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.
Harrup Singh is a seasoned Consultant with Capco based in New York City. He possesses a Master's degree in Space Systems Engineering, and has focused his career on driving large-scale transformations, optimizing post-merger integrations, and delivering sophisticated system solutions.
Deon Crasto is a principal product manager at Velocity Global, where he leads global payments and risk. He previously led product teams at Checkr, Livongo and Ondeck Capital. Crasto holds a master's degree in information management from the University of Maryland — College Park and a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the University of Mumbai.
Helen Mason is senior managing director and Denver market leader at Riveron.
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:
