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.
Arun Balakrishnan is Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Xceedance, a global provider of technology-driven business solutions for the insurance industry. Since co-founding the company in 2013, he has led its expansion to more than 5,500 professionals serving over 350 insurance organizations across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Over the past decade, Arun has guided the company's growth as Xceedance has built integrated capabilities spanning underwriting, claims, actuarial, technology, analytics, and operations to help insurers modernize how they work and compete.
Michael Turner is CEO of Validis. Validis connects auditors with accounting data. Michael has worked in the data industry for the last 5 years and previously was a Partner at Oliver Wyman.
Dennis LaTour is a product enthusiast with over 20 years of experience in the Insurance Industry. With his long-standing experience in the product management, Dennis loves working directly with the customers on projects and building long lasting relationship
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:
