New Accounting Guidance (Notes)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]	New Accounting Guidance Recently Adopted Accounting Standards In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued guidance that changed certain aspects of accounting for share-based payments to employees. The new guidance requires all income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the income statement when the awards vest or are settled and recognized in the statement of cash flows as operating cash flows. The guidance also allows employee tax withholdings above the minimum statutory requirement without triggering liability accounting. Finally, the Company made a policy election to account for forfeitures as they occur. The guidance was adopted by the Company in the first quarter of 2017 and applied prospectively. If this guidance was adopted in the first quarter of 2016, diluted earnings per share in the first quarter would have increased by $0.04 from $0.59 to $0.63 due to a reduction in income tax expense. The impact to operating cash flow in the first quarter of 2016 would have been an increase of $4.2 million with a corresponding decrease in financing cash flows. Stock awards typically vest in the first quarter so the impact is concentrated in the first three months of each year. The impact in future years will be dependent on Bemis stock performance and the number of shares vesting each year. The impact in 2017 was a $0.9 million reduction of income tax expense and an equivalent benefit to operating cash flow. Recently Issued Accounting Standards In August 2017, the FASB issued guidance that amends the hedge accounting rules to better portray the economic results of risk management activities in the financial statements and also to make targeted improvements to simplify the application of hedge accounting guidance. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2019, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In March 2017, the FASB issued guidance that will change how employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans present the cost of the benefits in the income statement. Under the new guidance, employers will present only the service cost component of the net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line item as other employee compensation costs arising from services rendered during the period. In addition, only the service cost component will be eligible for capitalization in assets. Employers will present the other components separately from the line item that includes the service cost and outside of any subtotal of operating income, if one is presented. Employers will have to disclose the line used to present the other components of net periodic benefit cost, if the components are not presented separately in the income statement. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2018. The Company does not expect this standard to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. In January 2017, the FASB issued new guidance that narrows the application of when an integrated set of assets and activities is considered a business and provides a framework to assist entities in evaluating whether both an input and a substantive process are present to be considered a business. It is expected that the new guidance will reduce the number of transactions that would need to be further evaluated and accounted for as a business. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2018, but early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect this standard to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. In January 2017, the FASB issued new guidance to simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill by removing the requirement to perform a hypothetical purchase price allocation to compute the implied fair value of goodwill to measure impairment. Instead, any goodwill impairment will equal the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. Further, the guidance eliminates the requirements for any reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount to perform a qualitative assessment and, if it fails that qualitative test, to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test. This guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2020, with early adoption permitted for impairment tests performed after January 1, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In August 2016, the FASB issued guidance to simplify elements of cash flow classification. The guidance is intended to reduce diversity in practice in how certain transactions are classified in the statement of cash flows. The new guidance requires cash payments for debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs to be classified as cash outflows for financing activities. It also requires cash payments made soon after an acquisition's consummation date (approximately three months or less) to be classified as cash outflows for investing activities. Payments made thereafter should be classified as cash outflows for financing activities up to the amount of the original contingent consideration liability. Payments made in excess of the amount of the original contingent consideration liability should be classified as cash outflows for operating activities. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2018, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued guidance that requires lessees to put most leases on their balance sheets but recognize expenses on their income statements in a manner similar to today's accounting. The guidance also eliminates today's real estate-specific provisions and changes the guidance on sale-leaseback transactions, initial direct costs and lease executory costs for all entities. All entities will classify leases to determine how to recognize lease-related revenue and expense. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2019, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued new guidance which supersedes current revenue recognition requirements. This guidance is based on the principle that revenue is recognized to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In July 2015, the FASB voted to defer for one year the effective date of the new revenue standard. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 using one of two retrospective application methods. The FASB also decided to permit entities to early adopt the standard. The Company has elected to adopt the new revenue guidance as of January 1, 2018. In preparation for adoption of the new guidance, the Company has assessed contracts entered with key customers and other forms of agreements with customers globally and has evaluated the provisions under the five-step model specified by the new guidance. In addition, the Company continues to monitor additional interpretive guidance related to the new standard as it becomes available, as well as comparing our conclusions on specific interpretative issues to other peers in our industry, to the extent that such information is available. Based on its procedures to date, the Company expects the new revenue recognition guidance will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. Adoption of the new standard will result in expanded revenue disclosures. The Company intends to adopt the standard using the full retrospective adoption transition method.

New Accounting Guidance

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued guidance that changed certain aspects of accounting for share-based payments to employees. The new guidance requires all income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the income statement when the awards vest or are settled and recognized in the statement of cash flows as operating cash flows. The guidance also allows employee tax withholdings above the minimum statutory requirement without triggering liability accounting. Finally, the Company made a policy election to account for forfeitures as they occur. The guidance was adopted by the Company in the first quarter of 2017 and applied prospectively.

If this guidance was adopted in the first quarter of 2016, diluted earnings per share in the first quarter would have increased by $0.04 from $0.59 to $0.63 due to a reduction in income tax expense. The impact to operating cash flow in the first quarter of 2016 would have been an increase of $4.2 million with a corresponding decrease in financing cash flows. Stock awards typically vest in the first quarter so the impact is concentrated in the first three months of each year. The impact in future years will be dependent on Bemis stock performance and the number of shares vesting each year. The impact in 2017 was a $0.9 million reduction of income tax expense and an equivalent benefit to operating cash flow.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In August 2017, the FASB issued guidance that amends the hedge accounting rules to better portray the economic results of risk management activities in the financial statements and also to make targeted improvements to simplify the application of hedge accounting guidance. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2019, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2017, the FASB issued guidance that will change how employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans present the cost of the benefits in the income statement. Under the new guidance, employers will present only the service cost component of the net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line item as other employee compensation costs arising from services rendered during the period. In addition, only the service cost component will be eligible for capitalization in assets. Employers will present the other components separately from the line item that includes the service cost and outside of any subtotal of operating income, if one is presented. Employers will have to disclose the line used to present the other components of net periodic benefit cost, if the components are not presented separately in the income statement. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2018. The Company does not expect this standard to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued new guidance that narrows the application of when an integrated set of assets and activities is considered a business and provides a framework to assist entities in evaluating whether both an input and a substantive process are present to be considered a business. It is expected that the new guidance will reduce the number of transactions that would need to be further evaluated and accounted for as a business. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2018, but early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect this standard to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued new guidance to simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill by removing the requirement to perform a hypothetical purchase price allocation to compute the implied fair value of goodwill to measure impairment. Instead, any goodwill impairment will equal the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. Further, the guidance eliminates the requirements for any reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount to perform a qualitative assessment and, if it fails that qualitative test, to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test. This guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2020, with early adoption permitted for impairment tests performed after January 1, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued guidance to simplify elements of cash flow classification. The guidance is intended to reduce diversity in practice in how certain transactions are classified in the statement of cash flows. The new guidance requires cash payments for debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs to be classified as cash outflows for financing activities. It also requires cash payments made soon after an acquisition's consummation date (approximately three months or less) to be classified as cash outflows for investing activities. Payments made thereafter should be classified as cash outflows for financing activities up to the amount of the original contingent consideration liability. Payments made in excess of the amount of the original contingent consideration liability should be classified as cash outflows for operating activities. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2018, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued guidance that requires lessees to put most leases on their balance sheets but recognize expenses on their income statements in a manner similar to today's accounting. The guidance also eliminates today's real estate-specific provisions and changes the guidance on sale-leaseback transactions, initial direct costs and lease executory costs for all entities. All entities will classify leases to determine how to recognize lease-related revenue and expense. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of 2019, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued new guidance which supersedes current revenue recognition requirements. This guidance is based on the principle that revenue is recognized to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In July 2015, the FASB voted to defer for one year the effective date of the new revenue standard. The guidance is required to be applied by the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 using one of two retrospective application methods. The FASB also decided to permit entities to early adopt the standard.

The Company has elected to adopt the new revenue guidance as of January 1, 2018. In preparation for adoption of the new guidance, the Company has assessed contracts entered with key customers and other forms of agreements with customers globally and has evaluated the provisions under the five-step model specified by the new guidance. In addition, the Company continues to monitor additional interpretive guidance related to the new standard as it becomes available, as well as comparing our conclusions on specific interpretative issues to other peers in our industry, to the extent that such information is available. Based on its procedures to date, the Company expects the new revenue recognition guidance will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. Adoption of the new standard will result in expanded revenue disclosures. The Company intends to adopt the standard using the full retrospective adoption transition method.