Basis of Presentation	9 Months Ended
Sep. 29, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	1. Basis of Presentation Novanta Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the “Company”, “Novanta”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a global supplier of core technology solutions that give healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) a competitive advantage. Novanta combines deep proprietary technology expertise and competencies in photonics, vision and precision motion with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This enables Novanta to engineer core components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance, tailored to customers' demanding applications. The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in U.S. dollars and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the instructions to Form 10-Q and the provisions of Regulation S-X pertaining to interim financial statements. Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. The interim consolidated financial statements and notes included in this report should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. In the opinion of management, these interim consolidated financial statements include all adjustments and accruals of a normal and recurring nature necessary to fairly state the results of the interim periods presented. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year or for any future periods. Prior to January 10, 2017, the Company had an approximately 41% ownership interest in Laser Quantum Limited (“Laser Quantum”), a privately held company located in the United Kingdom, which was accounted for under the equity method of accounting. On January 10, 2017, the Company acquired an additional approximately 35% of the outstanding shares of Laser Quantum. As a result of this transaction, the Company’s ownership position in Laser Quantum increased from approximately 41% to approximately 76%. Since January 10, 2017, Laser Quantum has been consolidated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The Company’s unaudited interim financial statements are prepared for each quarterly period ending on the Friday closest to the end of the calendar quarter, with the exception of the fourth quarter which always ends on December 31. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. The Company evaluates its estimates based on historical experience, current conditions and various other assumptions that it believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Estimates and assumptions are reviewed on an on-going basis and the effects of revisions are reflected in the period in which they are deemed to be necessary. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Share-Based Compensation In May 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718),” which provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting in Topic 718. ASU 2017-09 requires that an entity account for the effects of a modification unless (i) the fair value of the modified award is the same as the fair value of the original award immediately before the original award is modified; (ii) the vesting conditions of the modified award are the same as the vesting conditions of the original award immediately before the original award is modified; and (iii) the classification of the modified award as an equity instrument or a liability instrument is the same as the classification of the original award immediately before the original award is modified. ASU 2017-09 will become effective prospectively for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2017-09 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost,” which requires employers that offer or maintain defined benefit plans to disaggregate the service component from the other components of net benefit cost and provides guidance on the presentation of the service component and the other components of net benefit cost in the statement of operations. The new standard is effective for public companies for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company expects to adopt the new standard in the first quarter of 2018 and expects to report its net periodic pension cost related to its frozen U.K. pension plan, consisting of interest cost, expected return on plan assets and amortization of actuarial gains (losses) only, in Other income (expense) in the consolidated statement of operations upon adoption. Goodwill Impairment In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment,” which simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairment. The amendment in ASU 2017-04 removes Step-two of the goodwill impairment test, which requires a hypothetical purchase price allocation. ASU 2017-04 will become effective prospectively for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on its consolidated financial statements. Statement of Cash Flows Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments.” The standard further clarifies the classification in the cash flow statement of the following items: (i) debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs; (ii) settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing; (iii) contingent consideration payments made after a business combination; (iv) proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims; (v) proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, including bank-owned life insurance policies; (vi) distributions received from equity method investees; (vii) beneficial interests in securitization transactions; and (viii) separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. ASU 2016-15 will become effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2016-15 should be applied using a retrospective transition method for each period presented. The Company adopted ASU 2016-15 during the first quarter of 2017. The adoption of ASU 2016-15 resulted in ($2.5) million of payments of contingent considerations being reported as cash used in financing activities on the Company’s consolidated statements of cash flows for the nine months ended September 29, 2017. Leases In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842),” which provides comprehensive lease accounting guidance. The standard requires entities to recognize lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet and to disclose key information about leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 will become effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of this guidance and an appropriate implementation strategy. While the Company’s evaluation of this guidance is in the early stages, the Company currently expects adoption of this guidance to have an impact on its consolidated balance sheet. Revenue from Contracts with Customers In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606),” which provides guidance for revenue recognition. ASU 2014-09 supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605, “Revenue Recognition (Topic 605),” and requires entities to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 would be effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016 and did not allow early adoption. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers – Deferral of the Effective Date,” which deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 by one year to December 15, 2017, with the option of early adoption as of the original effective date. The amendment in ASU 2015-14 resulted in ASU 2014-09 becoming effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Upon adoption of Topic 606, an entity may apply the new guidance either retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented (the “full retrospective method”) or retrospectively only to customer contracts not yet completed as of the date of adoption with the cumulative effect of initially applying the standard recognized in beginning retained earnings at the date of the initial application (the “modified retrospective method”). The Company will adopt the new standard as of January 1, 2018 and has conducted various activities to prepare for the adoption of the new standard. The Company surveyed cross-functional leaders to identify potential revenue streams that could be impacted by Topic 606 and identified certain revenue streams that could be impacted. The Company also reviewed a representative sample of individual customer contracts related to these various revenue streams to determine if the guidance under Topic 606 is expected to have a material impact on revenue recognition. The Company’s work to date indicates that only a limited number of contracts with customers may require a change in the way revenues are recognized. The Company is still in the process of determining the expected quantitative impact that the adoption of Topic 606 will have on its consolidated financial statements. The Company concluded that it will adopt the new standard using the modified retrospective method. In addition, the Company will elect to apply certain practical expedients allowed under the guidance. First, the Company does not intend to adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a financing component as the transfer of a promised good to a customer and the customer’s payment for that good are typically expected to be one year or less. Second, the Company will exclude from its transaction price any amounts collected from customers for all sales or other similar taxes, which is consistent with the Company’s current practice. Third, the Company will elect to account for shipping and handling activities that occur after the transfer of control over the related goods as fulfillment activities rather than performance obligations.

