diff --git a/src/register/datecell.c b/src/register/datecell.c
index 64d4e6ed2c..99e38e5a71 100644
--- a/src/register/datecell.c
+++ b/src/register/datecell.c
@@ -9,25 +9,78 @@
 
 /* ================================================ */
 
+static
+void xaccParseDate (struct tm *parsed, const char * datestr)
+{
+   char *dupe, *tmp, *day, *month, *year;
+   int iday, imonth, iyear;
+   time_t secs;
+   struct tm *now;
+
+   dupe = strdup (datestr);
+   tmp = dupe;
+   day = 0x0;
+   month = 0x0;
+   year = 0x0;
+
+   /* use strtok to find delimiters */
+   if (tmp) {
+      day = strtok (tmp, ".,-+/\\()");
+      if (day) {
+         month = strtok (NULL, ".,-+/\\()");
+         if (month) {
+            year = strtok (NULL, ".,-+/\\()");
+         }
+      }
+   }
+   
+   /* if any fields appear blank, use today's date */
+   time (&secs);
+   now = localtime (&secs);
+   iday = now->tm_mday; 
+   imonth = now->tm_mon+1;
+   iyear = now->tm_year+1900;
+
+   /* get numeric values */
+   if (day) iday = atoi (day);
+   if (month) imonth = atoi (month);
+   if (year) iyear = atoi (year);
+
+   /* check to see if day & month are reversed */
+   /* only works for some dates */
+   if (12 < imonth) {
+      int itmp = imonth;
+      imonth = iday;
+      iday = itmp;
+   }
+
+   free (dupe);
+
+   if (parsed) {
+      parsed->tm_mday = iday;
+      parsed->tm_mon = imonth-1;
+      parsed->tm_year = iyear-1900;
+   }
+
+   return;
+}
+
+/* ================================================ */
+
 static const char * 
 DateEnter (const char * curr)
 {
-   short day, month, year;
-   char * datestr;
    char * sep;
+   struct tm celldate;
 
    /* OK, we just entered a newval cell.  Find out
     * what date that cell thinks it has. 
     */
-   day = 1;
-   month = 1;
-   year = 1970;
 
-printf ("curr is %p \n", curr);
-printf ("curr val is %s \n", curr);
-   sscanf (curr, "%d/%d/%d", day, month, year);
+   xaccParseDate (&celldate, curr);
 
-printf ("enter parsed %d %d %d \n", day, month, year);
+printf ("parse %d %d %d \n", celldate.tm_mday, celldate.tm_mon+1,
+celldate.tm_year+1900);
 
    return curr;
 }
@@ -104,11 +157,11 @@ printf ("leave parsed %d %d %d \n", day, month, year);
 
 /* ================================================ */
 
-SingleCell *
+DateCell *
 xaccMallocDateCell (void)
 {
-   SingleCell *cell;
-   cell = xaccMallocSingleCell();
+   DateCell *cell;
+   cell = (DateCell *) malloc (sizeof (DateCell));
    xaccInitDateCell (cell);
    return cell;
 }
@@ -116,21 +169,25 @@ xaccMallocDateCell (void)
 /* ================================================ */
 
 void
-xaccInitDateCell (SingleCell *cell)
+xaccInitDateCell (DateCell *cell)
 {
   time_t secs;
   struct tm *now;
   char buff[30];
 
+  xaccInitSingleCell (&(cell->cell));
+
+  /* default value is today's date */
   time (&secs);
   now = localtime (&secs);
+  cell->date = *now;
   sprintf (buff, "%d/%d/%d", now->tm_mday, now->tm_mon+1, now->tm_year+1900);
 
-  if (cell->value) free (cell->value);
-  cell ->value = strdup (buff);
+  if (cell->cell.value) free (cell->cell.value);
+  cell->cell.value = strdup (buff);
 
-  cell ->enter_cell = DateEnter;
-  cell ->modify_verify = DateMV;
+  cell->cell.enter_cell = DateEnter;
+  cell->cell.modify_verify = DateMV;
 }
 
 /* --------------- end of file ---------------------- */
diff --git a/src/register/datecell.h b/src/register/datecell.h
index 52c5f48fe4..361d030b18 100644
--- a/src/register/datecell.h
+++ b/src/register/datecell.h
@@ -2,18 +2,17 @@
 #ifndef __XACC_DATE_CELL_C__
 #define __XACC_DATE_CELL_C__
 
+#include <time.h>
 #include "single.h"
 
-/*
 typedef struct _DateCell {
    SingleCell cell;
-   double amount;
+   struct tm date;
 } DateCell;
-*/
 
 /* installs a callback to handle date recording */
-SingleCell * xaccMallocDateCell (void);
-void         xaccInitDateCell (SingleCell *);
+DateCell * xaccMallocDateCell (void);
+void         xaccInitDateCell (DateCell *);
 
 #endif /* __XACC_DATE_CELL_C__ */