Accounting Policies, by Policy (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Feb. 28, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information, and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) instructions for Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited, consolidated financial statements and related notes for the year ended May 31, 2013, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on August 26, 2013.

Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Change in Estimates

Change in Provision of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

In the second quarter of fiscal 2014, management reviewed the valuation method used to determine the Company’s estimate of its allowance for doubtful accounts and determined that a change in estimate was needed to better reflect the Company’s actual bad debt experience. As a result, management revised its valuation method, effective November 30, 2013, and reduced the estimate of its allowance for doubtful accounts on uncollected receivables in the second quarter of fiscal 2014. The effect of this change in estimate was a reduction in bad debt expense of $1.9 million, and a decrease in net loss of approximately $1.1 million, in the nine months ended February 28, 2014.

Change in Depreciable Lives of Property and Equipment

In accordance with its policy, the Company reviews the estimated useful lives of its fixed assets on an ongoing basis. In the first quarter of fiscal 2014, this review indicated that the actual lives of its instrument equipment assets were longer than the estimated useful lives used for depreciation purposes in the Company’s financial statements. As a result, the Company changed its estimates of the useful lives of its instrument equipment, effective June 1, 2013, to better reflect the estimated periods during which these assets will remain in service. The estimated useful lives of these assets increased from approximately 5 years to 10 years. The effect of this change in estimate was a reduction in depreciation expense of $1.6 million and $4.7 million, and a decrease in net loss of $0.9 million and $2.7 million for the three months and nine months ended February 28, 2014, respectively. On an annual basis, the effect of this change is expected to decrease depreciation expense by approximately $6.3 million, and decrease net loss by approximately $3.6 million.

Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Basis of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Immucor and all its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. There are no other entities controlled by the Company, either directly or indirectly.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards –

Adopted by the Company in fiscal 2014

In December 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2011-11, Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities (Topic 210) (“ASU 2011-11”) which requires an entity to disclose information about offsetting and related arrangements to ensure that the users of the Company’s financial statements can understand the effect that offsetting has on the Company’s financial position. The adoption of ASU 2011-11 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In January 2013, the FASB issued ASU No. 2013-01, Balance Sheet (Topic 210): Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities (“ASU 2013-01”), which clarifies which instruments and transactions are subject to the offsetting disclosure requirements originally established by ASU 2011-11. The new ASU addresses preparer concerns that the scope of the disclosure requirements under ASU 2011-11 was overly broad and imposed unintended costs that are not commensurate with estimated benefits to financial statement users. In choosing to narrow the scope of the offsetting disclosures, the FASB determined that it could make them more operable and cost effective for preparers while still giving financial statement users sufficient information to analyze the most significant presentation differences between financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and those prepared under IFRS. The adoption of ASU 2013-01 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In February 2013, the FASB issued ASU No. 2013-02: Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2013-02”) which adds new disclosure requirements for items reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income. The adoption of ASU 2013-02 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In February 2013, the FASB issued ASU No. 2013-04, Liabilities (Topic 405): Obligations Resulting from Joint and Several Liability Arrangements for Which the Total Amount of the Obligation Is Fixed at the Reporting Date (“ASU 2013-04”). The amendments in ASU 2013-04 provide guidance for the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements for which the total amount of the obligation within the scope of this update is fixed at the reporting date, except for obligations addressed within existing guidance in U.S. GAAP. The guidance requires an entity to measure those obligations as the sum of the amount the reporting entity agreed to pay on the basis of its arrangement among its co-obligors and any additional amount the reporting entity expects to pay on behalf of its co-obligors. The guidance in this update also requires an entity to disclose the nature and amount of the obligation as well as other information about those obligations. The adoption of ASU 2013-04 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In March 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-05, Foreign Currency Matters (Topic 830): Parent’s Accounting for the Cumulative Translation Adjustment upon Derecognition of Certain Subsidiaries or Groups of Assets within a Foreign Entity or of an Investment in a Foreign Entity (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force) (“ASU 2013-05”). ASU 2013-05 clarifies that when a parent reporting entity ceases to have a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets that is a business within a foreign entity, the parent is required to apply the guidance in ASC 830-30 to release any related cumulative translation adjustment into net income. Accordingly, the cumulative translation adjustment should be released into net income only if the sale or transfer results in the complete or substantially complete liquidation of the foreign entity in which the subsidiary or group of assets had resided. The adoption of ASU 2013-05 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In July 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2013-10, Inclusion of the Fed Funds Effective Swap Rate (or Overnight Index Swap Rate) as a Benchmark Interest Rate for Hedge Accounting Purposes ("ASU 2013-10"). ASU 2013-10 permits the Fed Funds Effective Swap Rate to be used as a U.S. benchmark interest rate for hedge accounting purposes, in addition to the United States Treasury rate and London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR"). In addition, the restriction on using different benchmark rates for similar hedges is removed. The adoption of ASU 2013-10 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In July 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2013-11, Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists (“ASU 2013-11”).  ASU 2013-11 amends accounting guidance on the presentation of an unrecognized tax benefit when a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or tax credit carryforward exists. This new guidance requires entities, if certain criteria are met, to present an unrecognized tax benefit, or portion of an unrecognized tax benefit, in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward when such items exist in the same taxing jurisdiction. The adoption of ASU 2013-11 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.