diff --git a/src/engine/Transaction.c b/src/engine/Transaction.c
index 1dcf5ae3bf..f3c9e15705 100644
--- a/src/engine/Transaction.c
+++ b/src/engine/Transaction.c
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ xaccTransSetDateStr (Transaction *trans, char *str)
 {
    Date d;
 
-   sscandate (str, &d, DATE_FULL);
+   scanDate(str, &(d.day), &(d.month), &(d.year));
    xaccTransSetDate (trans, d.day, d.month, d.year);
 }
 
@@ -758,12 +758,8 @@ xaccTransGetDate (Transaction *trans)
 char *
 xaccTransGetDateStr (Transaction *trans)
 {
-
-   char buf [100];
-   sprintf( buf, "%2d/%2d/%02d",
-             trans->date.month,
-             trans->date.day,
-             (trans->date.year%100) );
+   char buf [MAX_DATE_LENGTH];
+   printDate(buf, trans->date.day, trans->date.month, trans->date.year%100);
    return strdup (buf);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/engine/date.c b/src/engine/date.c
index 7ddbbdcec4..9af87f7f66 100644
--- a/src/engine/date.c
+++ b/src/engine/date.c
@@ -46,15 +46,161 @@ char days[12] = { 31,28,31,30,31,30,31,31,30,31,30,31 };
 
 static int been_here = 0;
 
+DateFormat dateFormat = DATE_FORMAT_US;
+
 /********************************************************************\
 \********************************************************************/
 
-void
-sprtDate (char * buff, int day, int month, int year)
+
+/**
+ * printDate
+ *    Convert a date as day / month / year integers into a localized string
+ *    representation
+ *
+ * Args:   buff - pointer to previously allocated character array; its size
+ *                must be at lease MAX_DATE_LENTH bytes.
+ *         day - day of the month as 1 ... 31
+ *         month - month of the year as 1 ... 12
+ *         year - year (4-digit)
+ *
+ * Return: nothing
+ *
+ * Globals: global dateFormat value
+ */
+void printDate (char * buff, int day, int month, int year)
 {
-   sprintf (buff, "%2d/%2d/%4d", month, day, year);
+  switch(dateFormat)
+    {
+    case DATE_FORMAT_UK:
+      sprintf (buff, "%2d/%2d/%4d", day, month, year);
+      break;
+    case DATE_FORMAT_CE:
+      sprintf (buff, "%2d.%2d.%4d", day, month, year);
+      break;
+    case DATE_FORMAT_ISO:
+      sprintf (buff, "%04d-%02d-%02d", year, month, day);
+      break;
+    case DATE_FORMAT_US:
+    default:
+      sprintf (buff, "%2d/%2d/%4d", month, day, year);
+      break;
+    }
 }
 
+
+/**
+ * scanDate
+ *    Convert a string into  day / month / year integers according to
+ *    the current dateFormat value.
+ *
+ * Args:   buff - pointer to date string
+ *         day -  will store day of the month as 1 ... 31
+ *         month - will store month of the year as 1 ... 12
+ *         year - will store the year (4-digit)
+ *
+ * Return: 0 if conversion was successful, 1 otherwise
+ *
+ * Globals: global dateFormat value
+ */
+int scanDate(const char *buff, int *day, int *month, int *year)
+{
+   char *dupe, *tmp, *first_field, *second_field, *third_field;
+   int iday, imonth, iyear;
+   time_t secs;
+   struct tm *now;
+
+   dupe = strdup (buff);
+   tmp = dupe;
+   first_field = 0x0;
+   second_field = 0x0;
+   third_field = 0x0;
+
+   /* use strtok to find delimiters */
+   if (tmp) {
+      first_field = strtok (tmp, ".,-+/\\()");
+      if (first_field) {
+         second_field = strtok (NULL, ".,-+/\\()");
+         if (second_field) {
+            third_field = 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 */
+   switch(dateFormat)
+   {
+     case DATE_FORMAT_UK:
+     case DATE_FORMAT_CE:
+       if (first_field) iday = atoi (first_field);
+       if (second_field) imonth = atoi (second_field);
+       if (third_field) iyear = atoi (third_field);
+       break;
+     case DATE_FORMAT_ISO:
+       if (first_field) iyear = atoi (first_field);
+       if (second_field) imonth = atoi (second_field);
+       if (third_field) iday = atoi (third_field);
+       break;
+     case DATE_FORMAT_US:
+     default:
+       if (first_field) imonth = atoi (first_field);
+       if (second_field) iday = atoi (second_field);
+       if (third_field) iyear = atoi (third_field);
+       break;
+   }
+
+   free (dupe);
+
+   /* if the year entered is smaller than 100, assume we mean the current
+      century (and are not revising some roman emperor's books) */
+   if(iyear<100)
+     iyear += ((int) ((now->tm_year+1900)/100)) * 100;
+
+   *year=iyear;
+   *month=imonth;
+   *day=iday;
+
+   return;
+}
+
+/**
+ * dateSeparator
+ *    Return the field separator for the current date format
+ *
+ * Args:   none
+ *
+ * Return: date character
+ *
+ * Globals: global dateFormat value
+ */
+char dateSeparator()
+{
+  char separator;
+  switch(dateFormat)
+  {
+    case DATE_FORMAT_CE:
+      separator='.';
+      break;
+    case DATE_FORMAT_ISO:
+      separator='-';
+      break;
+    case DATE_FORMAT_US:
+    case DATE_FORMAT_UK:
+    default:
+      separator='/';
+      break;
+  }
+  return separator;
+}
+
+
+
 /********************************************************************\
  * adjustDay                                                        *
  *   adds adj to the current day of the month... the resulting day  *
@@ -240,41 +386,19 @@ datecmp( Date *date1, Date *date2 )
     }
   }
 
-/********************************************************************\
- * sscandate                                                        *
- *   parses a date from a given string                              *
- *                                                                  *
- * Args:   in_string -- the string to parse                         *
- *         date -- the date into which the parsed date is placed    *
- *         flag -- indicates whether to parse the whole of the      *
- *                 or a portion. Valid values are:                  *
-                   DATE_SHORT, DATE_YEAR and DATE_FULL              *
- * Return: number of characters read from string                    *
-\********************************************************************/
-int
-sscandate( const char *in_string, Date *date, int flags )
-{
-  int *a,*b,*c; /* pointers to address of day, month and year vars */
-  int ret;
-
-#ifdef UK_DATES
-  a=&date->day; b=&date->month; c=&date->year;
-#else
-  a=&date->month; b=&date->day; c=&date->year;
-#endif
-
-  switch (flags)
-    {
-    case DATE_SHORT:
-      ret=sscanf( in_string, "%d/%d", a, b ); break;
-    case DATE_YEAR:
-      ret=sscanf( in_string, "%d", c ); break;
-    case DATE_FULL:
-      ret=sscanf( in_string, "%d/%d/%d", a, b, c); break;
-    }
-  return ret;
-}
 
 
 /********************** END OF FILE *********************************\
 \********************************************************************/
+
+      
+/*
+  Local Variables:
+  tab-width: 2
+  indent-tabs-mode: nil
+  mode: c-mode
+  c-indentation-style: gnu
+  eval: (c-set-offset 'block-open '-)
+  End:
+*/
+      
diff --git a/src/engine/date.h b/src/engine/date.h
index 9ca21525e7..bdcfafa233 100644
--- a/src/engine/date.h
+++ b/src/engine/date.h
@@ -97,8 +97,21 @@ typedef struct _date {
   int day;
 } Date;
 
+typedef enum
+{
+  DATE_FORMAT_US,       /* United states: mm/dd/yyyy */
+  DATE_FORMAT_UK,       /* Britain: dd/mm/yyyy */
+  DATE_FORMAT_CE,       /* Continental Europe: dd.mm.yyyy */
+  DATE_FORMAT_ISO       /* ISO: yyyy-mm-dd */
+} DateFormat;
+
+/* the maximum length of a string created by sprtDate() */
+#define MAX_DATE_LENGTH 11
+
 /** PROTOTYPES ******************************************************/
-void   sprtDate (char * buff, int day, int month, int year);
+void printDate (char * buff, int day, int month, int year);
+int scanDate (const char *buff, int *day, int *monty, int *year);
+char dateSeparator(void);
 
 void   adjustDay( Date *date, int adj );
 void   adjustMonth( Date *date, int adj );
@@ -109,13 +122,11 @@ Date*  todaysDate( Date *date );
 int    daysInMonth( int month , int year );
 int    datecmp( Date *date1, Date *date2 );
 
