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.
Anneliese Scherer is a forensic accounting and valuation services manager at Fiske & Company whose focus is on assignments related to a variety of industries. Her expertise allows her to combine math, logic, accounting standards, tax laws and other relevant rules.
Jacob Geyer, CPCU, Chief Insurance Officer at CompScience. Insurance executive with 18+ years experience, including responsibility of a $1B+ monoline writer of Workers' Compensation. Background in Actuarial Science and fronting partnerships for WC, Commercial Auto, General Liability, and Commercial Property.
Dale has more than 17 years of Workers' Compensation experience encompasses underwriting, claims and operations. He has extensive Workers' Compensation claims expertise and led a 50-state claims organization, including management oversite of several third-party administrators. Dale is seasoned in personnel leadership and customer-centric relationship management and has a track record in business development with an innovative focus on enhancing processes and procedures to gain operational simplicity.
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:
