Thought the days were gone when a worker could subsidize crazy living with the company Amex? Oh, you naive paragons of corporate virtue. Even in these days of austerity and job insecurity, up to one-fifth of submitted expenses violate company policy, says Robert Neveu, chief executive of Certify, an expense management software firm based in Portland, Me. The violations can range from minor sins like late receipts to the truly mind-blowing--suffice it to say, not one but two live animals (as well as some fake ones) made the list. "Crazy expenses do get submitted more than one might expect," Neveu says.
Certify shared with Bloomberg Businessweek 10 examples of the more brazen expenses it has collected, based on some 1,000 surveys asking about employees' outrageous submissions in 2012. Due to confidentiality agreements, the companies were not disclosed, nor were details on which of these expenses were actually paid and which were rejected. (Also no word on who got dunked most in that rented dunk tank.) "They might be crazy," Neveu says of employee expenses, "but some are legit." Look, deer urine can be a godsend in the right situation--take a client hunting, win more business. Small price to pay, as long as you're not the deer.