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.
Eric Joost is President of Artificial, where he leads the company's U.S. expansion and works with specialty brokers and carriers to modernize how placement and underwriting get done. He has extensive experience across brokerage, underwriting, operations and technology in the commercial insurance market.
Before joining Artificial, Eric held senior roles at WTW, Aon, Allianz and CAC Group, where he worked hands-on with insurers and brokers to modernize legacy processes, build new distribution channels and translate emerging technology into measurable business outcomes.
David studied Accounting and Economics at Loyola University Chicago and later deepened his expertise at MIT, focusing on Data and Economic Policy. He was the innovator behind Deloitte Cortex, Deloitte's flagship analytics platform, and previously led software innovations at both Deloitte and Synchrony Bank. With a strong technical background in machine learning and large language models (LLMs), David drives the development of Abacus' products and infrastructure. Today, he guides the company's vision, product strategy, and enterprise AI innovation across regulated industries.
Sven Klingemann is a senior director at The RepTrak Company.
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:
