Note 1 - Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Notes to Financial Statements
Organization, Consolidation, Basis of Presentation, Business Description and Accounting Policies [Text Block]	Note 1 -Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Mesa Laboratories, Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Colorado on March 26, 1982. The terms “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” or “Mesa” are used in this report to refer collectively to the parent company and the subsidiaries through which our various businesses are actually conducted. We pursue a strategy of focusing primarily on quality control products and services, which are sold into niche markets that are driven by regulatory requirements. We prefer markets that have limited competition where we can establish a commanding presence and achieve high gross margins. We are organized into four divisions across eight physical locations. Our Instruments Division designs, manufactures and markets quality control instruments and disposable products utilized in connection with the healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, medical device, industrial hygiene, environmental air sampling and semiconductor industries. Our Biological Indicators Division provides testing services, along with the manufacturing and marketing of biological indicators and distribution of chemical indicators used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization processes, including steam, hydrogen peroxide, ethylene oxide and radiation, in the hospital, dental, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Our Cold Chain Monitoring Division designs, develops and markets systems which are used to monitor various environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and differential pressure to ensure that critical storage and processing conditions are maintained in hospitals, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, blood banks, pharmacies and a number of other laboratory and industrial environments. Our Cold Chain Monitoring Division also provides parameter (primarily temperature) monitoring of products during transport in a cold chain and consulting services such as compliance monitoring and validation or mapping of transport and storage containers. Our Cold Chain Packaging Division provides packaging development consulting services and thermal packaging products such as coolers, boxes, insulation materials and phase-change products to control temperature during transport. Basis of Presentation The accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2016, has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements. The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as our annual audited consolidated financial statements and in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial statements. In the opinion of management, such unaudited information includes all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring accruals) necessary for a fair presentation of this interim information. Operating results and cash flows for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results that can be expected for the entire year. The information included in this report should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10 -K for the year ended March 31, 2016. The summary of our significant accounting policies is incorporated by reference to our Annual Report on Form 10 -K for the year ended March 31, 2016. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016 - 09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718) , as part of its simplification initiative, which affects all entities that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. The amendments in this update cover such areas as the recognition of excess tax benefits and deficiencies, the classification of those excess tax benefits on the statement of cash flows, an accounting policy election for forfeitures, the amount an employer can withhold to cover income taxes and still qualify for equity classification and the classification of those taxes paid on the statement of cash flows. The ASU was effective for our fiscal year ending March 31, 2018 using either the prospective, retrospective or modified retrospective transition method, depending on the area covered in this update. As permitted within the amendment, we elected to early adopt and prospectively apply the provisions of this amendment as of April 1, 2015. As a result of the adoption of ASU No. 2016 - 09, the captions of income taxes, net income, and net income per share basic and diluted on the condensed consolidated statements of income for the three months ended December 31, 2015 have been restated to $854,000, $2,597,000, $0.72 and $0.69 as compared to amounts previously reported of $1,090,000, $2,361,000, $0.65 and $0.63, respectively. The captions of net income and total comprehensive income on the condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three months ended December 31, 2015 have been restated to $2,597,000 and $750,000 as compared to amounts previously reported of $2,361,000 and $514,000, respectively. As a result of the adoption of ASU No. 2016 - 09, the captions of income taxes, net income, and net income per share basic and diluted on the condensed consolidated statements of income for the nine months ended December 31, 2015 have been restated to $2,592,000, $7,178,000, $2.00 and $1.91 as compared to amounts previously reported of $3,351,000, $6,419,000, $1.79 and $1.72, respectively. The captions of net income and total comprehensive income on the condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the nine months ended December 31, 2015 have been restated to $7,178,000 and $5,962,000 as compared to amounts previously reported of $6,419,000 and $5,203,000, respectively. The captions of net income and accrued liabilities and taxes payable on the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the nine months ended December 31, 2015 have been restated to $7,178,000 and ($49,000) as compared to amounts previously reported of $6,419,000 and $710,000, respectively. In December 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015 - 17, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (“ ASU 2015 - 17” ). ASU 2015 - 17 simplifies the presentation of deferred income taxes by requiring that deferred tax liabilities and assets be classified as noncurrent in a classified statement of financial position. The standard was effective for our fiscal year (and interim periods within that year) ending March 31, 2018. As permitted within the amendment, we elected to early adopt and prospectively apply the provisions of this amendment as of April 1, 2016. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014 - 09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) , which impacts virtually all aspects of an entity’ s revenue recognition. The core principle of the new standard is that revenue should be recognized to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. Companies can transition to the standard either retrospectively or as a cumulative effective adjustment as of the date of adoption. The new standard is effective for our fiscal year (and interim periods within that year) ending March 31, 2019. We are currently evaluating when to adopt the new standard, the impacts of adoption and the implementation approach to be used.

Note

-Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Colorado on

March

26,

1982.

The terms “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” or “Mesa” are used in this report to refer collectively to the parent company and the subsidiaries through which our various businesses are actually conducted. We pursue a strategy of focusing primarily on quality control products and services, which are sold into niche markets that are driven by regulatory requirements. We prefer markets that have limited competition where we can establish a commanding presence and achieve high gross margins. We are organized into

four

divisions across

eight

physical locations. Our Instruments Division designs, manufactures and markets quality control instruments and disposable products utilized in connection with the healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, medical device, industrial hygiene, environmental air sampling and semiconductor industries. Our Biological Indicators Division provides testing services, along with the manufacturing and marketing of biological indicators and distribution of chemical indicators used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization processes, including steam, hydrogen peroxide, ethylene oxide and radiation, in the hospital, dental, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Our Cold Chain Monitoring Division designs, develops and markets systems which are used to monitor various environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and differential pressure to ensure that critical storage and processing conditions are maintained in hospitals, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, blood banks, pharmacies and a number of other laboratory and industrial environments. Our Cold Chain Monitoring Division also provides parameter (primarily temperature) monitoring of products during transport in a cold chain and consulting services such as compliance monitoring and validation or mapping of transport and storage containers. Our Cold Chain Packaging Division provides packaging development consulting services and thermal packaging products such as coolers, boxes, insulation materials and phase-change products to control temperature during transport.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet as of

March

31,

2016,

has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements. The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as our annual audited consolidated financial statements and in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial statements. In the opinion of management, such unaudited information includes all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring accruals) necessary for a fair presentation of this interim information. Operating results and cash flows for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results that can be expected for the entire year. The information included in this report should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form

-K for the year ended

March

31,

2016.

The summary of our significant accounting policies is incorporated by reference to our Annual Report on Form

-K for the year ended

March

31,

2016.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

March

2016,

the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No.

2016

09,

Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic

718)

as part of its simplification initiative, which affects all entities that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. The amendments in this update cover such areas as the recognition of excess tax benefits and deficiencies, the classification of those excess tax benefits on the statement of cash flows, an accounting policy election for forfeitures, the amount an employer can withhold to cover income taxes and still qualify for equity classification and the classification of those taxes paid on the statement of cash flows. The ASU was effective for our fiscal year ending

March

31,

2018

using either the prospective, retrospective or modified retrospective transition method, depending on the area covered in this update. As permitted within the amendment, we elected to early adopt and prospectively apply the provisions of this amendment as of

April

2015.

As a result of the adoption of ASU No.

2016

09,

the captions of income taxes, net income, and net income per share basic and diluted on the condensed consolidated statements of income for the

three

months ended

December

31,

2015

have been restated to

$854,000,

$2,597,000,

$0.72

and

$0.69

as compared to amounts previously reported of

$1,090,000,

$2,361,000,

$0.65

and

$0.63,

respectively. The captions of net income and total comprehensive income on the condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the

three

months ended

December

31,

2015

have been restated to

$2,597,000

and

$750,000

as compared to amounts previously reported of

$2,361,000

and

$514,000,

respectively.

As a result of the adoption of ASU No.

2016

09,

the captions of income taxes, net income, and net income per share basic and diluted on the condensed consolidated statements of income for the

nine

months ended

December

31,

2015

have been restated to

$2,592,000,

$7,178,000,

$2.00

and

$1.91

as compared to amounts previously reported of

$3,351,000,

$6,419,000,

$1.79

and

$1.72,

respectively. The captions of net income and total comprehensive income on the condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the

nine

months ended

December

31,

2015

have been restated to

$7,178,000

and

$5,962,000

as compared to amounts previously reported of

$6,419,000

and

$5,203,000,

respectively. The captions of net income and accrued liabilities and taxes payable on the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the

nine

months ended

December

31,

2015

have been restated to

$7,178,000

and

($49,000)

as compared to amounts previously reported of

$6,419,000

and

$710,000,

respectively.

December

2015,

the FASB issued ASU No.

2015

17,

Income Taxes (Topic

740):

Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes

(“

ASU

2015

17”

). ASU

2015

simplifies the presentation of deferred income taxes by requiring that deferred tax liabilities and assets be classified as noncurrent in a classified statement of financial position. The standard was effective for our fiscal year (and interim periods within that year) ending

March

31,

2018.

As permitted within the amendment, we elected to early adopt and prospectively apply the provisions of this amendment as of

April

2016.

May

2014,

the FASB issued ASU No.

2014

09,

Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic

606)

, which impacts virtually all aspects of an entity’

s revenue recognition. The core principle of the new standard is that revenue should be recognized to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. Companies can transition to the standard either retrospectively or as a cumulative effective adjustment as of the date of adoption. The new standard is effective for our fiscal year (and interim periods within that year) ending

March

31,

2019.

We are currently evaluating when to adopt the new standard, the impacts of adoption and the implementation approach to be used.