special purpose entity ( 201cspe 201d ) . the spe obtained a term loan and revolving loan commitment from a third party lender , secured by liens on the assets of the spe , to finance the purchase of the accounts receivable , which included a $ 275 million term loan and a $ 25 million revolving loan commitment . the revolving loan commitment may be increased by an additional $ 35 million as amounts are repaid under the term loan . quintilesims has guaranteed the performance of the obligations of existing and future subsidiaries that sell and service the accounts receivable under the receivables financing facility . the assets of the spe are not available to satisfy any of our obligations or any obligations of our subsidiaries . as of december 31 , 2016 , the full $ 25 million of revolving loan commitment was available under the receivables financing facility . we used the proceeds from the term loan under the receivables financing facility to repay in full the amount outstanding on the then outstanding revolving credit facility under its then outstanding senior secured credit agreement ( $ 150 million ) , to repay $ 25 million of the then outstanding term loan b-3 , to pay related fees and expenses and the remainder was used for general working capital purposes . restrictive covenants our debt agreements provide for certain covenants and events of default customary for similar instruments , including a covenant not to exceed a specified ratio of consolidated senior secured net indebtedness to consolidated ebitda , as defined in the senior secured credit facility and a covenant to maintain a specified minimum interest coverage ratio . if an event of default occurs under any of the company 2019s or the company 2019s subsidiaries 2019 financing arrangements , the creditors under such financing arrangements will be entitled to take various actions , including the acceleration of amounts due under such arrangements , and in the case of the lenders under the revolving credit facility and new term loans , other actions permitted to be taken by a secured creditor . our long-term debt arrangements contain usual and customary restrictive covenants that , among other things , place limitations on our ability to declare dividends . for additional information regarding these restrictive covenants , see part ii , item 5 201cmarket for registrant 2019s common equity , related stockholder matters and issuer purchases of equity securities 2014dividend policy 201d and note 11 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report on form 10-k . at december 31 , 2016 , the company was in compliance with the financial covenants under the company 2019s financing arrangements . years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 cash flow from operating activities .
what was the percentage change in the net cash provided by operating activities in 2016
2016 compared to 2015 cash provided by operating activities increased $ 384 million in 2016 as compared to 2015 . the increase in cash provided by operating activities reflects the increase in net income as adjusted for non-cash items necessary to reconcile net income to cash provided by operating activities . also contributing to the increase were lower payments for income taxes ( $ 15 million ) , and lower cash used in days sales outstanding ( 201cdso 201d ) and accounts payable and accrued expenses . the lower cash used in dso reflects a two-day increase in dso in 2016 compared to a seven-day increase in dso in 2015 . dso can shift significantly at each reporting period depending on the timing of cash receipts under contractual payment terms relative to the recognition of revenue over a project lifecycle. .