Recent accounting pronouncements (Policies)	6 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2018
Accounting Changes And Error Corrections [Abstract]
Recent accounting pronouncements	Accounting pronouncements issued and recently adopted None. Accounting pronouncements issued and not yet effective Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815)”. The standard better aligns hedge accounting with an entity’s risk management activities and simplifies the requirement to qualify for hedge accounting. ASU 2017-12 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2020. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements. Scope of Modification Accounting In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718)”. The standard provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting. ASU 2017-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and should be applied prospectively to an award modified on or after the adoption date. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2019. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements. Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, “Compensation — Retirement Benefits (Topic 715)”. The standard improves the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost by requiring that an employer that offers to its employees defined benefit pension or other postretirement benefit plans report the service cost component in the same line item or items as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. The other components of net benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations, if one is presented. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning August 1, 2018. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements. Clarifying the Definition of a Business In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business.” The amendments provide the requirements needed for a set of transferred assets and activities to be a business and establish a practical way to determine when a set of transferred assets and activities is not a business. To be considered a business, an acquisition would have to include an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs. An output is the result of inputs and substantive processes that provide goods or services to customers, other revenue, or investment income, such as dividends and interest. The amendments narrow the definition of outputs and align it with how outputs are described in Topic 606 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”. The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those periods. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning August 1, 2018. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements. Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other than Inventory In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-16, “Income Taxes (Topic 740)”. The standard requires the recognition of the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset, other than inventory, when the transfer occurs. Two common examples of assets included in the scope of this amendment are intellectual property and property, plant, and equipment. The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning August 1, 2018. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements. Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230).” The amendments provide guidance on the eight specific cash flow statement presentation and classification issues as follows: (1) debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs; (2) settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing; (3) contingent consideration payments made after a business combination; (4) proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims; (5) proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, including bank-owned life insurance policies; (6) distributions received from equity method investees; (7) beneficial interests in securitization transactions; and (8) separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2019. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements. Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326)” The amendment modifies the measurement of expected credit losses of certain financial instruments. Credit losses relating to available-for-sale debt securities should be recorded through an allowance for credit losses. Available-for-sale accounting recognizes that value may be realized either through collection of contractual cash flows or through sale of the security. Therefore, the amendments limit the amount of the allowance for credit losses to the amount by which fair value is below amortized cost because the classification as available for sale is premised on an investment strategy that recognizes that the investment could be sold at fair value, if cash collection would result in the realization of an amount less than fair value. The allowance for credit losses for purchased available-for-sale securities with a more-than-insignificant amount of credit deterioration since origination is determined in a similar manner to other available-for-sale debt securities; however, the initial allowance for credit losses is added to the purchase price rather than reported as a credit loss expense. Only subsequent changes in the allowance for credit losses are recorded in credit loss expense. Interest income should be recognized based on the effective interest rate, excluding the discount embedded in the purchase price that is attributable to the acquirer’s assessment of credit losses at acquisition. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning after August 01, 2020. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements. Leases In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)”. The standard requires lessees to recognize assets and liabilities for most leases on the balance sheet. For income statement purposes, the standard requires leases to be classified as either operating or finance. The standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2020. Adoption requires application of the new guidance for all periods presented. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on our consolidated financial statements. Revenue from contracts with customers In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)”. This update affects any entity that either enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enters into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets. This update will supersede existing revenue recognition requirements and most industry-specific guidance. This update also supersedes some cost guidance, including revenue recognition guidance for construction-type and production-type contracts. The update’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 today’s guidance. These may include identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. This update should be applied either on a retrospective or modified retrospective basis. This update was originally effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2018. Early adoption was not permitted. In August 2015, the FASB approved a one year delay of the effective date of the new revenue standard for public entities. Therefore, this update would be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2019. The standard permits entities to early adopt, but only as of the original effective date (i.e. one year earlier). We are expected to adopt the new standard in the first quarter of our fiscal year 2019 effective August 1, 2018, and anticipate using the modified retrospective method, which would result in a cumulative effect adjustment as of August 1, 2018. The comparative information would not be restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods. We established a project plan and an implementation team. Scoping and preliminary testing has been completed, with detail contract review underway for each revenue stream within each of the Company’s operating segments. A revenue stream likely to be impacted will be the timing of revenue recognition for certain project-based orders within our engineering revenue stream for which the Company currently applies the percentage-of-completion model. Under the new guidance, there are specific criteria to determine if a performance obligation should be recognized over time or at a point in time. The Company expects that in some cases the revenue recognition timing under the new guidance will change from the current practice based on applying the specific criteria under the new guidance. We are unable to quantify the impact the adoption of ASU No. 2014-09 will have on the consolidated financial statements. The implementation team is continuing to assess potential impacts on the amount and timing of the revenue recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and to apprise both management and the Audit Committee of project status on a recurring basis.

Accounting pronouncements issued and recently adopted

None.

Accounting pronouncements issued and not yet effective

Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815)”. The standard better aligns hedge accounting with an entity’s risk management activities and simplifies the requirement to qualify for hedge accounting. ASU 2017-12 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2020. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements.

Scope of Modification Accounting

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718)”. The standard provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting. ASU 2017-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and should be applied prospectively to an award modified on or after the adoption date. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2019. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements.

Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, “Compensation — Retirement Benefits (Topic 715)”. The standard improves the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost by requiring that an employer that offers to its employees defined benefit pension or other postretirement benefit plans report the service cost component in the same line item or items as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. The other components of net benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations, if one is presented. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning August 1, 2018. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements.

Clarifying the Definition of a Business

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business.” The amendments provide the requirements needed for a set of transferred assets and activities to be a business and establish a practical way to determine when a set of transferred assets and activities is not a business. To be considered a business, an acquisition would have to include an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs. An output is the result of inputs and substantive processes that provide goods or services to customers, other revenue, or investment income, such as dividends and interest. The amendments narrow the definition of outputs and align it with how outputs are described in Topic 606 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”. The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those periods. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning August 1, 2018. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements.

Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other than Inventory

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-16, “Income Taxes (Topic 740)”. The standard requires the recognition of the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset, other than inventory, when the transfer occurs. Two common examples of assets included in the scope of this amendment are intellectual property and property, plant, and equipment. The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning August 1, 2018. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements.

Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230).” The amendments provide guidance on the eight specific cash flow statement presentation and classification issues as follows: (1) debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs; (2) settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing; (3) contingent consideration payments made after a business combination; (4) proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims; (5) proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, including bank-owned life insurance policies; (6) distributions received from equity method investees; (7) beneficial interests in securitization transactions; and (8) separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2019. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements.

Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326)” The amendment modifies the measurement of expected credit losses of certain financial instruments. Credit losses relating to available-for-sale debt securities should be recorded through an allowance for credit losses. Available-for-sale accounting recognizes that value may be realized either through collection of contractual cash flows or through sale of the security. Therefore, the amendments limit the amount of the allowance for credit losses to the amount by which fair value is below amortized cost because the classification as available for sale is premised on an investment strategy that recognizes that the investment could be sold at fair value, if cash collection would result in the realization of an amount less than fair value. The allowance for credit losses for purchased available-for-sale securities with a more-than-insignificant amount of credit deterioration since origination is determined in a similar manner to other available-for-sale debt securities; however, the initial allowance for credit losses is added to the purchase price rather than reported as a credit loss expense. Only subsequent changes in the allowance for credit losses are recorded in credit loss expense. Interest income should be recognized based on the effective interest rate, excluding the discount embedded in the purchase price that is attributable to the acquirer’s assessment of credit losses at acquisition. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The standard will be effective for us in the fiscal year beginning after August 01, 2020. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this update on our consolidated financial statements.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)”. The standard requires lessees to recognize assets and liabilities for most leases on the balance sheet. For income statement purposes, the standard requires leases to be classified as either operating or finance. The standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2020. Adoption requires application of the new guidance for all periods presented. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on our consolidated financial statements.

Revenue from contracts with customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)”. This update affects any entity that either enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enters into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets. This update will supersede existing revenue recognition requirements and most industry-specific guidance. This update also supersedes some cost guidance, including revenue recognition guidance for construction-type and production-type contracts. The update’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 today’s guidance. These may include identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. This update should be applied either on a retrospective or modified retrospective basis. This update was originally effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2018. Early adoption was not permitted. In August 2015, the FASB approved a one year delay of the effective date of the new revenue standard for public entities. Therefore, this update would be effective for us in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending July 31, 2019. The standard permits entities to early adopt, but only as of the original effective date (i.e. one year earlier). We are expected to adopt the new standard in the first quarter of our fiscal year 2019 effective August 1, 2018, and anticipate using the modified retrospective method, which would result in a cumulative effect adjustment as of August 1, 2018. The comparative information would not be restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods. We established a project plan and an implementation team. Scoping and preliminary testing has been completed, with detail contract review underway for each revenue stream within each of the Company’s operating segments. A revenue stream likely to be impacted will be the timing of revenue recognition for certain project-based orders within our engineering revenue stream for which the Company currently applies the percentage-of-completion model. Under the new guidance, there are specific criteria to determine if a performance obligation should be recognized over time or at a point in time. The Company expects that in some cases the revenue recognition timing under the new guidance will change from the current practice based on applying the specific criteria under the new guidance. We are unable to quantify the impact the adoption of ASU No. 2014-09 will have on the consolidated financial statements. The implementation team is continuing to assess potential impacts on the amount and timing of the revenue recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and to apprise both management and the Audit Committee of project status on a recurring basis.