This article reflects a perspective from outside the educational fraternity. It describes management consulting studies of pay for principals. Educators prefer to be accountable to other educators for their performance. In many situations, this has led to pay policies that may reflect the consensus of educators but do not permit these educators to be accountable to the board for the value of money spent on salaries. In British Columbia, principal and vice principal positions are no longer parts of the teacher's collective agreement. Separate agreements are negotiated for this group. These agreements often contain formulas to calculate salary levels. While these formulas reduce the complexity of administering the policy, the result does not meet the test of internal equity. This article describes an attempt to create a more credible and equitable salary policy. The policies and practices of conventional salary administration provide guidance for this work. The result of the review enabled the board to make an informed policy decision on level of pay in relation to both the salary market and other job families. Participation by educators created an equitable ranking of positions based on an analysis of job demands. Senior administrators have an administrative tool to help maintain a defensible salary policy.