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.
Souma Basu is a Principal in the Capco US Insurance Practice. He has extensive experience advising financial services and insurance company clients on assessing business and operations challenges, developing strategies, and delivering results. Empowering digital transformation in insurance, he has helped develop leading industry solutions and tools to address underwriting, claims, and customer-centric solutions critical to personal and commercial insurers.
Suman Bhattacharyya is a business and technology reporter based in Philadelphia
Jonathan spent the first five years of his professional insurance career working as a generalist broker at a traditional firm on Long Island. Intrigued by how to leverage technology in the industry, he joined the Founder Shield team in 2016 and quickly rose to his current leadership role as Managing Director. Jonathan oversees client strategy and communication and has fostered a culture of providing unparalleled service and risk consulting to some of the fastest-growing companies in the world. Outside of work, he can be found on the basketball court and chess board—but not at the same time.
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:
