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.
Alanna Abreu is a principal at UHY. She has years of audit and advisory experience with a concentration in federal acquisition regulation and employee benefit plan audits. She specializes in multiple industries, including professional services, manufacturing, construction, and not-for-profit. She has extensive experience completing assessments for client internal controls, accounting systems, efficiency reviews and more. Her software experience includes Oracle NetSuite, Oracle, QuickBooks Desktop (Pro, Premier, Enterprise), QuickBooks Online (Plus, Advance for Contractors), Deltek Visions, Sage and PeopleSoft. She is a Certified Design Accountant and Oracle NetSuite Certified Financial User. She also holds Cybersecurity Advisory Services Certification and Cybersecurity Practical Application Certification.
Krishnan Nair is the director of product, fintech & payments for Stampli.
Heather H. Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of CLARA Analytics, has more than a decade of executive experience in data, analytics and artificial intelligence, including Global Head of Innovation and Advanced Technology at Kaiser Permanente and Chief Data Officer of AIG. She currently sits on Equifax's board of directors. While at AIG, she was named the Insurance Woman of the Year by the Insurance Technology Association for her data innovation work. Wilson has been a steady supporter of diversity. She launched the Kaiser Permanente Women in Technology group, focused on mentorship and retention for women in math, technology and science, and at AIG, she launched Global Women in Technology and served as Executive Sponsor of Girls Who Code.
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:
