Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jul. 01, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

NOTE 1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

     Basis of presentation: The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in Anixter International Inc.’s (“the Company”) Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. The condensed consolidated financial information furnished herein reflects all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals), which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the condensed consolidated financial statements for the periods shown. Certain amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. The results of operations of any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full fiscal year.

     Accounts receivable are net of allowances for doubtful accounts of $23.6 million and $25.0 million as of July 1, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively.

     Recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted: In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance to amend the requirements related to fair value measurement which changes the wording used to describe many requirements in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements. Additionally, the amendments clarify the FASB’s intent about the application of existing fair value measurement requirements. The amended guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011, and is applied prospectively. Adoption of this guidance at the beginning of fiscal 2012 is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

     In June 2011, the FASB issued an update to Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) No. 220, “Presentation of Comprehensive Income,” which eliminates the option to present other comprehensive income and its components in the statement of stockholders’ equity. The Company can elect to present the items of net income and other comprehensive income in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate, but consecutive statements. Under either method, the statement would need to be presented with equal prominence as the other primary financial statements. The amended guidance, which must be applied retrospectively, is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011, with earlier adoption permitted.