Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Business And Summary Of Significant Account Policies [Abstract]

Business

Business— Danaher Corporation (the "Company") designs, manufactures and markets professional, medical, industrial and commercial products and services, which are characterized by strong brand names, innovative technology and major market positions. The Company operates in five business segments: Test & Measurement, Environmental, Life Sciences & Diagnostics, Dental and Industrial Technologies. The Company's Test & Measurement segment is a leading global provider of electronic measurement instruments and monitoring, management and optimization tools for communications and enterprise networks and related services. The segment's products are used in the design, development, manufacture, installation, deployment and operation of electronics equipment and communications networks and services. Also included in the Test & Measurement segment are the Company's mobile tool and wheel service businesses. The Company's Environmental segment provides products that help protect customers' water supply and air quality and serves two primary markets: water quality and retail/commercial petroleum. The Company's water quality business is a global leader in water quality analysis and treatment, providing instrumentation and disinfection systems to help analyze and manage the quality of ultra pure, potable and waste water in residential, commercial, industrial and natural resource applications. The Company's retail/commercial petroleum business is a leading worldwide provider of products and services for the retail/commercial petroleum market. In the Life Sciences & Diagnostics segment, the Company's diagnostics businesses offer a broad range of analytical instruments, reagents, consumables, software and services that hospitals, physician's offices, reference laboratories and other critical care settings use to diagnose disease and make treatment decisions. The Company's life sciences businesses offer a broad range of research and clinical tools that are used by scientists to study cells and cell components to gain a better understanding of complex biological processes. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, medical schools and research institutions use these tools to study the causes of disease, identify new therapies and test new drugs and vaccines. The Company's Dental segment is a leading worldwide provider of a broad range of equipment, consumables and services for the dental market focused on driving technological innovations that help dental professionals improve clinical outcomes and enhance productivity. The Company's Industrial Technologies segment designs and manufactures components and systems that are typically incorporated by original equipment manufacturers and system integrators for sale into a diverse set of applications and end-markets. The businesses in this segment also provide service and support, including helping customers with integration and installation and providing services to ensure performance and up-time. The Industrial Technologies segment consists of two strategic lines of business, product identification and motion, as well as the sensors and controls, defense and engine retarder businesses.

Accounting Principles

Accounting Principles—The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation.The consolidated financial statements also reflect the impact of non-controlling interests. Non-controlling interests do not have a significant impact on the Company's consolidated results of operations, therefore earnings and earnings per share attributable to non-controlling interests are not presented separately in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Earnings. Earnings attributable to non-controlling interests have been reflected in selling, general and administrative expenses and were insignificant in all periods presented.

Use Of Estimates

Use of Estimates—The preparation of these financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. The Company bases these estimates on historical experience, the current economic environment and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. However, uncertainties associated with these estimates exist and actual results may differ from these estimates.

Stock Split

Stock Split—On May 11, 2010, the Company's Board of Directors approved a two-for-one stock split (effected in the form of a dividend by issuing one additional share of common stock for each issued share of common stock) which was paid on June 10, 2010 to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 25, 2010. All prior period share and per share amounts set forth in this report, including earnings per share and the weighted average number of shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share for each respective period, have been adjusted to reflect the stock split.

Cash And Equivalents

Cash and Equivalents—The Company considers all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Accounts Receivable And Allowances For Doubtful Accounts

Accounts Receivable and Allowances for Doubtful Accounts—All trade accounts, contract and finance receivables are reported on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet adjusted for any write-offs and net of allowances for doubtful accounts.

The allowances for doubtful accounts represent management's best estimate of the credit losses expected from the Company's trade accounts, contract and finance receivable portfolios. Determination of the allowances requires management to exercise judgment about the timing, frequency and severity of credit losses that could materially affect the provision for credit losses and, therefore, net earnings. The Company regularly performs detailed reviews of its portfolios to determine if an impairment has occurred and evaluates the collectability of receivables based on a combination of various financial and qualitative factors that may affect customers' ability to pay, including customers' financial condition, collateral, debt-servicing ability, past payment experience and credit bureau information. In circumstances where the Company is aware of a specific customer's inability to meet its financial obligations, a specific reserve is recorded against amounts due to reduce the recognized receivable to the amount reasonably expected to be collected. Additions to the allowances for doubtful accounts are charged to current period earnings; amounts determined to be uncollectible are charged directly against the allowances, while amounts recovered on previously written-off accounts increase the allowances. If the financial condition of the Company's customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional reserves would be required. The Company does not believe that accounts receivable represent significant concentrations of credit risk because of the diversified portfolio of individual customers and geographical areas. The Company recorded $40 million, $47 million and $43 million in charges associated with doubtful accounts during 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Included in the Company's trade accounts receivable and other long-term assets as of December 31, 2011 and 2010 are $133 million and $121 million of net aggregate financing receivables, respectively. All financing receivables are evaluated collectively for impairment due to the homogeneous nature of the portfolio. During 2011, the Company reclassified a portion of its allowance for doubtful accounts from current assets to non-current assets to more appropriately reflect the expected realizability of the associated financing receivable within each relevant financial statement caption. The December 31, 2010 Consolidated Balance Sheet has been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation. The reclassification did not have a material impact to the Company's financial statements as a whole, and did not have any impact on the covenants associated with the Company's debt instruments or credit facilities.

Inventory Valuation

Inventory Valuation—Inventories include the costs of material, labor and overhead. Domestic inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market primarily using the first-in, first-out ("FIFO") method with certain businesses applying the last-in, first-out method ("LIFO") to value inventory. Inventories held outside the United States are stated at the lower of cost or market primarily using the FIFO method.

Property, Plant And Equipment

Property, Plant and Equipment—Property, plant and equipment are carried at cost. The provision for depreciation has been computed principally by the straight-line method based on the estimated useful lives of the depreciable assets as follows:

Category	Useful Life
Buildings	30 years
Leased assets and leasehold improvements	Amortized over the lesser of the economic life of the asset or the term of the lease
Machinery and equipment	3 – 10 years
Customer-leased instruments	5 – 7 years

Estimated useful lives are periodically reviewed and, when appropriate, changes are made prospectively.

Investments

Investments—Investments over which the Company has a significant influence but not a controlling interest, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. Equity investments are recorded at the amount of the Company's initial investment and adjusted each period for the Company's share of the investee's income or loss and dividends paid. All equity investments are periodically reviewed to determine if declines in fair value below cost basis are other-than-temporary. Significant and sustained decreases in quoted market prices or a series of historic and projected operating losses by investees are strong indicators of other-than-temporary declines. If the decline in fair value is determined to be other-than-temporary, an impairment loss is recorded and the investment is written down to a new carrying value. Other investments relate to available-for-sale securities and are carried at market value, if readily determinable, or at cost. Unrealized gains or losses on securities classified as available-for-sale are recorded in stockholders' equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss.

Other Assets

Other Assets—Other assets include principally, noncurrent trade receivables, non-current deferred tax assets, other investments, and capitalized costs associated with obtaining financings which are amortized over the term of the related debt.

Fair Value Of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments—The Company's financial instruments consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, available-for-sale securities, obligations under trade accounts payable and short and long-term debt. Due to their short-term nature, the carrying values for cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and trade accounts payable approximate fair value. Refer to Note 8 for the fair values of the Company's available-for-sale securities and other obligations.

Goodwill And Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets—Goodwill and other intangible assets result from the Company's acquisition of existing businesses. In accordance with accounting standards related to business combinations, goodwill amortization ceased effective January 1, 2002, however, amortization of certain identifiable intangible assets, primarily comprising customer relationships and acquired technology, continues over the estimated useful life of the identified asset. Refer to Notes 2 and 7 for additional information.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition—As described above, the Company derives revenues primarily from the sale of test and measurement, environmental, life science and diagnostic, dental and industrial products and services. For revenue related to a product or service to qualify for recognition, there must be persuasive evidence of an arrangement with a customer, delivery must have occurred or the services must have been rendered, the price to the customer must be fixed and determinable and collectability of the associated fee must be reasonably assured. The Company's principal terms of sale are FOB Shipping Point and, as such, the Company primarily records revenue for product sales upon shipment. Sales arrangements entered with delivery terms that are not FOB Shipping Point are not recognized upon shipment and the delivery criteria for revenue recognition is evaluated based on the associated shipping terms. If any significant obligations to the customer with respect to a sales transaction remains to be fulfilled following shipment, typically involving obligations relating to installation and acceptance by the buyer, revenue recognition is deferred until such obligations have been fulfilled. Returns for products sold are estimated and recorded as a reduction in reported revenues at the time of sale. Customer allowances and rebates, consisting primarily of volume discounts and other short-term incentive programs, are recorded as a reduction in reported revenues at the time of sale because these allowances reflect a reduction in the purchase price. Product returns, customer allowances and rebates are estimated based on historical experience and known trends. Revenue related to separately priced extended warranty and product maintenance agreements is recognized as revenue over the term of the agreement.

Certain of the Company's revenues relate to operating-type lease ("OTL") payment arrangements. When a customer enters into an OTL agreement, instrument lease revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the lease, while the cost of the customer-leased instrument is recorded within property, plant and equipment in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet and depreciated over its estimated useful life. The depreciation expense is reflected in cost of sales in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Earnings. The OTLs are generally cancellable after the first two years. Certain of the Company's lease contracts are customized for larger customers and often result in complex terms and conditions that typically require significant judgment in applying the criteria used to evaluate whether the arrangement should be considered an OTL or a "sales-type" lease. A sales-type lease would result in earlier recognition of instrument revenue as compared to an OTL.

Effective January 1, 2011, the Company adopted, on a prospective basis, the provisions of recently updated accounting standards related to revenue recognition associated with contractual arrangements involving multiple elements and contractual arrangements involving tangible products that include software. As a result of adopting these standards, reported sales for the year ended December 31, 2011 were not significantly different than sales that would have been reported under the previous accounting rules.

Consistent with the revenue recognition standards adopted January 1, 2011, revenues for contractual arrangements consisting of multiple elements (i.e., deliverables) are recognized for the separate elements when the product or services that are part of the multiple element arrangement have value on a stand-alone basis and, in arrangements that include a general right of refund relative to the delivered element, performance of the undelivered element is considered probable and substantially in the Company's control. Certain subsidiaries of the Company have multiple element arrangements that include hardware, installation, training, consulting and/or post contract support ("PCS") revenues. Generally, these are delivered within the same reporting period, except PCS, for which revenue is recognized over the service period. The Company allocates revenue to each element in the contractual arrangement based on a selling price hierarchy. The selling price for a deliverable is based on its vendor-specific objective evidence ("VSOE") if available, third-party evidence ("TPE") if VSOE is not available, or estimated selling price ("ESP") if neither VSOE or TPE is available. The Company considers relevant internal and external market factors in cases where the Company is required to estimate selling prices. Allocation of the consideration is determined at the arrangements' inception on the basis of each element's relative selling price.

For transactions entered into prior to January 1, 2011, revenue for arrangements with multiple elements is recognized for the separate elements when the product or services that are part of the multiple element arrangement have value on a stand-alone basis, fair value of the separate elements exists (or in the case of software related products, vendor specific objective evidence of fair value) and, in arrangements that include a general right of refund relative to the delivered element, performance of the undelivered element is considered probable and substantially in the Company's control. While determining fair value and identifying separate elements requires judgment, generally the fair value of each separate element is identifiable as the elements are also sold unaccompanied by other elements.

Shipping And Handling

Shipping and Handling—Shipping and handling costs are included as a component of cost of sales. Revenue derived from shipping and handling costs billed to customers are included in sales.

Research And Development

Research and Development—The Company conducts research and development activities for the purpose of developing new products, enhancing the functionality, effectiveness, ease of use and reliability of the Company's existing products and expanding the applications for which uses of the Company's products are appropriate. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes—The Company's income tax expense represents the tax liability for the current year, the tax benefit or expense for the net change in deferred tax liabilities and assets during the year, as well as reserves for unrecognized tax benefits and return to provision adjustments. Deferred tax liabilities and assets are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted rates expected to be in effect during the year in which the differences reverse. Deferred tax assets generally represent items that can be used as a tax deduction or credit in the Company's tax return in future years for which the tax benefit has already been reflected on the Company's Consolidated Statement of Earnings. The Company establishes valuation allowances for its deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. Deferred tax liabilities generally represent items that have already been taken as a deduction on the Company's tax return but have not yet been recognized as an expense in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Earnings. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities due to a change in tax rates is recognized in income tax expense in the period that includes the enactment date. The Company accounts for uncertain tax positions by recognizing the financial statement effects of a tax position only when, based upon the technical merits, it is "more-likely-than-not" that the position will be sustained upon examination. The Company recognizes potential accrued interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax positions in income tax expense. Refer to Note 15 for additional information.

Restructuring

Restructuring— The Company periodically initiates restructuring activities to appropriately position the Company's cost base relative to prevailing economic conditions and associated customer demand as well as in connection with certain acquisitions. Costs associated with restructuring actions can include one-time termination benefits and related charges in addition to facility closure, contract termination and other related activities. The Company records the cost of the restructuring activities when the associated liability is incurred. Refer to Note 18 for additional information.

Foreign Currency Translation

Foreign Currency Translation—Exchange rate adjustments resulting from foreign currency transactions are recognized in net earnings, whereas effects resulting from the translation of financial statements are reflected as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) within stockholders' equity. Assets and liabilities of subsidiaries operating outside the United States with a functional currency other than U.S. dollars are translated into U.S. dollars using year-end exchange rates. Net foreign currency transaction gains or losses were not material in any of the years presented.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)—The components of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of December 31 are summarized below. Foreign currency translation adjustments are generally not adjusted for income taxes as they relate to indefinite investments in non-US subsidiaries ($ in millions).

	Foreign currency translation adjustment			Unrealized gain on available-for- sale securities			Unrecognized pension and post-retirement costs			Total
January 1, 2009	$	237.5			—		$	(340.6	)	$	(103.1	)
Increase		373.2		$	83.5			30.5			487.2
Income tax expense		—			(29.2	)		(8.0	)		(37.2	)
December 31, 2009		610.7			54.3			(318.1	)		346.9
Increase (decrease)		0.6			37.9			(37.9	)		0.6
Income tax (expense) benefit		—			(13.3	)		11.1			(2.2	)
December 31, 2010		611.3			78.9			(344.9	)		345.3
(Decrease) increase		(226.8	)		30.0			(261.9	)		(458.7	)
Income tax (expense) benefit		—			(14.3	)		90.8			76.5
December 31, 2011	$	384.5		$	94.6		$	(516.0	)	$	(36.9	)

See Notes 11 and 12 for additional information related to the unrecognized pension and post-retirement cost components and Note 8 for the available-for-sale securities component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments—The Company is neither a dealer nor a trader in derivative instruments. The Company has generally accepted the exposure to exchange rate movements without using derivative instruments to manage this risk. The Company will periodically enter into foreign currency forward contracts not exceeding twelve months to mitigate a portion of its foreign currency exchange risk. When utilized, the derivative instruments are recorded on the balance sheet as either an asset or liability measured at fair value. To the extent the foreign currency forward contract qualifies as an effective hedge, changes in fair value are recognized in other comprehensive income in stockholders' equity. The Company's use of foreign currency forward contracts during 2011 was not significant and no contracts were outstanding at December 31, 2011. The Company is also party to a foreign currency swap agreement acquired as a part of a business combination. The currency swap does not qualify for hedge accounting, and, as a result, changes in the fair value of the currency swap are reflected in earnings. Refer to Note 8 for additional information.

Accounting For Share-Based Compensation

Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation— The Company accounts for stock-based compensation by measuring the cost of employee services received in exchange for all equity awards granted, including stock options, restricted stock units ("RSUs") and restricted shares, based on the fair value of the award as of the grant date. Equity-based compensation expense is recognized net of an estimated forfeiture rate on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award, except that in the case of RSUs, compensation expense is recognized on an accelerated attribution method.

Pension & Post Retirement Benefit Plans

Pension & Post Retirement Benefit Plans—The Company measures its pension and post retirement plans' assets and its obligations that determine the respective plan's funded status as of the end of the Company's fiscal year, and recognizes an asset for a plan's over funded status or a liability for a plan's under funded status in its balance sheet. Changes in the funded status of the plans are recognized in the year in which the changes occur and reported in comprehensive income (loss).