1. Basis of Presentation

Novanta Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the “Company”, “Novanta”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a global supplier of core technology solutions that give healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) a competitive advantage. Novanta combines deep proprietary technology expertise and competencies in photonics, vision and precision motion with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This enables Novanta to engineer core components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance, tailored to customers' demanding applications.

The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in U.S. dollars and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the instructions to Form 10-Q and the provisions of Regulation S-X pertaining to interim financial statements. Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. The interim consolidated financial statements and notes included in this report should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. In the opinion of management, these interim consolidated financial statements include all adjustments and accruals of a normal and recurring nature necessary to fairly state the results of the interim periods presented. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year or for any future periods.

Prior to January 10, 2017, the Company had an approximately 41% ownership interest in Laser Quantum Limited (“Laser Quantum”), a privately held company located in the United Kingdom, which was accounted for under the equity method of accounting. On January 10, 2017, the Company acquired an additional approximately 35% of the outstanding shares of Laser Quantum. As a result of this transaction, the Company’s ownership position in Laser Quantum increased from approximately 41% to approximately 76%. Since January 10, 2017, Laser Quantum has been consolidated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

The Company’s unaudited interim financial statements are prepared for each quarterly period ending on the Friday closest to the end of the calendar quarter, with the exception of the fourth quarter which always ends on December 31.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. The Company evaluates its estimates based on historical experience, current conditions and various other assumptions that it believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Estimates and assumptions are reviewed on an on-going basis and the effects of revisions are reflected in the period in which they are deemed to be necessary. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Share-Based Compensation

In May 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718),” which provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting in Topic 718. ASU 2017-09 requires that an entity account for the effects of a modification unless (i) the fair value of the modified award is the same as the fair value of the original award immediately before the original award is modified; (ii) the vesting conditions of the modified award are the same as the vesting conditions of the original award immediately before the original award is modified; and (iii) the classification of the modified award as an equity instrument or a liability instrument is the same as the classification of the original award immediately before the original award is modified. ASU 2017-09 will become effective prospectively for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2017-09 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost,” which requires employers that offer or maintain defined benefit plans to disaggregate the service component from the other components of net benefit cost and provides guidance on the presentation of the service component and the other components of net benefit cost in the statement of operations. The new standard is effective for public companies for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company expects to adopt the new standard in the first quarter of 2018 and expects to report its net periodic pension cost related to its frozen U.K. pension plan, consisting of interest cost, expected return on plan assets and amortization of actuarial gains (losses) only, in Other income (expense) in the consolidated statement of operations upon adoption.

Goodwill Impairment

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment,” which simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairment. The amendment in ASU 2017-04 removes Step-two of the goodwill impairment test, which requires a hypothetical purchase price allocation. ASU 2017-04 will become effective prospectively for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on its consolidated financial statements.

Statement of Cash Flows Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments.” The standard further clarifies the classification in the cash flow statement of the following items: (i) debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs; (ii) settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing; (iii) contingent consideration payments made after a business combination; (iv) proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims; (v) proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, including bank-owned life insurance policies; (vi) distributions received from equity method investees; (vii) beneficial interests in securitization transactions; and (viii) separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. ASU 2016-15 will become effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2016-15 should be applied using a retrospective transition method for each period presented. The Company adopted ASU 2016-15 during the first quarter of 2017. The adoption of ASU 2016-15 resulted in ($2.5) million of payments of contingent considerations being reported as cash used in financing activities on the Company’s consolidated statements of cash flows for the nine months ended September 29, 2017.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842),” which provides comprehensive lease accounting guidance. The standard requires entities to recognize lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet and to disclose key information about leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 will become effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of this guidance and an appropriate implementation strategy. While the Company’s evaluation of this guidance is in the early stages, the Company currently expects adoption of this guidance to have an impact on its consolidated balance sheet.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606),” which provides guidance for revenue recognition. ASU 2014-09 supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605, “Revenue Recognition (Topic 605),” and requires entities to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 would be effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016 and did not allow early adoption. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers – Deferral of the Effective Date,” which deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 by one year to December 15, 2017, with the option of early adoption as of the original effective date. The amendment in ASU 2015-14 resulted in ASU 2014-09 becoming effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Upon adoption of Topic 606, an entity may apply the new guidance either retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented (the “full retrospective method”) or retrospectively only to customer contracts not yet completed as of the date of adoption with the cumulative effect of initially applying the standard recognized in beginning retained earnings at the date of the initial application (the “modified retrospective method”).

The Company will adopt the new standard as of January 1, 2018 and has conducted various activities to prepare for the adoption of the new standard. The Company surveyed cross-functional leaders to identify potential revenue streams that could be impacted by Topic 606 and identified certain revenue streams that could be impacted. The Company also reviewed a representative sample of individual customer contracts related to these various revenue streams to determine if the guidance under Topic 606 is expected to have a material impact on revenue recognition.

The Company’s work to date indicates that only a limited number of contracts with customers may require a change in the way revenues are recognized. The Company is still in the process of determining the expected quantitative impact that the adoption of Topic 606 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

The Company concluded that it will adopt the new standard using the modified retrospective method. In addition, the Company will elect to apply certain practical expedients allowed under the guidance. First, the Company does not intend to adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a financing component as the transfer of a promised good to a customer and the customer’s payment for that good are typically expected to be one year or less. Second, the Company will exclude from its transaction price any amounts collected from customers for all sales or other similar taxes, which is consistent with the Company’s current practice. Third, the Company will elect to account for shipping and handling activities that occur after the transfer of control over the related goods as fulfillment activities rather than performance obligations.