of medication strategies at MOBE.
Jim Lord has been with ADP for nearly three decades. His experience encompasses a wide variety of management and executive leadership responsibilities across the ADP portfolio, including Small Business Services and Retirement Services divisions. Currently, Jim is the senior vice president of ADP's Insurance Services division.
Andy Kunzweiler, CFA, is the direct indexing portfolio manager at Morningstar Wealth.
Previously, he was a senior portfolio manager at Northern Trust, where he managed direct indexing portfolios for a diverse clientele ranging from foundations and endowments to corporations and nuclear decommissioning trusts, to family offices and ultrahigh net worth individuals. He began his career in the analyst program at UBS Investment Bank and graduated from Boston College. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society of Chicago.
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:
