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.
David Roberson is the president of RoseRyan, a ZRG company based in Silicon Valley, providing tailored advisory expertise in the finance and accounting disciplines.
Rahul Nawab is senior vice president, analytics at EXL, a multinational data analytics and digital operations and solutions company. At EXL, he is responsible for business development, client engagement, and overall growth of the company's Insurance Analytics business. Nawab has co-founded several companies and held various senior management roles throughout his career, giving him a breadth of experience across various verticals. Nawab has also served as a mentor at Global Insurance Accelerator—a mentor-driven business accelerator designed to foster innovation in the insurance industry.
Brian Carey is senior director, insurance solutions for Equisoft.
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:
