Basis of Presentation	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	1. Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include the accounts of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company and its subsidiaries (the “Company” or “RR Donnelley”) and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements reflect all normal and recurring adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included in the Company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the SEC on February 25, 2015. Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include estimates and assumptions of management that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Proposed Spinoff Transactions On August 4, 2015, the Company announced that its Board of Directors intends to create three independent public companies: (i) a financial communications services company (the “Financial Services Company”), (ii) a publishing and retail-centric print services company (the “Publishing and Retail Services Company”), and (iii) a multichannel communications management company (the “Multichannel Communications Management Company”). The Financial Services Company is expected to consist of the Company’s current financial reporting unit of the Company’s Strategic Services segment. The Publishing and Retail Services Company is expected to consist of the Company’s current Publishing and Retail Services segment as well as the office products reporting unit from the Company’s Variable Print segment, the Europe reporting unit of the Company’s International segment and certain Mexican operations currently within the Latin America reporting unit of the Company’s International segment. The Multichannel Communications Management Company is expected to consist of the current Variable Print segment except for the office products reporting unit that will become part of the Publishing and Retail Services Company, the logistics, sourcing, and digital and creative solutions reporting units within the current Strategic Services segment, and the current International segment except for the Europe reporting unit and certain Mexican operations that will become part of the Publishing and Retail Services Company. The transaction is expected to take the form of a tax-free distribution to RR Donnelley shareholders of shares of stock in two new, independent, publicly traded companies, the Financial Services Company and the Publishing and Retail Services Company. Immediately following the completion of the transactions existing RR Donnelley shareholders will own shares in all three companies. The transactions are subject to customary conditions, including obtaining rulings from the Internal Revenue Service and/or tax opinions, execution of inter-company agreements and final approval by the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company expects to complete the transactions prior to the end of 2016, but there can be no assurance that the transactions will be completed on the anticipated timeline or at all or that the terms of the transactions will not change. Upon separation, the historical results of the Financial Services Company and the Publishing and Retail Services Company will be presented as discontinued operations.

1. Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include the accounts of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company and its subsidiaries (the “Company” or “RR Donnelley”) and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements reflect all normal and recurring adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included in the Company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the SEC on February 25, 2015. Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include estimates and assumptions of management that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Proposed Spinoff Transactions

On August 4, 2015, the Company announced that its Board of Directors intends to create three independent public companies: (i) a financial communications services company (the “Financial Services Company”), (ii) a publishing and retail-centric print services company (the “Publishing and Retail Services Company”), and (iii) a multichannel communications management company (the “Multichannel Communications Management Company”). The Financial Services Company is expected to consist of the Company’s current financial reporting unit of the Company’s Strategic Services segment. The Publishing and Retail Services Company is expected to consist of the Company’s current Publishing and Retail Services segment as well as the office products reporting unit from the Company’s Variable Print segment, the Europe reporting unit of the Company’s International segment and certain Mexican operations currently within the Latin America reporting unit of the Company’s International segment. The Multichannel Communications Management Company is expected to consist of the current Variable Print segment except for the office products reporting unit that will become part of the Publishing and Retail Services Company, the logistics, sourcing, and digital and creative solutions reporting units within the current Strategic Services segment, and the current International segment except for the Europe reporting unit and certain Mexican operations that will become part of the Publishing and Retail Services Company. The transaction is expected to take the form of a tax-free distribution to RR Donnelley shareholders of shares of stock in two new, independent, publicly traded companies, the Financial Services Company and the Publishing and Retail Services Company. Immediately following the completion of the transactions existing RR Donnelley shareholders will own shares in all three companies.

The transactions are subject to customary conditions, including obtaining rulings from the Internal Revenue Service and/or tax opinions, execution of inter-company agreements and final approval by the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company expects to complete the transactions prior to the end of 2016, but there can be no assurance that the transactions will be completed on the anticipated timeline or at all or that the terms of the transactions will not change.

Upon separation, the historical results of the Financial Services Company and the Publishing and Retail Services Company will be presented as discontinued operations.