Note 1 - Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	6 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
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 Description of Business In this quarterly report on Form 10 -Q, Mesa Laboratories, Inc., a Colorado corporation, together with its subsidiaries is collectively referred to as “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” or “Mesa.” 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 in which we can establish a strong presence and achieve high gross margins. We are organized into four divisions across nine physical locations. Our Sterilization and Disinfection Control Division manufactures and sells biological, cleaning, and chemical indicators. Biological, cleaning, and chemical indicators are used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization and disinfection processes in the hospital, dental, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries. The division also provides testing and laboratory services, mainly to the dental industry. Our Instruments Division designs, manufactures, and markets quality control instruments and disposable products utilized in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, medical device, industrial hygiene, and environmental air sampling 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 laboratory environments. 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 the customer’s transport of their own products. Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the opinion of management, such unaudited information includes all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position and results of operations. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results that may be achieved for the entire year. The financial statements and related notes do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for annual reports. This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in our annual report on Form 10 -K for the year ended March 31, 2018. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements In August 2018, the SEC issued Release No. 33 - 10532 that amends and clarifies certain financial reporting requirements. The principal change to our financial reporting will be the inclusion of the annual disclosure requirement of changes in stockholders’ equity in Rule 3 - 04 of Regulation S- X to interim periods. We will adopt this new rule beginning with our financial reporting for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Upon adoption, we will include our Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity with each quarterly filing on Form 10 -Q. In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016 - 02, Leases (Topic 842 ) . The pronouncement requires lessees to recognize a liability for lease obligations, which represents the discounted obligation to make future minimum lease payments, and a corresponding right-of-use asset on the balance sheet for all leases with terms greater than 12 months. The guidance also requires qualitative and quantitative disclosures designed to present financial statement users with the ability to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. We have initiated our plan for the adoption and implementation of this new accounting standard, including assessing our lease arrangements, evaluating practical expedients, and making necessary changes to our accounting policies, processes, and internal controls over financial reporting. We expect to adopt the standard using the optional transition method, which will allow us to apply the standard as of the effective date, therefore we will not apply changes to comparative periods presented in our financial statements. We are still assessing the expected impact of the standard on our consolidated balance sheets, but it will not significantly impact our consolidated statements of income and cash flows. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements During the three months ended September 30, 2018, we elected to early-adopt ASU 2018 - 15 Intangibles – Goodwill and Other Internal-Use Software: Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract (“ASU 2018 - 15” ) on a prospective basis. ASU 2018 - 15 aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs of other internal-use software arrangements. Accordingly, we capitalized $144 of costs incurred during the three months ended September 30, 2018 to implement a hosted enterprise resource planning system to our European subsidiaries. The related asset is held in prepaid expenses and other on the condensed consolidated balance sheets, and we began amortizing the expense to general and administrative costs on our condensed consolidated statements of income on a straight-line basis over the contractual term of the arrangement. Effective April 1, 2018, we adopted ASU 2014 - 09 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606 ) and all related amendments (referred to collectively hereinafter as “ASU 606” ) on a modified retrospective basis. ASU 606 requires an entity to recognize revenue for the transfer of goods or services equal to the amount it expects to be entitled to receive for the goods and services. The adoption did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated balance sheets, statements of income, or cash flows. The primary impact of adoption was the enhancement of disclosures to provide additional clarity regarding how revenue is earned and recognized, and to show revenues at a more disaggregated level, included in Note 2. “Revenue Recognition.” In March 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018 - 05, Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118. The amendments in this update provide guidance on when to record and disclose provisional amounts for certain income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA"). The amendments also require any provisional amounts or subsequent adjustments to be included in net income from continuing operations. Additionally, this ASU discusses required disclosures that an entity must make with regard to the TCJA. This ASU is effective immediately as new information is available to adjust provisional amounts that were previously recorded. We have adopted this standard and will continue to evaluate indicators that may give rise to a change in our tax provision as a result of the TCJA. Refer to Note 7. “Income Taxes” for additional information on the TCJA.

Note

Description of Business and

Summary of

Significant

Accounting Policies

Description of Business

In this quarterly report on Form

-Q, Mesa Laboratories, Inc., a Colorado corporation, together with its subsidiaries is collectively referred to as “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” or “Mesa.”

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 in which we can establish a strong presence and achieve high gross margins. We are organized into

four

divisions across

nine

physical locations. Our Sterilization and Disinfection Control Division manufactures and sells biological, cleaning, and chemical indicators. Biological, cleaning, and chemical indicators are used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization and disinfection processes in the hospital, dental, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries. The division also provides testing and laboratory services, mainly to the dental industry. Our Instruments Division designs, manufactures, and markets quality control instruments and disposable products utilized in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, medical device, industrial hygiene, and environmental air sampling 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 laboratory environments. 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 the customer’s transport of their own products.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the opinion of management, such unaudited information includes all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position and results of operations. The results of operations for the interim periods are

not

necessarily indicative of results that

may

be achieved for the entire year. The financial statements and related notes do

not

include all information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for annual reports. This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in our annual report on Form

-K for the year ended

March 31, 2018.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

August 2018,

the SEC issued Release

No.

10532

that amends and clarifies certain financial reporting requirements. The principal change to our financial reporting will be the inclusion of the annual disclosure requirement of changes in stockholders’ equity in Rule

of Regulation S-

to interim periods. We will adopt this new rule beginning with our financial reporting for the quarter ended

December 31, 2018.

Upon adoption, we will include our Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity with each quarterly filing on Form

-Q.

February 2016,

the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”)

2016

02,

Leases

(Topic

842

)

. The pronouncement requires lessees to recognize a liability for lease obligations, which represents the discounted obligation to make future minimum lease payments, and a corresponding right-of-use asset on the balance sheet for all leases with terms greater than

months. The guidance also requires qualitative and quantitative disclosures designed to present financial statement users with the ability to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. We have initiated our plan for the adoption and implementation of this new accounting standard, including assessing our lease arrangements, evaluating practical expedients, and making necessary changes to our accounting policies, processes, and internal controls over financial reporting. We expect to adopt the standard using the optional transition method, which will allow us to apply the standard as of the effective date, therefore we will

not

apply changes to comparative periods presented in our financial statements. We are still assessing the expected impact of the standard on our consolidated balance sheets, but it will

not

significantly impact our consolidated statements of income and cash flows.

Recently

Adopted

Accounting Pronouncements

During the

three

months ended

September 30, 2018,

we elected to early-adopt ASU

2018

Intangibles – Goodwill and Other Internal-Use Software: Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract

(“ASU

2018

15”

) on a prospective basis. ASU

2018

aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs of other internal-use software arrangements. Accordingly, we capitalized

$144

of costs incurred during the

three

months ended

September 30, 2018

to implement a hosted enterprise resource planning system to our European subsidiaries. The related asset is held in prepaid expenses and other on the condensed consolidated balance sheets, and we began amortizing the expense to general and administrative costs on our condensed consolidated statements of income on a straight-line basis over the contractual term of the arrangement.

Effective

April 1, 2018,

we adopted ASU

2014

Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic

606

)

and all related amendments (referred to collectively hereinafter as “ASU

606”

) on a modified retrospective basis. ASU

606

requires an entity to recognize revenue for the transfer of goods or services equal to the amount it expects to be entitled to receive for the goods and services. The adoption did

not

have a material impact on our condensed consolidated balance sheets, statements of income, or cash flows. The primary impact of adoption was the enhancement of disclosures to provide additional clarity regarding how revenue is earned and recognized, and to show revenues at a more disaggregated level, included in Note

“Revenue Recognition.”

March 2018,

the FASB issued ASU

2018

05,

Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin

No.

118.

The amendments in this update provide guidance on when to record and disclose provisional amounts for certain income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA"). The amendments also require any provisional amounts or subsequent adjustments to be included in net income from continuing operations. Additionally, this ASU discusses required disclosures that an entity must make with regard to the TCJA. This ASU is effective immediately as new information is available to adjust provisional amounts that were previously recorded. We have adopted this standard and will continue to evaluate indicators that

may

give rise to a change in our tax provision as a result of the TCJA. Refer to Note

“Income Taxes” for additional information on the TCJA.