Ameresco, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Cover
- Document and Entity Information
Financial Statements
Notes to Financial Statements
Accounting Policies
- Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
Notes Tables
Notes Details

Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Additional Information (Details)

v3.10.0.1

Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Jan. 01, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in retained earnings	$ 247,080,000	$ 247,080,000	$ 231,390,000	$ 235,844,000
Contract with customer, liability, noncurrent	7,347,000	7,347,000
Contract with customer, asset, reclassified to receivable		285,321,000
Contract with customer, asset, revenue recognized		236,327,000
Contract with customer, liability, revenue recognized		60,492,000
Contract with customer, liability, billings		50,119,000
Revenue, remaining performance obligation	$ 1,575,000,000	$ 1,575,000,000
Revenue, remaining performance obligation, percentage	26.00%	26.00%
Capitalized commission costs			927,000
Capitalized contract cost, impairment loss		$ 0
Capitalized contract cost, project development costs	$ 3,570,000	$ 6,010,000
Minimum
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Contract receivable retainage percentage	5.00%	5.00%
Maximum
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Contract receivable retainage percentage	10.00%	10.00%
Effect of Change Higher/(Lower) \| Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in retained earnings	$ (4,627,000)	$ (4,627,000)	$ (4,454,000)

- Definition

Capitalized Contract Cost, Project Development Costs

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	amrc_CapitalizedContractCostProjectDevelopmentCosts
Namespace Prefix:	amrc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Contract Receivable Retainage Percentage

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	amrc_ContractReceivableRetainagePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	amrc_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Contract With Customer, Asset, Revenue Recognized

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	amrc_ContractWithCustomerAssetRevenueRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	amrc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Contract With Customer, Liability, Billings

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	amrc_ContractWithCustomerLiabilityBillings
Namespace Prefix:	amrc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount, before accumulated amortization and accumulated impairment loss, of asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 40
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68051541&loc=SL49131252-203054

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalizedContractCostGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of impairment loss for asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 40
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68051541&loc=SL49131252-203054

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalizedContractCostImpairmentLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of decrease in right to consideration in exchange for good or service transferred to customer when right is conditioned on something other than passage of time from transfer to receivable due to right to consideration becoming unconditional.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 10
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130551-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerAssetReclassifiedToReceivable
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable, classified as noncurrent.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130549-203045

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130532-203044

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130531-203044

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerLiabilityNoncurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of revenue recognized that was previously included in balance of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration from customer has been received or is due.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerLiabilityRevenueRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cumulative amount of the reporting entity's undistributed earnings or deficit.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(30)(a)(3))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(23)(a)(4))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RetainedEarningsAccumulatedDeficit
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueInitialApplicationPeriodCumulativeEffectTransitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of transaction price allocated to performance obligation that has not been recognized as revenue.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130556-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueRemainingPerformanceObligation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of remaining performance obligation to total remaining performance obligation not recognized as revenue.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (b)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130556-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueRemainingPerformanceObligationPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InitialApplicationPeriodCumulativeEffectTransitionAxis=us-gaap_DifferenceBetweenRevenueGuidanceInEffectBeforeAndAfterTopic606Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AdjustmentsForNewAccountingPronouncementsAxis=us-gaap_AccountingStandardsUpdate201409Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: