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.
Antoni Tzavelas is the chief happiness officer at Smiling Bowtie.
| As CEO of Asurion Europe, Gavin Miller is leading the expansion of the global tech care company in the region. Miller started his career at global customer experience company Sitel (now Foundever) before moving on to C-suite roles supporting rapid growth and acquisition in a range of businesses, including the largest telephone fundraising specialist in the U.K., a commercial contact center business and a provider of debt management services. |
The findings reveal accountants are going into 2025 with positive expectations, but there are signs of friction in their forward progress.
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:
