Quarterly information (unaudited) (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of selected quarterly income statement data

Earnings per share amounts are computed independently each quarter. As a result, the sum of each quarter's earnings per share amount may not equal the total earnings per share amount for the respective year.

	Quarter Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018		March 31,2019		June 30,2019		Sept. 30,2019
	(In thousands, except per share data)
U.S. Health and Human Services	$	294,213	$	290,737	$	291,132	$	300,406
U.S. Federal Services	216,987		289,736		292,295		312,179
Outside the U.S.	153,419		156,047		147,283		142,381
Revenue	$	664,619	$	736,520	$	730,710	$	754,966
U.S. Health and Human Services	$	88,031	$	86,260	$	86,664	$	83,154
U.S. Federal Services	47,985		60,696		66,803		66,586
Outside the U.S.	23,249		22,466		20,780		18,510
Gross profit	$	159,265	$	169,422	$	174,247	$	168,250
U.S. Health and Human Services	$	55,892	$	56,860	$	54,250	$	53,832
U.S. Federal Services	21,353		29,592		33,907		31,090
Outside the U.S.	4,441		4,474		4,989		2,157
Amortization of intangible assets	(5,458)		(9,519)		(9,049)		(9,028)
Acquisition-related expenses	(2,691)		—		—		—
Other/corporate	599		394		(503)		(475)
Operating income	$	74,136	$	81,801	$	83,594	$	77,576
Net income	$	55,723	$	61,766	$	62,965	$	60,041
Net income attributable to MAXIMUS	$	55,913	$	61,924	$	62,898	$	60,089
Basic earnings per share attributable to MAXIMUS	$	0.86	$	0.96	$	0.98	$	0.93
Diluted earnings per share attributable to MAXIMUS	$	0.86	$	0.96	$	0.97	$	0.93

	Quarter Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017		March 31,2018		June 30,2018		Sept. 30,2018
	(In thousands, except per share data)
U.S. Health and Human Services	$	304,241	$	306,249	$	314,477	$	288,944
U.S. Federal Services	132,983		116,327		112,226		117,375
Outside the U.S.	185,924		190,211		171,152		152,127
Revenue	$	623,148	$	612,787	$	597,855	$	558,446
U.S. Health and Human Services	$	84,231	$	86,586	$	101,425	$	87,382
U.S. Federal Services	33,358		27,374		32,276		33,690
Outside the U.S.	34,371		34,843		20,983		17,866
Gross profit	$	151,960	$	148,803	$	154,684	$	138,938
U.S. Health and Human Services	$	49,426	$	49,970	$	67,043	$	52,195
U.S. Federal Services	16,710		9,834		14,877		15,965
Outside the U.S.	16,265		16,440		4,208		(945)
Amortization of intangible assets	(2,718)		(2,603)		(2,525)		(2,462)
Restructuring costs	—		(2,320)		—		(1,033)
Acquisition-related expenses	—		—		—		(947)
Other/corporate	—		—		(1,032)		(865)
Operating income	$	79,683	$	71,321	$	82,571	$	61,908
Net income	$	59,952	$	55,106	$	60,242	$	45,516
Net income attributable to MAXIMUS	$	59,091	$	55,492	$	59,861	$	46,307
Basic earnings per share attributable to MAXIMUS	$	0.90	$	0.84	$	0.91	$	0.71
Diluted earnings per share attributable to MAXIMUS	$	0.89	$	0.84	$	0.91	$	0.71