In accounting, a slush fund is a monetary fund or account used for miscellaneous income and expenses, particularly when these are corrupt or illegal. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitimate purposes. Slush funds may be employed by government or corporate officials in efforts to pay influential people discreetly in return for preferential treatment, advance information, and other services. The funds themselves may not be kept secret, but the source of the funds, or how they were acquired, or for what purposes they are used, may be hidden. Use of slush funds to influence government activities may be viewed as subversive of the democratic process.