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.
Cathy Knepp leads HR at Platform Accounting Group, a next-gen accounting firm with more than 900 employees. She is committed to creating better experiences for accountants through people-first policies and practices that support better work. She has a tenured career in financial services and more than a decade of experience in various areas of the accounting industry.
David DiCristofaro is the Financial Services Line of Business Leader at KPMG in the U.S. In this role, he leads the firm's cross functional growth strategy across Audit, Tax and Advisory for Financial Services. David is currently a member of KPMG's Global Financial Services leadership team, and served on KPMG's Americas and US Board of Directors from 2018 to 2022.
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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:
