XML 57 R21.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v2.4.0.6

Basis of Presentation (Policies) | 9 Months Ended
--- | ---
Sep. 29, 2012
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Basis of Accounting Policy | The accompanying consolidated financial statements of Arrow Electronics, Inc. (the "company") were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and reflect all adjustments of a normal recurring nature, which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial position and results of operations at and for the periods presented. The consolidated results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year. These consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information or notes necessary for a complete presentation and, accordingly, should be read in conjunction with the company's Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended June 30, 2012 and March 31, 2012, as well as the audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes for the year ended December 31, 2011, as filed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K. During the third quarter of 2012, the company prospectively revised its presentation of sales related to certain fulfillment contracts to present these revenues on an agency basis as net fees, as compared to presenting gross sales and costs of sales in prior periods. This revised presentation had no impact on the company's consolidated balance sheet or statement of cash flows. Within the statement of operations, gross profit dollars, operating income dollars, net income dollars, and earnings per share were also not impacted for any periods reported. Prior to this prospective revision, these contracts approximated three percent of the company's sales for both the third quarter and first nine months of 2012 and approximated four percent of the company's sales for both the third quarter and first nine months of 2011. Management has concluded that the impact of this revised presentation is not material and, therefore, prior periods have not been adjusted.
Fiscal Period Policy | During the first quarter of 2012, the company began operating on a revised quarterly reporting calendar that closes on the Saturday closest to the end of the calendar quarter. There were 63 shipping days for both the third quarters of 2012 and 2011 and there were 191 shipping days for both the first nine months of 2012 and 2011.
Comparability of Prior Year Financial Data Policy | Certain prior period amounts were reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Policy | Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquisition over the fair value of the net assets acquired. The company tests goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually as of the first day of the fourth quarter, or more frequently if indicators of potential impairment exist.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Policy | The company maintains allowances for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of its customers to make required payments. The allowances for doubtful accounts are determined using a combination of factors, including the length of time the receivables are outstanding, the current business environment, and historical experience.
Fair Value of Debt Policy | The carrying amount of the company's short-term borrowings in various countries, revolving credit facility, asset securitization program, and other obligations approximate their fair value.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments Policy | Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The company utilizes a fair value hierarchy, which maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The fair value hierarchy has three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:
Level 1 | Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities.
Level 2 | Quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.
Level 3 | Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

X
- Definition Fair Value, Debt Instrument, Valuation Techniques [Policy Text Block] + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | arw_FairValueDebtInstrumentValuationTechniquesPolicyTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | arw_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for the basis of accounting, or basis of presentation, used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BasisOfAccounting
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for reporting any exceptions to the comparability of prior year financial data with data shown for the most recent accounting period. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB) -Number 43 -Chapter 2 -Section A -Paragraph 3 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6359553&loc=d3e288-107754 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ComparabilityOfPriorYearFinancialData
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for determining the fair value of financial instruments. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 107 -Paragraph 8, 10, 12, 13, 14 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6367646&loc=d3e18780-107790 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 820 -SubTopic 10 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2155942 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_FairValueOfFinancialInstrumentsPolicy
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for determining an entity's fiscal year or other fiscal period. This disclosure may include identification of the fiscal period end-date, the length of the fiscal period, any reporting period lag between the entity and its subsidiaries, or equity investees. If a reporting lag exists, the closing date of the entity having a different period end is generally noted, along with an explanation of the necessity for using different closing dates. Any intervening events that materially affect the entity's financial position or results of operations are generally also disclosed. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (SX 210.3A-02.(b)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6959686&loc=d3e355033-122828 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB) -Number 51 -Paragraph 4 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 02 -Paragraph b -Article 3A Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 02 -Paragraph k -Article 1 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (SX 210.3A-03.(b)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6959686&loc=d3e355100-122828 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 06 -Article 3 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Article 3A -Section 03 -Paragraph b Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 12 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6921628&loc=d3e5291-111683 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_FiscalPeriod
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for goodwill. This accounting policy also may address how an entity assesses and measures impairment of goodwill, how reporting units are determined, how goodwill is allocated to such units, and how the fair values of the reporting units are determined. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 142 -Paragraph 18-23, 26, 34 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6367646&loc=d3e18780-107790 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2144439 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_GoodwillAndIntangibleAssetsGoodwillPolicy
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_OrganizationConsolidationAndPresentationOfFinancialStatementsAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Describes how an entity determines the level of its allowance for doubtful accounts for its trade and other accounts receivable balances, and when impairments, charge-offs or recoveries are recognized. The description identifies the factors that influence management's establishment of the level of the allowance (for example, historical losses and existing economic conditions) and may also include discussion of the risk elements relevant to particular categories of receivables. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6367646&loc=d3e18780-107790 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 02 -Paragraph 4 -Article 5 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Statement of Position (SOP) -Number 01-6 -Paragraph 13 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6965416&loc=d3e5144-111524 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ReceivablesTradeAndOtherAccountsReceivableAllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsPolicy
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration