What the solution GUEPARDO Tax
GUEPARDO Tax, also called GUEPARDO software or GUEPARDO tax software, is a tax management platform built into SAP, maintained by NTT DATA, which owns the product. It is not a DFSpro service: it is a third-party product, widely used by companies that run SAP as their core ERP in Brazil.
What GUEPARDO Tax does, technically, before any decision on how it should be set up or run. For those who already use it or are evaluating it, this is a technical baseline, with no selling.
DFSpro specializes in tax in SAP, and its focus on GUEPARDO Tax, the NTT DATA product built into SAP, deepens that skill. As an Authorized Channel, we sell the license, implement it and run the governance after go-live. The page shows what the product does and what it does not solve on its own.
Choose the entry point for your role
Four entry points, one per role, straight to the block that answers your question.
01Tax and accounting
Which tax pain points the product addresses and where it does not solve them on its own.
Go to the section02IT and SAP integrator
How it fits into SAP, ECC or S/4HANA, and what it reads straight from the database.
Go to the section03Management and procurement
Why choose it, who answers for the license and where DFSpro comes in.
Go to the section04Tax reform
Whether the product, as it is set up today, already processes IBS and CBS.
Go to the sectionDFSpro is an Authorized Channel of NTT DATA and works on implementation and, above all, on setup and continuous governance of the product already running in SAP. This is the activity where the DFSpro team concentrates its expertise in SAP tax operations. More detail on how this governance works in practice appears below and in GUEPARDO Tax Governance.
A tax layer built into SAP
GUEPARDO Tax works as a tax layer built into SAP (ECC or S/4HANA), not as a parallel system that swaps files with the ERP. In practice, this means it reads and processes tax data directly from the SAP data structure, instead of requiring manual export, later reconciliation or duplicate typing in an outside tool.
“Gestão fiscal segura, simples e unificada” (in English: safe, simple and unified tax management; NTT DATA's public proposition for GUEPARDO Tax).
NTT DATA itself describes the product with this proposition. In the SAP architecture, this unification is the central point: GUEPARDO Tax tries to solve inside the ERP tax tasks that, without it, usually depend on helper spreadsheets, isolated tax systems or recurring manual work by the tax team.
This does not remove the need for setup and technical follow-up. A tax module built into SAP still depends on correct setup, updates when the law changes and continuous governance. This point comes back in more detail in the section "What GUEPARDO Tax does not solve on its own", below. To decide when to update the product release, see the decision criteria and the proof of the update.
What the GUEPARDO Tax promises to deliver
NTT DATA's public material organizes the GUEPARDO Tax value proposition into five areas:
Visibility over the tax process inside SAP itself, without relying on parallel reports to understand what is happening.
A structure so that tax rules follow a defined process, instead of depending on the informal knowledge of one specific person.
Support for compliance with recurring tax obligations (generating returns, calculation, assessment).
Less manual rework and less reliance on outside reconciliation, when the product is well set up.
Less operating time spent on repetitive tax tasks during the close.
These five areas describe NTT DATA's proposition. How much of each one actually happens depends directly on how the product is set up and maintained over time, not just on the product being installed.
What it is for in practice
In practice, GUEPARDO Tax is used to support tasks such as:
- Calculation of taxes directly on SAP data, with no manual export to a spreadsheet.
- Generating and checking ancillary tax obligations (SPED and related ones), from the same tax database used in the ERP.
- Reconciliation between what was calculated in tax and what is booked in accounting, inside the same SAP system.
- Tracking tax rule changes applied to the operation, reducing the reliance on manual updates of control spreadsheets.
Why choose GUEPARDO Tax for SAP tax
Whoever decides on the SAP tax solution usually asks the same question: where is the tax calculated from now on, and who answers for it when the law changes? GUEPARDO Tax answers that question with four concrete reasons.
Inside SAP
Tax now lives in the same data as the ERP (enterprise resource planning system). Calculation, ancillary obligations and reconciliation come from the same database, with no export, no later reconciliation and no double typing.
From ECC to S/4HANA
It runs on ECC (SAP ERP Central Component, the previous version of SAP's ERP) and on S/4HANA (the current generation of SAP's ERP), including Cloud Private Edition, and it works with SAP DRC (SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, the SAP solution for issuing and receiving electronic documents and for statutory reports) and SAP TDF (SAP Tax Declaration Framework, the SAP solution for tax returns). Your company does not have to choose between today's system and tomorrow's.
Proven security
Tax information is critical data. The product is audited for information security and has a software registration at INPI (Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property), which your IT and compliance teams can check on their own.
Close to the official rule
NTT DATA and GUEPARDO were invited by the Federal Revenue Service to the official CBS pilot (the Contribution on Goods and Services, the new federal tax of the tax reform), with early access to APIs, layouts and rules. In the tax reform, reaching the rule early changes the cost of adapting.
And at scale: according to NTT DATA, GUEPARDO is used by more than 1,500 customers, in more than 3,000 projects. The number and the certifications belong to NTT DATA, which maintains the product, and are detailed in "NTT DATA credentials", just below.
Credentials of NTT DATA
Attribution note: the certifications below belong to NTT DATA, not to DFSpro. They are cited as context about the product, never as DFSpro's own certification.
According to the material published by NTT DATA, GUEPARDO Tax operates in line with:
These credentials concern the product and NTT DATA, which maintains it. DFSpro is not NTT DATA and does not claim any of these certifications as its own. The software registration is public and can be confirmed directly at INPI. NTT DATA also describes GUEPARDO Tax, in its own material, as the first Brazilian tax solution certified by SAP: this is a statement by NTT DATA about the product, not a fact independently verified by us.
Official Tax Reform pilot: according to a statement published by NTT DATA, the company and GUEPARDO were invited by the Federal Revenue Service to take part in the official CBS pilot, with early access to the APIs, layouts and official rules developed by the Federal Revenue Service and SERPRO. Source: NTT DATA institutional blog (08/10/2025). The legal instrument of the pilot is Portaria RFB nº 549/2025, of 13/06/2025, a separate and independent source from the NTT DATA blog. This is a credential of the product and of NTT DATA, not a result of DFSpro.
Tax pain points that GUEPARDO Tax addresses
Standard SAP calculates tax at document level (pricing conditions, tax codes), but it does not natively cover the full complexity of Brazilian tax calculation, SPED and the state and city rules that change often. Market material describes the role of GUEPARDO Tax as turning SAP transaction data into tax books and obligations delivered on time, the layer that standard SAP does not solve on its own in Brazil. Against that background, market material on GUEPARDO Tax links the product to seven recurring categories of tax pain in SAP systems, grouped here into six blocks (two of them, cause and effect, appear together in the same block):
01
Dependence on side spreadsheet, with a slow close
Tax controls kept outside SAP, with the risk of a mismatch between what is in the spreadsheet and what is in the system. This same parallel control is often the direct cause of a slower close: when the process depends on manual steps outside the system, the monthly close runs late.
02
Complexity of ICMS and ICMS-ST
Variable state rules, hard to keep up to date by hand in multi-state operations.
03
Constant change in legislation
Includes the Tax Reform transition period (CBS/IBS), which requires continuous adjustment of tax rules.
04
Tax reconciliation and accounting
When the two sides differ and the source of the difference is not obvious.
05
Generation and filing of SPED
With the risk of inconsistency between what is calculated and what is transmitted.
06
Management of tax credits
When the credit the company is entitled to is not identified or used in a systematic way.
These seven pain points also appear, with a different emphasis, on other pages of this site (see Unstable tax close and Tax Reform (CBS/IBS)).
What GUEPARDO Tax does not solve on its own
GUEPARDO Tax is a technical tool, not a substitute for decision and governance. Like any system, the real value it delivers depends on how it is set up and maintained, not just on being installed. Three limits matter for any company evaluating the product:
GUEPARDO Tax does not set tax strategy. It processes configured tax rules. Deciding the right tax strategy for the operation (how to use credits, how to treat a specific operation) remains a human, technical and legal decision, made before the system setup.
GUEPARDO Tax does not fix bad master data. If the tax database in SAP (material master, tax data of customers and suppliers, tax classification) is wrong or out of date, GUEPARDO Tax processes that wrong information as efficiently as it would process correct information. A faster system does not fix wrong data at the source.
GUEPARDO Tax does not replace governance. Tax rules that change over time, with no defined review process and no clear owner for each setting, tend to build up silent technical debt inside GUEPARDO Tax itself, just as they would in any other system without structured maintenance.
These three limits are not a criticism of the product. They are a realistic description of where the software's responsibility ends and the responsibility of the people who run it begins.
Market context
Seven separate points, handled here one at a time:
A market with similar propositions, with no direct comparison here
GUEPARDO Tax operates in a Brazilian market of tax solutions built into SAP that includes other platforms with similar propositions (tax management, compliance, ERP integration). DFSpro does not compare competing products with each other and does not name alternative suppliers.
The transition of the Tax Reform requires continuous follow-up
The current market moment is marked by the Tax Reform transition (CBS/IBS), which requires any SAP tax solution to keep up with continuous regulatory change over the coming years. The detail of the legal calendar in force is on the page Tax Reform (CBS/IBS), which covers this topic specifically.
What NTT DATA publishes about the product, and what that does not mean
According to the official GUEPARDO product page, maintained by NTT DATA Business Solutions Brasil, GUEPARDO is used by more than 1,500 customers in many market segments, with more than 3,000 projects delivered, and it helps support the calculation of more than 9% of Brazil's GDP. This means that the companies that use the product, added together, account for more than 9% of the country's economic output, not that DFSpro serves customers that add up to that share. These numbers are published by NTT DATA about the GUEPARDO product, are not a DFSpro metric, and can be checked on the official GUEPARDO page at NTT DATA.
Two separate systems, with no proven integration
GUEPARDO Tax today sits, in the same SAP ecosystem, next to AI assistant initiatives such as SAP Joule. They are separate systems with different roles: GUEPARDO Tax calculates tax from the tax setup that was configured; Joule is a conversational assistant layer that SAP builds into other parts of the ERP. Today there is no proven integration between the two, and Joule is not used as a tax calculation layer. See what changes in tax governance with SAP Joule.
Where the architecture of GUEPARDO Tax stands out
The Brazilian market of tax solutions built into SAP is generally organized into four architecture categories: tax compliance platforms (they calculate, generate and validate obligations from their own database connected to SAP), external calculation engines (they determine rate and tax, usually via the cloud), native SAP add-ons (they cover electronic documents and statutory reports inside the core) and tax content services (they keep tax rules up to date, without generating an obligation file). This categorization is not a classification published by NTT DATA.
GUEPARDO Tax sits in two of these categories at once: it works as a full compliance platform (calculation, credit management, SPED, tax calendar and dashboards in a single database) and, according to NTT DATA institutional material, it runs inside the SAP landscape itself. This combination is structurally different from an isolated calculation engine, which solves the rate but does not generate or validate SPED on its own, and from a native SAP add-on, which covers part of the obligations and usually relies on third-party add-ons for full coverage.
01
Broad range of obligations
Calculation of ICMS, ICMS-ST, IPI, PIS/COFINS, IRPJ, CSLL, ISS and withholdings, and generation and validation of obligations (EFD ICMS/IPI, EFD-Contribuições, ECD, ECF, EFD-Reinf, DCTF, FCI, Reintegra) in the same database, without relying on a second system to finish the cycle.
02
Exclusive focus in Brazil
It is not a global engine adapted to Brazilian law: the coverage was built for the Brazilian tax regime, including state and city rules.
03
Integration inside the SAP landscape
It takes data from the FI, CO, MM and SD modules directly from the SAP database, with no manual export to an outside tool.
04
Continuity in migration and transformation
It follows ECC to S/4HANA migration projects without changing tax platform in the middle of the process.
05
Exclusive SAP namespace
Built inside exclusive SAP namespaces, which allows installation in any SAP NetWeaver system with no chance of overlapping existing Z or standard objects.
06
100% native ABAP
Built entirely in ABAP, it runs inside the SAP NetWeaver system itself and avoids needless copying of data to outside systems, adding to the standard features of SAP ECC, S/4HANA and SAP TDF.
Why this matters in a migration: the item "Orphaned custom code", below, describes the risk of tax Z code piled up without documentation. The exclusive namespace of GUEPARDO Tax is exactly what prevents this kind of overlap with Z or standard objects from the start.
Like any architecture, this depth has a cost: a simple tax operation, with a tight budget, or fully in line with cloud clean core, may prefer a leaner solution. GUEPARDO Tax stands out on these points, but it is not the right answer for every scenario.
NTT DATA institutional material describes GUEPARDO Tax as a native solution on NetWeaver, running inside the SAP landscape.
GUEPARDO is an ecosystem, not just a tax module
The focus is the GUEPARDO Tax module (calculation and tax obligations). According to NTT DATA institutional material, the product brings together other modules in the same ecosystem, today sold separately from Tax:
According to the official module page, maintained by NTT DATA, GUEPARDO Global Trade automates up to 70% of foreign trade processes, with more than 60 robots designed to anticipate problems. Source: NTT DATA, page read on 16/10/2026. The other modules (Audit, e-Invoicing, Analytics, Process Automation, Payments, Cash Application by Serrala and Credit & Collections by Serrala) are cited only by name and function, with no performance number.
The migration breaks the tax close when nobody owns the tax layer of the project
S/4HANA migration projects are usually led by Basis and the functional core. The tax rule, and GUEPARDO inside it, usually enters the plan late, and that is where the liability shows up. Three concrete risks, in DFSpro's experience with projects of this kind:
01
Orphaned custom code
Years of tax Z code piled up in ECC, with no documentation. You migrate what nobody remembers the reason for.
02
Clean Core vs. tax rule
The push for a clean core moves tax logic out of SAP, with no clear plan for where that rule goes.
03
Go-live in the middle of the close
A cutover badly placed in the tax calendar turns the first post-migration SPED into an incident.
Three components and a broad scope of obligations
According to NTT DATA institutional material, the GUEPARDO Tax license brings together three components: a management tool with a central monitor, traceability and SAP workflow integration; hundreds of ABAP programs to generate tax obligations and reports; and continuous updates as the law changes (a change in layout, in payment slip, in filing frequency). The third item is often the least talked about and the most decisive: you do not buy only software, you also buy someone who follows regulatory change over time.
The scope of obligations covers calculation of regular ICMS and ST, GNRE, GIA ST, EFD ICMS/IPI, DCTF, PIS/COFINS calculation, EFD-Contribuições, ECD, IRPJ and CSLL calculation, ECF, withholdings (IR, PCC and INSS), EFD-Reinf, CPRB, GPS, DARF and ISSQN, among others, in all three levels: federal, state and city.
The right product still needs the right governance
Choosing GUEPARDO Tax well solves the first half. The second is keeping it set up, documented and updated with every change in the law, with an owner for each rule. That is DFSpro's work: learn about GUEPARDO Tax governance.
Where DFSpro comes in
GUEPARDO Tax is an NTT DATA product, and NTT DATA answers for the license and for fixing its defects. DFSpro specializes in tax in SAP and in GUEPARDO Tax: it sells the license as an Authorized Channel of NTT DATA, implements the product and runs its governance after go-live. Implementation, setup, governance and license are covered in GUEPARDO Tax implementation and governance. How the work is split between your company and your integrator is covered in DFSpro's role in tax.
GUEPARDO Tax facing IBS/CBS: what changes in the setup
Anyone who already runs SAP with GUEPARDO Tax does not usually ask what IBS and CBS are. The real question is different: does GUEPARDO Tax, as it is set up today, already process the two new taxes, or will it keep calculating only the old regime until someone changes it? The full legal calendar (dates, rates, transition phases) is in Tax Reform (CBS/IBS). Here the focus is only on how GUEPARDO Tax behaves in this transition.
GUEPARDO Tax, maintained by NTT DATA, calculates exactly what is set up. If the tax code and the determination condition for IBS/CBS do not exist yet or are not tested in the system, GUEPARDO Tax does not start calculating them by itself when the effective date arrives. The tool does not anticipate legal change on its own, and it does not decide which rule to apply: the tax position remains the client's decision, with the client's own legal and tax support.
During the transition, GUEPARDO Tax must calculate ICMS/ISS/PIS/Cofins and IBS/CBS at the same time, not as a replacement. This doubles the number of rules active at once.
Tax classification of material, customer and supplier under the IBS/CBS logic is data added to what already exists today for ICMS/ISS, used by GUEPARDO Tax when it determines the tax.
The process of checking the calculation before sending it to SPED now has to validate two tax regimes at the same time throughout the transition.
Rules of the CGIBS and of the Federal Revenue Service on IBS/CBS are still being published. Without a named owner following these changes, every update becomes reactive rework inside GUEPARDO Tax.
Signs that GUEPARDO Tax is not ready for the transition:
• No tax code or determination condition for IBS/CBS has been created, even in a test system.
• The material/customer/supplier master has no field plan for the new tax classification.
• There is no named owner to follow the regulatory changes from CGIBS and the Federal Revenue Service.
• The pre-transmission validation of SPED has not been adapted to check the two regimes at the same time.
Where this fits
If you already use GUEPARDO Tax, the practical next steps are:
Frequently asked questions about product
01Does GUEPARDO Tax replace SAP?+
No. GUEPARDO Tax is a tax layer that runs built into SAP (ECC or S/4HANA). It depends on SAP as the core ERP; it is not a replacement for the ERP.
02Do I need consulting to implement GUEPARDO Tax?+
DFSpro implements GUEPARDO Tax and sells the license as an Authorized Channel of NTT DATA. If you already have the product through another channel, you can hire governance only. Implementation and governance are described in how DFSpro implements and governs GUEPARDO Tax.
03Who implements and supports GUEPARDO Tax, besides NTT DATA?+
DFSpro, an Authorized Channel of NTT DATA, implements GUEPARDO Tax, sells the license and supports the operation with AMS Fiscal in SAP ECC and S/4HANA systems. The product and its evolution belong to NTT DATA, which stays responsible for the product's technical support. Setup, testing and day-to-day governance stay with DFSpro.
04Does NTT DATA's own support not solve the setup?+
Support from the software supplier typically handles technical tickets and product failures. Ongoing tax setup (adjusting rules as the law changes, fixing settings that built up over time, documenting a tax decision) is structured follow-up work, different from a one-off support ticket.
05I already have GUEPARDO Tax. Why would I need anything else?+
Having the product installed is not the same as being sure that every configured tax rule is correct and documented today. The section "What GUEPARDO Tax does not solve on its own", above, explains why that gap exists even when the product works technically.
06Does GUEPARDO Tax belong to DFSpro or to NTT DATA?+
GUEPARDO Tax is an NTT DATA product, not a DFSpro one.
07Is GUEPARDO Tax already ready for the Tax Reform (CBS/IBS)?+
Not automatically. GUEPARDO Tax calculates exactly what is set up: if the tax code and the determination condition for IBS/CBS have not been created and tested in the system, the arrival of the effective date does not make the system calculate them by itself. The section "GUEPARDO Tax facing IBS/CBS", above, explains what changes in the setup. The full legal calendar and the regulatory detail of the Tax Reform are on the page Tax Reform (CBS/IBS).
08Do the certifications cited (SAP S/4HANA Cloud, ISO 27001, SOC 2) belong to DFSpro?+
No. These credentials belong to NTT DATA, not to DFSpro. They are cited as context about the product. See the attribution note in the section "NTT DATA credentials".
09Does DFSpro compare GUEPARDO Tax with competing tax products?+
It does not name specific competing suppliers. The section "Market context" (item 5, "Where the architecture of GUEPARDO Tax stands out") compares by architecture category, without citing a competing brand or a third-party performance number.
10Does DFSpro sell the GUEPARDO Tax license?+
Yes. DFSpro sells the GUEPARDO Tax license as an Authorized Channel of NTT DATA. License, implementation and governance are described on the page license, implementation and governance of GUEPARDO Tax.
11What is the difference between understanding GUEPARDO Tax and hiring DFSpro for its governance?+
GUEPARDO Tax is an NTT DATA product, and understanding what it is and does is the starting point. The GUEPARDO Tax Governance is the continuous setup and governance service that DFSpro provides on top of that product. See the section "Where DFSpro comes in", above.
12My company does not use GUEPARDO Tax yet. Is it worth understanding the product before deciding?+
Yes. It applies both to those who already use GUEPARDO Tax and to those evaluating it: the point is to level-set what the product is and what it does not solve on its own, before any decision on adoption or setup.
13How do I talk to DFSpro about my company's specific situation?+
Through the Contact page, or directly through the links "See how DFSpro governs and sets up GUEPARDO Tax" and "Talk to a specialist".
14Does GUEPARDO Tax have any relationship with "GUEPARDO Investimentos", the fund manager?+
No. GUEPARDO Tax is a tax solution for SAP, maintained by NTT DATA. "GUEPARDO Investimentos" is an equity fund manager, a different company in a different market. The overlap is in the name only, with no corporate or operational link between the two.
15Does a well-implemented GUEPARDO Tax remove the need for continuous governance?+
No. A GUEPARDO Tax running with no visible error does not mean every configured rule is correct. The tool runs what is set up, right or out of date, with the same apparent reliability. Implementing and governing are different jobs: the governance of the system is described in GUEPARDO Tax governance.
16Why does DFSpro know GUEPARDO Tax from the inside, and not only as a commercial partner?+
Because DFSpro's origin is tied to the origin of the product itself. Douglas Oliveira, founder of DFSpro, has a background and training in Accounting and worked at FH Consultoria Empresarial, the creator of GUEPARDO Tax and now part of NTT DATA Business Solutions, before founding DFSpro, a period in which he learned GUEPARDO Tax working as a consultant. That earlier hands-on experience, together with his accounting training, is part of the base of the governance DFSpro provides today.
17Can I use SAP's AI assistant to check what GUEPARDO Tax calculated?+
As a lookup aid, it can help read the system, but the answer of any assistant is only as good as the setup that feeds it. Checking the GUEPARDO Tax calculation still depends on people who know the tax rules of your operation. Our position is governance before automation: a documented rule with an owner first, the assistant after. On SAP Joule, see SAP Joule in tax operations.
From the product to the governance
Now you know what GUEPARDO Tax is, what it addresses and what it does not solve on its own.