We work alongside your SAP integrator, never in its place.
DFSpro acts as a second line of tax specialists inside the SAP system your company already runs. We do not replace the integrator, the internal IT team or the partner that looks after the infrastructure and general operation of the system. We step into one specific, bounded area: tax setup and tax control inside that system.
DFSpro comes in as a second line of tax specialists inside the SAP system the company already runs, alongside the integrator and never in its place. It designs, configures and proves how the system behaves, with access limited to the tax layer. The tax position stays with the company, its lawyers and its accountants.
Choose your entry point by your role
Four entry points, one for each role, straight to the block that answers your question.
01Tax and finance
What DFSpro does and what stays with your company.
Go to section02IT and information security
Whether DFSpro needs broad access to SAP and how it enters the system.
Go to section03SAP owner and integrator
Who is responsible for what, in each area, and what changes for your work.
Go to section04Management and procurement
A common scenario of working next to the SAP partner, and the questions each area asks.
Go to sectionDirect links
The real concern of a company that already has an SAP partner
Every company that already has an SAP integrator in operation, whether an implementation partner or an internal team of Basis and functional modules, asks the same question before bringing a new supplier into the system: who answers when something breaks. This is not a bureaucratic question. It is a question about real technical responsibility.
Whoever approves the budget carries a different but related doubt: if two suppliers are present, is there a risk of paying twice for the same thing, or of creating conflict between them on the same account? Both doubts, the technical one and the financial one, are fair and have a concrete answer, not a generic speech like "we work in partnership with everyone".
RACI simplified: who is responsible for what
| Area | Owner | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure, Basis, version upgrade, sizing, system performance | Current SAP integrator | Upkeep of the technical environment as a whole |
| General functional support for broad modules (FI, CO, MM, SD), outside tax calculation | Current SAP integrator | General configuration and functional support, except tax calculation and tax setup in those modules |
| Tax setup, tax rules, governance of GUEPARDO Tax, tax and accounting calculation and reconciliation | DFSpro | Specialist tax governance layer |
| Interface between the tax layer and the rest of the system | Joint communication | Point of attention handled openly, never left implicit |
When the problem is infrastructure or general functional support of a broad module, the integrator is responsible. When the problem is a tax rule set up wrongly, an incorrect calculation or a failure in GUEPARDO Tax governance, even inside modules such as FI, CO, MM or SD, DFSpro is responsible. We tell both parties about this split from the first contact, and never decide it after something has already broken.
A generalist and a specialist in tax governance are not the same thing
The test is not one of degree ("more specialized"), it is one of technical nature. A generalist SAP integrator normally answers for the infrastructure of the system, broad functional support and upkeep of SAP as a platform. Tax governance, in particular the correct setup of GUEPARDO Tax over time, changes in tax rules, new CNPJs (Brazilian company tax IDs) and branches, and tax and accounting calculation and reconciliation, is rarely the main focus of that contract, and it should not be: it is a technical area of its own, with its own vocabulary and its own diagnostic discipline.
DFSpro works in exactly that area. It does not provide SAP infrastructure support, and it does not replace the Basis partner or the general functional support of modules such as FI, CO, MM or SD, except the tax calculation and tax setup inside them. It is depth in one specific layer, not breadth across the whole system.
What DFSpro does and what stays with your company
What DFSpro does
It designs, configures and proves how the system behaves: it implements GUEPARDO Tax, runs its governance and keeps the evidence that the system behaves as specified. When the cause of a problem seems to be in the product, it gathers the evidence and takes it to the official channel of NTT DATA, which owns GUEPARDO Tax.
What stays with your company
The tax position and the decision on it, always with your lawyers and accountants. DFSpro describes the rule and shows what the system does with the rule the company decided to apply. A company that already has GUEPARDO Tax through another channel can hire governance only. What each area covers is described in GUEPARDO Tax implementation and governance.
Limited access and open entry
What DFSpro never asks for
- General administrator access to the client's SAP system.
- Permission to change infrastructure, Basis or functional modules outside the tax scope.
- Replacement of the support contract that already exists with the current integrator.
- A decision-making role on the broad technical architecture of the system.
DFSpro's access is limited to the tax layer. Outside it, we ask for no permission and have no wish to take on responsibility that is not ours.
How the first contact with the current integrator is handled
DFSpro does not enter an SAP system behind the integrator that is already there. The standard protocol is openness: the client tells its current integrator that a specialist tax governance layer is being evaluated, and DFSpro introduces itself to that integrator, describing the same responsibility boundary as the RACI above. SAP consultancies that serve clients with GUEPARDO Tax can approach us through a partnership for consultancies.
DFSpro does not control, and does not promise to control, how the current partner reacts when a new specialist supplier arrives. What it does guarantee is a clear scope from the first contact, and it does not take part in sales talks that involve the current partner's contract with the client.
A scenario of coexistence
A common scenario, described in general terms, with no real client or integrator name: an industrial company with several plants has a broad SAP support contract with an infrastructure partner, who is responsible for availability, upgrades and general functional support. At the same time, it hires DFSpro specifically for GUEPARDO Tax governance and for ongoing checks of the tax setup.
Day to day, tickets about infrastructure, performance or operating modules go to the usual partner. Tickets about calculation mismatches, a change in a tax rule or a setup adjustment for a new branch go to DFSpro. The two sides do not compete for the same ticket, because they handle technically different layers of the same system.
The scenario above describes, in general terms, how DFSpro and an SAP integrator really work together.
What changes for the Technical Buyer in-house
For the person who answers technically for the SAP system in-house, the real question is often a different one: "does this mean my work has not been enough?" The answer is no, by design. Ongoing tax governance of a system with GUEPARDO Tax needs close tracking of regulatory changes and dedicated time which, in most internal teams, competes directly with infrastructure priorities and projects already under way.
DFSpro does not come in to replace that role, it comes in to take over one specific part of it. The internal Technical Buyer gets a second technical pair of eyes on a layer that rarely gets enough continuous attention, freeing time to focus on what is already a priority: the stability and growth of the SAP system as a whole.
This is not a judgment on the internal team. It is the difference between tracking the tax setup every month and finding the problem during the tax close.
The questions each area will ask, answered
IT and Information Security
Will you need broad access to our SAP system?
No. Access is limited to the tax layer.
Who is responsible if something breaks after a general update?
If the cause is infrastructure, it is the integrator's. If it is tax setup, it is DFSpro's.
Will our current integrator be told?
Yes, always, as part of the standard entry protocol.
Procurement and Compliance
Does the scope overlap with the current partner's contract?
No. The scope is a separate technical area, defined before the work starts.
Do we have to end or renegotiate the existing contract?
No. Adding DFSpro does not require any change to the contract already in force.
Does this add suppliers without reducing them elsewhere?
It adds a specialist layer, it does not duplicate a scope that is already covered.
The next step in this journey
Working next to your current SAP partner has two sides that usually hold up this decision: the operational and technical side (responsibility boundary, access, entry protocol) and the commercial and financial side (scope overlap, duplicate cost, Compliance approval).
To understand DFSpro's full way of working, including what happens before and after the tax setup, see Our Methodology.
Integration and coexistence of suppliers
01Does DFSpro replace the integrator or SAP partner we already have?+
No. DFSpro works in the area of tax governance and GUEPARDO Tax, which is technically separate from SAP infrastructure and general operation.
02Do we have to end or renegotiate the current contract to hire DFSpro?+
No. Adding DFSpro does not require any change to the contract already in force with the infrastructure partner.
03Is this a formal partnership (co-sell) with specific integrators?+
No. This text describes a working protocol that applies to any integrator the client already has, not a named commercial agreement with one specific integrator.
04Does this cause friction with the internal technical team that already looks after SAP?+
The aim is the opposite: DFSpro takes over one specific slice of ongoing work that rarely gets enough dedicated attention, freeing the internal team for the rest of the system.
05Does DFSpro need administrator access to our SAP?+
No. Access is limited to the tax layer (setup, tax rules, GUEPARDO Tax). DFSpro does not ask for general administrator access or for permission to change infrastructure, Basis or modules outside the tax scope.
06How is responsibility split if something breaks after an update?+
By the nature of the cause: if it is infrastructure, version or general functional support of a broad module, the integrator is responsible. If it is tax setup, tax calculation or GUEPARDO Tax governance, even inside modules such as FI, CO, MM or SD, DFSpro is responsible. This boundary (the RACI above) is agreed with both parties from the start, not decided after the incident.
07Do you talk directly to our integrator?+
Yes, as part of the standard entry protocol. DFSpro introduces itself to the current integrator, describing the same responsibility boundary, with an open scope. We do not enter behind whoever is already in the system.
08Does this add suppliers without reducing them elsewhere?+
It adds a specialist layer, it does not duplicate a scope that is already covered. Ongoing tax governance is rarely the main focus of a broad integration contract, so there is no real overlap of work, only a slice that used to have no dedicated owner.
09What if our current partner reacts badly to your arrival?+
DFSpro does not control, and does not promise to control, how the current partner reacts. What it does guarantee is a clear scope from the first contact and the choice not to take part in sales talks that involve the partner's contract with the client. A clear technical boundary is usually what reduces friction.
10How does a setup like this start in practice?+
With the SAP Tax Diagnostic, with the responsibility boundary shared with the current integrator from the start. The diagnostic maps the tax layer without touching the infrastructure, and from it we define DFSpro's ongoing scope next to the partner that is already there.
A second line of specialists in tax governance inside SAP
No replacing, no overlap, no duplicate cost. A bounded tax layer, next to the partner you already have.