Supplemental Guarantor Information - Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Aug. 31, 2019	May 31, 2019	Aug. 31, 2018	May 31, 2018
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 102,131	$ 96,645
Accounts receivable, net	917,535	910,120
Inventories, net	336,290	334,589
Uniforms and other rental items in service	796,187	784,133
Income taxes, current	0	7,475
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	137,675	103,318
Total current assets	2,289,818	2,236,280
Property and equipment, net	1,422,351	1,430,685
Investments	208,987	192,346
Goodwill	2,849,613	2,842,441
Service contracts, net	482,977	494,595
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net	163,089
Other assets, net	245,065	240,315
Total assets	7,661,900	7,436,662	$ 7,287,204
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	237,242	226,020
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	99,200	155,509
Accrued liabilities	395,416	433,940
Income taxes, current	9,238	0
Operating lease liabilities, current	43,010
Debt due within one year	338,776	312,264
Total current liabilities	1,122,882	1,127,733
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	2,538,057	2,537,507
Deferred income taxes	436,755	438,179
Operating lease liabilities	125,684
Accrued liabilities	387,816	330,522
Total long-term liabilities	3,488,312	3,306,208
Total shareholders’ equity	3,050,706	3,002,721	$ 3,345,968	$ 3,016,526
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	7,661,900	7,436,662
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(14,216)	(12,248)
Income taxes, current		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(14,216)	(12,248)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investments	(6,401,642)	(6,399,643)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net	0
Other assets, net	(7,843,838)	(7,613,307)
Total assets	(14,259,808)	(14,025,310)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	37,291	37,432
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Operating lease liabilities, current	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	37,291	37,432
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Operating lease liabilities	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	(14,297,099)	(14,062,742)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	(14,259,808)	(14,025,310)
Cintas Corporation | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Uniforms and other rental items in service	0	0
Income taxes, current		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investments	321,083	321,083
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net	0
Other assets, net	2,264,376	2,216,391
Total assets	2,585,459	2,537,474
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Operating lease liabilities, current	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	(465,247)	(465,247)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Operating lease liabilities	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	3,050,706	3,002,721
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	2,585,459	2,537,474
Corp. 2 | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	61,965	54,963
Accounts receivable, net	734,268	719,914
Inventories, net	287,373	278,666
Uniforms and other rental items in service	657,277	645,862
Income taxes, current		(9,728)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	82,635	81,117
Total current assets	1,823,518	1,770,794
Property and equipment, net	958,285	948,830
Investments	3,588,963	3,589,234
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	416,583	427,437
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net	133,401
Other assets, net	216,985	211,102
Total assets	7,137,735	6,947,397
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(2,099,057)	(2,090,954)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	59,152	117,404
Accrued liabilities	86,128	84,296
Income taxes, current	235
Operating lease liabilities, current	34,255
Debt due within one year	338,776	312,264
Total current liabilities	(1,580,511)	(1,576,990)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	2,538,057	2,537,507
Deferred income taxes	306,142	307,334
Operating lease liabilities	103,847
Accrued liabilities	156,466	116,469
Total long-term liabilities	3,104,512	2,961,310
Total shareholders’ equity	5,613,734	5,563,077
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	7,137,735	6,947,397
Investments, including intercompany investments	19,600	19,800
Subsidiary Guarantors | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	14,788	13,151
Accounts receivable, net	113,838	121,803
Inventories, net	28,178	35,081
Uniforms and other rental items in service	91,592	90,458
Income taxes, current		11,722
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	35,907	20,334
Total current assets	284,303	292,549
Property and equipment, net	367,853	369,006
Investments	981,713	964,802
Goodwill	2,589,592	2,586,406
Service contracts, net	0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net	13,904
Other assets, net	5,606,035	5,424,413
Total assets	9,843,400	9,637,176
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	2,818,307	2,793,558
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	31,311	26,870
Accrued liabilities	290,891	328,267
Income taxes, current	14,236
Operating lease liabilities, current	4,320
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	3,159,065	3,148,695
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	99,774	100,162
Operating lease liabilities	10,093
Accrued liabilities	214,977	197,934
Total long-term liabilities	324,844	298,096
Total shareholders’ equity	6,359,491	6,190,385
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	9,843,400	9,637,176
Investments, including intercompany investments	189,400	172,500
Non- Guarantors | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	25,378	28,531
Accounts receivable, net	69,429	68,403
Inventories, net	20,739	20,842
Uniforms and other rental items in service	61,534	60,061
Income taxes, current		5,481
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	19,133	1,867
Total current assets	196,213	185,185
Property and equipment, net	96,213	112,849
Investments	1,718,870	1,716,870
Goodwill	260,133	256,147
Service contracts, net	66,394	67,158
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net	15,784
Other assets, net	1,507	1,716
Total assets	2,355,114	2,339,925
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(54,052)	(48,769)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	8,737	11,235
Accrued liabilities	18,397	21,377
Income taxes, current	(5,233)
Operating lease liabilities, current	4,435
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	(27,716)	(16,157)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	30,839	30,683
Operating lease liabilities	11,744
Accrued liabilities	16,373	16,119
Total long-term liabilities	58,956	46,802
Total shareholders’ equity	2,323,874	2,309,280
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ 2,355,114	$ 2,339,925