Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	6 Months Ended
Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	Jul. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block]	Basis of Presentation In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements fairly present the financial information contained therein. These statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10 -Q and Article 10 of Regulation S- X. The financial statements and footnotes are unaudited. In management’s opinion, all necessary adjustments, consisting of normal, recurring and non-recurring adjustments, have been included in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements to present fairly the financial position and operating results of QAD Inc. (“QAD” or the “Company”). The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements do not include all disclosures required by GAAP accounting principles for annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10 -K for the year ended January 31, 2019. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the results of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. Because of seasonal and other factors, results of operations for the six months ended July 31, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending January 31, 2020. The Company’s accounting policies are set forth in detail in Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10 -K for the year ended January 31, 2019 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such Annual Report also contains a discussion of the Company’s critical accounting policies and estimates. The Company believes that these accounting policies and estimates affect its more significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, Including Intangible Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]	Assets Held for Sale During the second quarter of fiscal 2020, the Company vacated its building located in Dublin, Ireland, and moved operations into leased office space. The Company entered into an agreement to sell the building and expects to complete the sale within the next 12 months. The net book value of the building of $1.7 million was classified as assets held for sale, and is included in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net” in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of July 31, 2019.
New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]	Recent Accounting Pronouncements Except as discussed below, there have been no recent changes in accounting pronouncements issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or adopted by the Company during the six months ended July 31, 2019, that are of significance, or potential significance, to the Company. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016 - 02, Leases (Topic 842 ). This pronouncement requires lessees to recognize a liability for lease obligations, which represents the discounted obligation to make future lease payments, and a corresponding right-of-use (“ROU”) asset on the balance sheet. The Company adopted ASU 2016 - 02, along with related clarifications and improvements, as of February 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective approach, which allows the Company to apply Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 840, Leases, in the comparative periods presented in the year of adoption. Accordingly, the comparative periods and disclosures have not been restated. The cumulative effect of adoption was recorded as an adjustment to the opening balance sheet in the period of adoption. The Company elected the package of practical expedients not to reassess prior conclusions related to contracts containing leases, lease classification and initial direct costs and the lessee practical expedient to combine lease and non-lease components for certain assets. Additionally, the Company adopted the policy election to not recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for short-term leases for all asset classes. Adoption of the new standard resulted in the recording of a non-cash transitional adjustment to ROU lease assets and lease liabilities of approximately $13.1 million and $13.9 million, respectively, as of February 1, 2019. The difference between the ROU lease assets and lease liabilities represented existing deferred rent expense and prepaid rent that were derecognized and recorded to retained earnings in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The adoption of ASU 2016 - 02 did not materially impact results of operations or cash flows. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018 - 15, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350 - 40 ): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract , which aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the accounting for implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software under ASC 350 - 40, in order to determine which costs to capitalize and recognize as an asset and which costs to expense. ASU No. 2018 - 15 is effective for annual reporting periods, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2019, and can be applied either prospectively to implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption or retrospectively to all arrangements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its condensed consolidated financial statements. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017 - 04, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350 ): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill to eliminate Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. In addition, it eliminates the requirements for any reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount to perform a qualitative assessment and, if that fails that qualitative test, to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test. Therefore, the same impairment assessment applies to all reporting units. The amendments will be effective for the Company’s fiscal year beginning February 1, 2020. Early adoption is permitted. The new guidance is required to be applied on a prospective basis. The Company does not believe adoption of ASU 2017 - 04 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016 - 13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326 ): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments , which requires the measurement and recognition of expected credit losses for financial assets held at amortized cost, which includes the Company's accounts receivables, certain financial instruments and contract assets. ASU 2016 - 13 replaces the existing incurred loss impairment model with an expected loss methodology, which will generally result in more timely recognition of credit losses. ASU 2016 - 13 is effective for annual reporting periods, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2019, and requires a cumulative effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective. The Company is evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016 - 13 on its consolidated financial statements in order to adopt the new standard in the first quarter of fiscal 2021.