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BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION | BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION W.W. Grainger, Inc. is a broad line, business-to-business distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies, and other related products and services. W.W. Grainger, Inc.’s operations are primarily in the United States (U.S.) and Canada, with a presence in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In this report, the words “Company” or “Grainger” mean W.W. Grainger, Inc. and its subsidiaries. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company and the related notes are unaudited and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes for the year ended December 31, 2016 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2016 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the disclosures required by U. S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) for complete financial statements. The unaudited financial information reflects all adjustments (primarily consisting of normal recurring adjustments) which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair presentation of the statements contained herein. Certain amounts in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, as previously reported, have been reclassified to conform to the 2017 presentation. In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-09, Stock Based Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which became effective January 1, 2017. As a result, the Company reclassified $19 million of employee taxes paid from cash flows from operating activities to cash flows from financing activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2016.

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