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.
Joe McQuaid is chief operating officer at Concurrent.
With over 25 years in the financial services industry, he has held leadership roles at New York Life Investment Management and Guggenheim. He also founded Ascend Consulting and helped launch and served as COO for an RIA that grew to nearly $1.5 billion in AUM. He then founded Imprint Wealth, scaling it to nearly $1 billion in assets before merging with Concurrent Investment Advisors. An avid adventurer, he is preparing to climb the Seven Summits and aims to complete the six major marathons over the next decade.
Ethan Blevins is a senior legal fellow at Pacific Legal Foundation.
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:
