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Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all assets that are recognized. Assets are probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or events.

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Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation.

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The current period expense charged against earnings on long-lived, physical assets not used in production, and which are not intended for resale, to allocate or recognize the cost of such assets over their useful lives; or to record the reduction in book value of an intangible asset over the benefit period of such asset; or to reflect consumption during the period of an asset that is not used in production.

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Sum of operating profit and nonoperating income or expense before Income or Loss from equity method investments, income taxes, extraordinary items, and noncontrolling interest.

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This element represents the income or loss from continuing operations (before interest income and interest expense) attributable to the economic entity which may also be defined as revenue less expenses from ongoing operations, after income or loss from equity method investments, but before interest income, interest expense, income taxes, extraordinary items, and noncontrolling interest.

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No definition available.

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The net amount of operating interest income (expense).

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Long-lived assets other than financial instruments, long-term customer relationships of a financial institution, mortgage and other servicing rights, deferred policy acquisition costs, and deferred tax assets.

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This element represents a sum total of expenses not separately reflected on the income statement for the period.

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The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale; includes cash outflows to pay for construction of self-constructed assets.

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The aggregate amount provided for estimated restructuring charges, remediation costs, and asset impairment loss during an accounting period. Generally, these items are either unusual or infrequent, but not both (in which case they would be extraordinary items).

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Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

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Investments which are intended to be sold in the short term (usually less than one year or the normal operating cycle, whichever is longer) including trading securities, available-for-sale securities, held-to-maturity securities, and other short-term investments not otherwise listed in the existing taxonomy.

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Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue	$ 983,913us-gaap_Revenues	$ 941,644us-gaap_Revenues	$ 958,450us-gaap_Revenues	$ 937,497us-gaap_Revenues	$ 1,010,821us-gaap_Revenues	$ 920,489us-gaap_Revenues	$ 950,662us-gaap_Revenues	$ 909,363us-gaap_Revenues	$ 3,821,504us-gaap_Revenues	$ 3,791,335us-gaap_Revenues	$ 3,823,713us-gaap_Revenues
EBIT									960,729	905,382	931,216
Reconciling items:
Interest, net									(169,450)us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet	(186,987)us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet	(184,675)us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet
Unallocated corporate expenses									(229,785)pbi_CorporateExpenses	(217,458)pbi_CorporateExpenses	(216,457)pbi_CorporateExpenses
Restructuring charges and asset impairments, net									(84,560)	(84,344)	(17,176)
Other expense, net									(45,738)us-gaap_OtherExpenses	(32,639)us-gaap_OtherExpenses	(1,138)us-gaap_OtherExpenses
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	96,680	141,537	138,477	54,502	105,656	87,600	108,833	81,865	431,196	383,954	511,770
Depreciation and amortization									198,088us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization	211,243us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization	255,556us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization
Capital expenditures:									180,556	137,512	176,586
Assets	6,485,693us-gaap_Assets				6,772,708us-gaap_Assets				6,485,693us-gaap_Assets	6,772,708us-gaap_Assets	7,859,891us-gaap_Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	1,079,145				907,806				1,079,145	907,806	913,276	856,238
Short-term investments	32,121us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments				31,128us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments				32,121us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments	31,128us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments	36,611us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments
Identifiable long-lived assets:	485,471us-gaap_NoncurrentAssets				471,317us-gaap_NoncurrentAssets				485,471us-gaap_NoncurrentAssets	471,317us-gaap_NoncurrentAssets	626,569us-gaap_NoncurrentAssets
United States
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									2,743,957	2,654,301	2,669,074
Reconciling items:
Identifiable long-lived assets:	391,311				351,772				391,311	351,772	483,422
Outside United States
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									1,077,547	1,137,034	1,154,639
Reconciling items:
Identifiable long-lived assets:	94,160				119,545				94,160	119,545	143,147
Total for reportable segments
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									168,776	180,853	200,908
Capital expenditures:									112,287	124,308	142,506
Assets	5,127,142				5,514,463				5,127,142	5,514,463	5,777,266
Small & Medium Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									2,064,367	2,158,167	2,245,484
EBIT									731,231	712,346	722,823
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									98,920	110,753	131,761
Capital expenditures:									81,562	83,359	108,153
Assets	3,301,356				3,623,816				3,301,356	3,623,816	3,729,853
North America Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									1,491,927	1,555,585	1,643,855
EBIT									642,521	640,830	646,979
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									68,291	81,238	104,957
Capital expenditures:									67,596	57,973	78,511
Assets	2,614,123				2,767,743				2,614,123	2,767,743	2,863,233
International Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									572,440	602,582	601,629
EBIT									88,710	71,516	75,844
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									30,629	29,515	26,804
Capital expenditures:									13,966	25,386	29,642
Assets	687,233				856,073				687,233	856,073	866,620
Enterprise Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									918,755	942,013	910,522
EBIT									145,773	138,259	155,151
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									36,202	45,739	38,980
Capital expenditures:									18,258	15,387	29,559
Assets	613,681				648,634				613,681	648,634	755,743
Production Mail
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									462,199	511,544	480,718
EBIT									47,543	55,000	48,981
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									7,740	15,740	12,227
Capital expenditures:									801	2,875	12,339
Assets	266,831				305,428				266,831	305,428	386,338
Presort Services
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									456,556	430,469	429,804
EBIT									98,230	83,259	106,170
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									28,462	29,999	26,753
Capital expenditures:									17,457	12,512	17,220
Assets	346,850				343,206				346,850	343,206	369,405
Digital Commerce Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									838,382	691,155	667,707
EBIT									83,725	54,777	53,242
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									33,654	24,361	30,167
Capital expenditures:									12,467	25,562	4,794
Assets	1,212,105				1,242,013				1,212,105	1,242,013	1,291,670
Unallocated amount
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									29,312	14,052	16,785
Capital expenditures:									68,269	4,876	1,231
Assets	247,285				217,913				247,285	217,913	278,731
Discontinued operations
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									0	16,338	37,863
Capital expenditures:									0	8,328	32,849
Assets	$ 0				$ 101,398				$ 0	$ 101,398	$ 854,007