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 Vanderhoef is a principal at Advanced Knowledge Management
David Dassler is a teaching assistant professor in the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business School of Accountancy. He brings over 32 years of accounting and finance experience to the classroom — working for firms including Xcel Energy, US West and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He previously taught at Daniels from 2012 to 2022 as an adjunct professor for the professional and executive MBA programs. He is a Colorado native and a Daniels alumnus, having earned his MAcc and BSAcc degrees in 1990. He is an active licensed CPA in the state of Colorado and holds the Chartered Global Management Accountant designation from the American Institute of CPAs.
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:
