Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	12 Months Ended
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	Dec. 31, 2011
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Principles of Consolidation	The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Diebold, Incorporated and its wholly- and majority-owned subsidiaries (collectively, the Company). All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
Use of Estimates in Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements	The preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions about future events. These estimates and the underlying assumptions affect the amounts of assets and liabilities reported, disclosures about contingent assets and liabilities, and reported amounts of revenues and expenses. Such estimates include revenue recognition, the valuation of trade receivables, inventories, goodwill, intangible assets, and other long-lived assets, legal contingencies, guarantee obligations, and assumptions used in the calculation of income taxes, pension and other postretirement benefits and customer incentives, among others. These estimates and assumptions are based on management’s best estimates and judgment. Management evaluates its estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis using historical experience and other factors. Management monitors the economic condition and other factors and will adjust such estimates and assumptions when facts and circumstances dictate. As future events and their effects cannot be determined with precision, actual results could differ significantly from these estimates.
International Operations	The financial statements of the Company’s international operations are measured using local currencies as their functional currencies, with the exception of Venezuela, which is measured using the U.S. dollar as its functional currency because its economy is considered highly inflationary. The Company translates the assets and liabilities of its non-U.S. subsidiaries at the exchange rates in effect at year end and the results of operations at the average rate throughout the year. The translation adjustments are recorded directly as a separate component of shareholders’ equity, while transaction gains (losses) are included in net income.
Reclassifications	The Company has reclassified the presentation of certain prior-year information to conform to the current presentation.
Revenue Recognition	The Company’s revenue recognition policy is consistent with the requirements of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 605, Revenue Recognition (ASC 605). In general, the Company records revenue when it is realized, or realizable and earned. The Company considers revenue to be realized, or realizable and earned, when the following revenue recognition requirements are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, which is typically a customer contract; the products or services have been approved by the customer after delivery and/or installation acceptance or performance of services; the sales price is fixed or determinable within the contract; and collectability is reasonably assured. The Company's products include both hardware and the software required for the equipment to operate as intended, and for product sales, the Company determines that the earnings process is complete when title, risk of loss and the right to use equipment and/or software has transferred to the customer. Within Diebold North America (DNA), this occurs upon customer acceptance. Where the Company is contractually responsible for installation, customer acceptance occurs upon completion of the installation of all equipment at a job site and the Company’s demonstration that the equipment is in operable condition. Where the Company is not contractually responsible for installation, revenue recognition of these items is upon shipment or delivery to a customer location depending on the terms in the contract. Within DI, customer acceptance is upon the earlier of delivery or completion of the installation depending on the terms in the contract with the customer. The application of ASC 605 to the Company's customer contracts requires judgment, including the determination of whether an arrangement includes multiple deliverables such as hardware, software, maintenance and/or other services. For contracts that contain multiple deliverables, total arrangement consideration is allocated at the inception of the arrangement to each deliverable based on the relative selling price method. The relative selling price method is based on a hierarchy consisting of vendor specific objective evidence (VSOE) (price when sold on a stand-alone basis), if available, or third-party evidence (TPE), if VSOE is not available, or estimated selling price (ESP) if neither VSOE nor TPE is available. The Company's ESP is consistent with the objective of determining VSOE, which is the price at which we would expect to transact on a stand-alone sale of the deliverable. The determination of ESP is based on applying significant judgment to weigh a variety of company-specific factors including our pricing practices, customer volume, geography, internal costs and gross margin objectives, information gathered from experience in customer negotiations, recent technological trends, and competitive landscape. In contracts that involve multiple deliverables, maintenance services are typically accounted for under FASB ASC 605-20, Separately Priced Extended Warranty and Product Maintenance Contracts. For software sales, which excludes software included in the product that is required for the equipment to operate as intended, the Company applies the software revenue recognition principles within FASB ASC 985-605, Software - Revenue Recognition. For software and software-related deliverables (software elements), the Company allocates revenue based upon the relative fair value of these deliverables as determined by VSOE. If the Company cannot obtain VSOE for any undelivered software element, revenue is deferred until all deliverables have been delivered or until VSOE can be determined for any remaining undelivered software elements. When the fair value of a delivered element has not been established, but fair value evidence exists for the undelivered software elements, the Company uses the residual method to recognize revenue. Under the residual method, the fair value of the undelivered elements is deferred and the remaining portion of the arrangement consideration is allocated to the delivered elements and recognized as revenue. The Company has the following revenue streams related to sales to its customers: Financial Self-Service Product & Integrated Services Revenue Financial self-service products, which includes both hardware and the software required for the equipment to operate as intended, are primarily automated teller machines (ATMs) and other equipment primarily used in the banking industry. The Company also provides service contracts on financial self-service products. Service contracts typically cover a 12-month period and can begin at any given month after the warranty period expires. The service provided under warranty is limited as compared to those offered under service contracts. Further, warranty is not considered a separate deliverable of the sale and covers only replacement of defective parts inclusive of labor. Service contracts are tailored to meet the individual needs of each customer. Service contracts provide additional services beyond those covered under the warranty, and usually include preventative maintenance service, cleaning, supplies stocking and cash handling, all of which are not essential to the functionality of the equipment. The Company provides customers with integrated services such as outsourced and managed services which may include remote monitoring, trouble-shooting, training, transaction processing, currency management, maintenance services or full support via person to person or online communication. Electronic Security Products & Integrated Services Revenue The Company provides global product sales, service, installation, project management for longer-term contracts and monitoring of original equipment manufacturer electronic security products to financial, government, retail and commercial customers. These solutions provide the Company’s customers a single-source solution to their electronic security needs. Physical Security & Facility Revenue The Company designs, manufactures and/or procures and installs physical security and facility products. These consist of vaults, safe deposit boxes and safes, drive-up banking equipment and a host of other banking facilities products. Election and Lottery Systems Revenue The Company offers election and lottery systems product solutions and support to the government in Brazil. Election systems revenue consists of election equipment sales, networking, tabulation and diagnostic software development, training, support and maintenance. Lottery systems revenue primarily consists of equipment sales. The election and lottery equipment components are included in product revenue. The software development, training, support and maintenance components are included in service revenue. Software Solutions & Service Revenue The Company offers software solutions, which excludes software required for the equipment to operate as intended, consisting of multiple applications that process events and transactions (networking software) along with the related server. Sales of networking software represent software solutions to customers that allow them to network various different vendors’ ATMs onto one network. Included within service revenue is revenue from software support agreements, which are typically 12 months in duration and pertain to networking software.
Depreciation and Amortization	Depreciation of property, plant and equipment is computed using the straight-line method for financial statement purposes. Amortization of leasehold improvements is based upon the shorter of original terms of the lease or life of the improvement. Repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred. Amortization of the Company’s other long-term assets, such as intangible assets and capitalized computer software, is computed using the straight-line method over the life of the asset.
Advertising Costs	Advertising costs are expensed as incurred and were $10,474, $8,782 and $8,890 in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.
Shipping and Handling Costs	The Company recognizes shipping and handling fees billed when products are shipped or delivered to a customer, and includes such amounts in net sales. Third-party freight payments are recorded in cost of sales.
Taxes on Income	Deferred taxes are provided on an asset and liability method, whereby deferred tax assets are recognized for deductible temporary differences, operating loss carry-forwards and tax credits. Deferred tax liabilities are recognized for taxable temporary differences. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of changes in tax laws and rates on the date of enactment.
Sales Tax	The Company collects sales taxes from customers and accounts for sales taxes on a net basis.
Cash Equivalents	The Company considers highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents.
Financial Instruments	The carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents, trade receivables and accounts payable, approximated their fair value because of the relatively short maturity of these instruments. The Company’s risk-management strategy uses derivative financial instruments such as forwards to hedge certain foreign currency exposures and interest rate swaps to manage interest rate risk. The intent is to offset gains and losses that occur on the underlying exposures, with gains and losses on the derivative contracts hedging these exposures. The Company does not enter into derivatives for trading purposes. The Company recognizes all derivatives on the balance sheet at fair value. Changes in the fair values of derivatives that are not designated as hedges are recognized in earnings. If the derivative is designated and qualifies as a hedge, depending on the nature of the hedge, changes in the fair value of the derivatives are either offset against the change in the hedged assets or liabilities through earnings or recognized in other comprehensive income until the hedged item is recognized in earnings.
Inventories	The Company primarily values inventories at the lower of cost or market applied on a first-in, first-out basis. At each reporting period, the Company identifies and writes down its excess and obsolete inventories to net realizable value based on usage forecasts, order volume and inventory aging. With the development of new products, the Company also rationalizes its product offerings and will write-down discontinued product to the lower of cost or net realizable value.
Deferred Revenue	Deferred revenue is recorded for any services billed to customers and not yet recognizable if the contract period has commenced or for the amount collected from customers in advance of the contract period commencing. In addition, deferred revenue is recorded for products and other deliverables that are billed to and collected from customers prior to revenue being recognizable.
Split-Dollar Life Insurance	The Company recognizes a liability for the postretirement obligation associated with a collateral assignment arrangement if, based on an agreement with an employee, the Company has agreed to maintain a life insurance policy during the postretirement period or to provide a death benefit. In addition, the Company recognizes a liability and related compensation costs for future benefits that extend to postretirement periods.
Goodwill	Goodwill is the cost in excess of the net assets of acquired businesses. The Company tests all existing goodwill at least annually for impairment on a “reporting unit” basis. The Company’s reporting units are defined as Domestic and Canada, Brazil, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In 2011, the Company adopted the provisions of FASB Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2011-08, Testing Goodwill for Impairment (ASU 2011-08), and performed a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. In evaluating whether it is more likely than not the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, the Company considers the following events and circumstances, among others, if applicable: (a) macroeconomic conditions such as general economic conditions, limitations on accessing capital or other developments in equity and credit markets; (b) industry and market considerations such as competition, multiples or metrics and changes in the market for the Company's products and services or regulatory and political environments; (c) cost factors such as raw materials, labor or other costs; (d) overall financial performance such as cash flows, actual and planned revenue and earnings compared with actual and projected results of relevant prior periods; (e) other relevant events such as changes in key personnel, strategy or customers; (f) changes in the composition of a reporting unit's assets or expected sales of all or a portion of a reporting unit; and (g) any sustained decrease in share price. If the Company's qualitative assessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, the two-step impairment test described in note 10 is used to identify potential goodwill impairment and measure the amount of any impairment loss to be recognized. In 2010 and 2009, the Company used the discounted cash flow method and the guideline company method for determining the fair value of its reporting units. Under these methods, the determination of implied fair value of the goodwill for a particular reporting unit is the excess of the fair value of a reporting unit over the amounts assigned to its assets and liabilities in the same manner as the allocation in a business combination. These fair value models and qualitative assessments use inputs such as estimated future performance. The Company uses the most current information available and performs the annual impairment analysis as of November 30 each year. However, actual circumstances could differ significantly from assumptions and estimates made and could result in future goodwill impairment. The Company tests for impairment between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the carrying value of a reporting unit below its reported amount (refer to note 10).
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits	Annual net periodic expense and benefit liabilities under the Company’s defined benefit plans are determined on an actuarial basis. Assumptions used in the actuarial calculations have a significant impact on plan obligations and expense. Annually, management and the Investment Committee of the Board of Directors review the actual experience compared with the more significant assumptions used and make adjustments to the assumptions, if warranted. The healthcare trend rates are reviewed based upon the results of actual claims experience. The discount rate is determined by analyzing the average return of high-quality (i.e., AA-rated) fixed-income investments and the year-over-year comparison of certain widely used benchmark indices as of the measurement date. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is determined using the plans’ current asset allocation and their expected rates of return based on a geometric averaging over 20 years. The rate of compensation increase assumptions reflects the Company’s long-term actual experience and future and near-term outlook. Pension benefits are funded through deposits with trustees. Other postretirement benefits are not funded and the Company’s policy is to pay these benefits as they become due. The Company recognizes the funded status of each of its plans in the consolidated balance sheet. Amortization of unrecognized net gain or loss resulting from experience different from that assumed and from changes in assumptions (excluding asset gains and losses not yet reflected in market-related value) is included as a component of net periodic benefit cost for a year if, as of the beginning of the year, that unrecognized net gain or loss exceeds five percent of the greater of the projected benefit obligation or the market-related value of plan assets. If amortization is required, the amortization is that excess divided by the average remaining service period of participating employees expected to receive benefits under the plan.
Comprehensive Income	The Company displays comprehensive income in the consolidated statements of equity and accumulated other comprehensive income separately from retained earnings and additional capital in the consolidated balance sheets and statements of equity. Items included in other comprehensive income primarily represent adjustments made for foreign currency translation, pension and other postretirement benefit plans (refer to note 12) unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities and hedging activities (refer to note 16).
Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments	Foreign currency translation adjustments are not booked net of tax. Those adjustments are accounted for under the indefinite reversal criterion of FASB ASC 740-30, Income Taxes — Other Considerations or Special Areas.
Loans and leases receivable	The Company records interest income and any fees or costs related to financing receivables using the effective interest method over the term of the lease or loan. The Company reviews the aging of its financing receivables to determine past due and delinquent accounts. Credit quality is reviewed at inception and is re-evaluated as needed based on customer specific circumstances. Receivable balances greater than 60 days past due are reviewed and may be placed on nonaccrual status based on customer-specific circumstances. Upon receipt of payment on nonaccrual financing receivables, interest income is recognized and accrual of interest is resumed once the account has been made current or the specific circumstances have been resolved.