what is the difference between dpo and dso 
days payable outstanding dpo is the average time for a company to pay its bills by contrast days sales outstanding dso is the average length of time for sales to be paid back to the company when a dso is high it indicates that the company is waiting extended periods to collect money for products that it sold on credit by contrast a high dpo could be interpreted multiple ways either indicating that the company is utilizing its cash on hand to create more working capital or indicating poor management of free cash flow the bottom linedays payable outstanding or dpo is one of several metrics used to gauge the financial health of a company in short it measures about how many days it takes the company to pay its obligations there s no single standard for a good dpo value a high dpo can be a can be a positive sign that a company is using its capital resourcefully but if it s too high it may be struggling to make payments conversely a low dpo could mean that a company pays its bills quickly but it may also be missing out on potential interest by holding cash longer 