Related Party Transactions	12 Months Ended
Related Party Transactions	Dec. 31, 2011
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Related Party Transactions	Note 17. Related Party Transactions A local public relations company, of which one of Pinnacle Financial's directors is a principal, provides various services for Pinnacle Financial. For each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2011, Pinnacle Financial incurred approximately $242,000, $234,000, and $282,000, respectively, in expense for services rendered by this public relations company. Another former director is an officer in an insurance firm that serves as an agent in securing insurance in such areas as Pinnacle Financial's property and casualty insurance and other insurance policies. During 2004, Pinnacle Financial's wholly-owned subsidiary, Pinnacle Credit Enhancement Holdings, Inc. (PCEH), acquired a 24.5% membership interest in Collateral Plus, LLC. Collateral Plus, LLC serves as an intermediary between investors and borrowers in certain financial transactions whereby the borrowers require enhanced collateral in the form of guarantees or letters of credit issued by the investors for the benefit of banks and other financial institutions. A former employee of Pinnacle National also owned a 24.5% interest in Collateral Plus, LLC. PCEH's 24.5% ownership of Collateral Plus, LLC resulted in other noninterest income of $26,000 in 2011, $113,000 in 2010, and $309,000 in 2009. During 2011, PCEH divested of its investment in Collateral Plus, LLC. Also see Note 6-Loans and Allowance for Loan Losses, concerning loans and other extensions of credit to certain directors, officers, and their related entities and individuals and Note 13 – Salary Deferral Plans regarding supplemental retirement agreement obligations to two directors who were formerly directors of Cavalry.

The entire disclosure for related party transactions, including the nature of the relationship(s), a description of the transactions, the amount of the transactions, the effects of any change in the method of establishing the terms of the transaction from the previous period, stated interest rate, expiration date, terms and manner of settlement per the agreement with the related party, and amounts due to or from related parties. If the entity and one or more other entities are under common ownership or management control and this control affects the operating results or financial position, disclosure includes the nature of the control relationship even if there are no transactions between the entities. Disclosure may also include the aggregate amount of current and deferred tax expense for each statement of earnings presented where the entity is a member of a group that files a consolidated tax return, the amount of any tax related balances due to or from affiliates as of the date of each statement of financial position presented, the principal provisions of the method by which the consolidated amount of current and deferred tax expense is allocated to the members of the group and the nature and effect of any changes in that method. Examples of related party transactions include transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiary; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) and entity and its principal owners; and (d) affiliates.

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