Organization and Basis of Presentation | ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION Organization —Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (“Bright Horizons” or the “Company”) provides workplace services for employers and families throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, and also in Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, and India. Workplace services include center-based child care, education and enrichment programs, elementary school education, back-up dependent care (for children and elders), before and after school care, college preparation and admissions counseling, tuition reimbursement program management, and other family support services. Basis of Presentation —The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2016 and the condensed consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income and cash flows for the interim periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 have been prepared by the Company in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required in accordance with U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 . In the opinion of the Company’s management, the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2016 and the condensed consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income and cash flows for the interim periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 , reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal and recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the results of the interim periods presented. The operating results for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year. Stock Offerings —On January 30, 2013 , the Company completed an initial public offering (the “Offering”) and, after the exercise of the overallotment option on February 21, 2013 , issued a total of 11.6 million shares of common stock. Subsequent to the Offering, certain of the Company's shareholders sold shares of the Company's common stock in secondary offerings (“secondary offerings”) totaling 2.12 million shares in the nine months ended September 30, 2016 , and 9.65 million , 15.9 million , and 9.8 million shares in the years ended December 31, 2015 , 2014 and 2013 , respectively. The Company did not receive proceeds from the sale of shares in the secondary offerings. The Company purchased 1.0 million , 2.1 million and 4.5 million of the shares sold in the secondary offerings in 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , respectively, from investment funds affiliated with Bain Capital Partners, LLC at the same price per share paid by the underwriter to the selling shareholders. As of September 30, 2016 , investment funds affiliated with Bain Capital Partners, LLC held approximately 24.6% of our common stock. On August 2, 2016, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized a share repurchase program of up to $300 million of the Company’s outstanding common stock, effective August 5, 2016. The share repurchase program, which has no expiration date, replaces the prior $250 million authorization announced in February 2015, of which $26.3 million remained available at the date the program was replaced. The shares may be repurchased from time to time in open market transactions at prevailing market prices, in privately negotiated transactions, under Rule 10b5-1 plans, or by other means in accordance with federal securities laws. New Accounting Pronouncements — In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-09: Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting . The amendments in this update simplify several aspects of the accounting for employee share-based payment transactions, including the accounting for income taxes, forfeitures and statutory tax withholding requirements, as well as classification in the statement of cash flows. The update is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those annual reporting periods with early adoption permitted. This update can be applied either prospectively, retrospectively or using a modified retrospective transition method, depending on the area covered. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this update on the consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) . This standard amends the existing guidance and requires lessees to recognize on the balance sheet assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by those leases with lease terms longer than twelve months. This update is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and is to be applied using a modified retrospective approach. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact this standard will have on the Company's consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) , which provides guidance for revenue recognition. The FASB has subsequently issued various ASUs which amend or clarify specific areas of the guidance. The standard's core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In doing so, companies will need to use more judgment and make more estimates than under current guidance. These may include identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration included in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. This new guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 and can be adopted using either a full retrospective or modified approach. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of adoption of this ASU on the Company's consolidated financial statements. In 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-16, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments and ASU 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. These standards were effective January 1, 2016, and did not have an impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements. |