Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Lawson Products, Inc. (the “Company”) have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information, the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not contain all disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles. Reference should be made to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. In the opinion of the Company, all normal recurring adjustments have been made that are necessary to present fairly the results of operations for the interim periods. Operating results for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017. The Company operates in one reportable segment as a Maintenance, Repair and Operations ("MRO") distributor of products and services to the industrial, commercial, institutional, and governmental maintenance, repair and operations marketplace. For the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, stock options to purchase 80,000 and 40,000, respectively, of the Company's common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 stock options to purchase 66,667 and 40,000, respectively, of the Company's common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive. ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting Effective January 1, 2017, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update 2016-09, “Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718)” (“ASU 2016-09”). Prior to January 1, 2017, the Company recognized excess tax benefits or deficiencies of stock-based compensation expense, to the extent that there were sufficient recognized excess tax benefits previously recognized, as a component of additional paid-in capital. ASU 2016-09 requires the Company to account for excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies as discrete items in the reporting period in which they occur. The adoption was applied on a modified retrospective basis. All deferred tax assets related to stock-based compensation are fully reserved and, therefore, there is no net effect on the Company's balance sheet for the first nine months of 2017. As a result of including the income tax effects from excess tax benefits in income tax expense, the effects of the excess tax benefits are no longer included in the calculation of diluted shares outstanding, resulting in an increase in the number of diluted shares outstanding. The Company adopted this change in the method of calculating diluted shares outstanding on a prospective basis. ASU 2016-09 also permits entities to make an accounting policy election related to how forfeitures will impact the recognition of compensation cost for stock-based compensation to either estimate the total number of awards for which the requisite service period will not be rendered, as currently required, or to account for forfeitures as they occur. Upon adoption of ASU 2016-09, the Company elected to change its accounting policy to account for forfeitures as they occur. The change was applied on a modified retrospective basis with a cumulative effect adjustment to reduce retained earnings by $178 thousand, as of January 1, 2017. Additionally, ASU 2016-09 addressed the presentation of employee taxes paid on the statement of cash flows. The Company is now required to present the cost of shares withheld from the employee to satisfy the employees’ income tax liability as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as an operating cash flow. The Company adopted this change retrospectively. The Company withheld shares with a value of $20 thousand and $18 thousand to satisfy employee taxes in the first nine months of 2017 and 2016, respectively. ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2014-09), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing U.S. GAAP. The new standard is effective for the Company's interim and annual periods beginning with the first quarter of 2018. The standard is to be applied using one of two retrospective application methods. The Company has established a team to address the effect of the new accounting standard. The team has been reviewing the terms and conditions included in its contracts with customers and has developed a methodology to calculate the impact of the pronouncement on its consolidated financial statements. The Company has not yet determined the impact of adopting the standard. The Company expects to adopt ASU 2014-09 January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method. Under this method, a cumulative effect adjustment is recorded based on applying the guidance to the customer contracts that were not completed at the date of initial application. As a result, prior periods are not adjusted to reflect application of the new guidance. Except for the changes described above, there have been no other material changes in the Company's significant accounting policies during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 as compared to the significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Lawson Products, Inc. (the “Company”) have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information, the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not contain all disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles. Reference should be made to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. In the opinion of the Company, all normal recurring adjustments have been made that are necessary to present fairly the results of operations for the interim periods. Operating results for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017.

The Company operates in one reportable segment as a Maintenance, Repair and Operations ("MRO") distributor of products and services to the industrial, commercial, institutional, and governmental maintenance, repair and operations marketplace.

For the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, stock options to purchase 80,000 and 40,000, respectively, of the Company's common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 stock options to purchase 66,667 and 40,000, respectively, of the Company's common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive.

ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting

Effective January 1, 2017, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update 2016-09, “Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718)” (“ASU 2016-09”). Prior to January 1, 2017, the Company recognized excess tax benefits or deficiencies of stock-based compensation expense, to the extent that there were sufficient recognized excess tax benefits previously recognized, as a component of additional paid-in capital. ASU 2016-09 requires the Company to account for excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies as discrete items in the reporting period in which they occur. The adoption was applied on a modified retrospective basis. All deferred tax assets related to stock-based compensation are fully reserved and, therefore, there is no net effect on the Company's balance sheet for the first nine months of 2017.

As a result of including the income tax effects from excess tax benefits in income tax expense, the effects of the excess tax benefits are no longer included in the calculation of diluted shares outstanding, resulting in an increase in the number of diluted shares outstanding. The Company adopted this change in the method of calculating diluted shares outstanding on a prospective basis.

ASU 2016-09 also permits entities to make an accounting policy election related to how forfeitures will impact the recognition of compensation cost for stock-based compensation to either estimate the total number of awards for which the requisite service period will not be rendered, as currently required, or to account for forfeitures as they occur. Upon adoption of ASU 2016-09, the Company elected to change its accounting policy to account for forfeitures as they occur. The change was applied on a modified retrospective basis with a cumulative effect adjustment to reduce retained earnings by $178 thousand, as of January 1, 2017.

Additionally, ASU 2016-09 addressed the presentation of employee taxes paid on the statement of cash flows. The Company is now required to present the cost of shares withheld from the employee to satisfy the employees’ income tax liability as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as an operating cash flow. The Company adopted this change retrospectively. The Company withheld shares with a value of $20 thousand and $18 thousand to satisfy employee taxes in the first nine months of 2017 and 2016, respectively.

ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2014-09), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing U.S. GAAP. The new standard is effective for the Company's interim and annual periods beginning with the first quarter of 2018. The standard is to be applied using one of two retrospective application methods.

The Company has established a team to address the effect of the new accounting standard. The team has been reviewing the terms and conditions included in its contracts with customers and has developed a methodology to calculate the impact of the pronouncement on its consolidated financial statements. The Company has not yet determined the impact of adopting the standard. The Company expects to adopt ASU 2014-09 January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method. Under this method, a cumulative effect adjustment is recorded based on applying the guidance to the customer contracts that were not completed at the date of initial application. As a result, prior periods are not adjusted to reflect application of the new guidance.

Except for the changes described above, there have been no other material changes in the Company's significant accounting policies during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 as compared to the significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.