-#define DATE_SHORT 0
-#define DATE_YEAR  1
-#define DATE_FULL  2
-
 int    sscandate( const char *in_string, Date *date, int flags);
 
 
 /** GLOBALS *********************************************************/
 
+extern DateFormat dateFormat;
+
 #endif /* __XACC_DATE_H__ */
diff --git a/src/register/datecell.c b/src/register/datecell.c
index 81371c9003..574040a0b3 100644
--- a/src/register/datecell.c
+++ b/src/register/datecell.c
@@ -46,74 +46,16 @@ static void setDateCellValue (BasicCell *, const char *);
    (cell)->value = strdup (str);		\
 }
 
-#define DATE_SEP '/'
-
 /* ================================================ */
 
-static void 
-prtDate (char * buff, int day, int month, int year)
-{
-   sprintf (buff, "%2d/%2d/%4d", month, day, year);
-}
-
-/* ================================================ */
 
 static
 void xaccParseDate (struct tm *parsed, const char * datestr)
 {
-   char *dupe, *tmp, *first_field, *second_field, *third_field;
+
    int iday, imonth, iyear;
-   time_t secs;
-   struct tm *now;
 
-   dupe = strdup (datestr);
-   tmp = dupe;
-   first_field = 0x0;
-   second_field = 0x0;
-   third_field = 0x0;
-
-   /* use strtok to find delimiters */
-   if (tmp) {
-      first_field = strtok (tmp, ".,-+/\\()");
-      if (first_field) {
-         second_field = strtok (NULL, ".,-+/\\()");
-         if (second_field) {
-            third_field = 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;
-
-#ifdef _PARSE_DATE_AS_DD_MM_YY
-   /* get numeric values */
-   if (first_field) iday = atoi (first_field);
-   if (second_field) imonth = atoi (second_field);
-   if (third_field) iyear = atoi (third_field);
-#endif /* _PARSE_DATE_AS_DD_MM_YY */
-
-#define _PARSE_DATE_AS_MM_DD_YY
-#ifdef _PARSE_DATE_AS_MM_DD_YY
-   /* get numeric values */
-   if (first_field) imonth = atoi (first_field);
-   if (second_field) iday = atoi (second_field);
-   if (third_field) iyear = atoi (third_field);
-#endif /* _PARSE_DATE_AS_MM_DD_YY */
-
-   /* 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);
+   scanDate(datestr, &iday, &imonth, &iyear);
 
    if (parsed) {
       parsed->tm_mday = iday;
@@ -213,7 +155,9 @@ DateMV (BasicCell *_cell,
    if (isdigit (change[0])) return newval;
 
    /* accept the separator character */
-   if (DATE_SEP == change[0]) return newval;
+   /* Note that the separator of '-' (for DATE_FORMAT_ISO) takes precedence
+      over the accelerator below! */
+   if (dateSeparator() == change[0]) return newval;
 
    /* otherwise, maybe its an accelerator key. */
    date = &(cell->date);
@@ -295,7 +239,7 @@ DateMV (BasicCell *_cell,
       xaccValidateDate (date, 0);
    }
 
-   prtDate (buff, date->tm_mday, date->tm_mon+1, date->tm_year+1900);
+   printDate (buff, date->tm_mday, date->tm_mon+1, date->tm_year+1900);
 
    if (cell->cell.value) free (cell->cell.value);
    cell->cell.value = strdup (buff);
@@ -318,7 +262,7 @@ DateLeave (BasicCell *_cell, const char * curr)
     * what date that cell thinks it has.   */
    xaccParseDate (&(cell->date), curr);
 
-   prtDate (buff, cell->date.tm_mday, 
+   printDate (buff, cell->date.tm_mday, 
                   cell->date.tm_mon+1, 
                   cell->date.tm_year+1900);
 
@@ -355,7 +299,7 @@ xaccInitDateCell (DateCell *cell)
    time (&secs);
    now = localtime (&secs);
    cell->date = *now;
-   prtDate (buff, now->tm_mday, now->tm_mon+1, now->tm_year+1900);
+   printDate (buff, now->tm_mday, now->tm_mon+1, now->tm_year+1900);
  
    SET (&(cell->cell), buff);
  
@@ -393,7 +337,7 @@ xaccSetDateCellValue (DateCell *cell, int day, int mon, int year)
    cell->date.tm_mon = dada.tm_mon;
    cell->date.tm_year = dada.tm_year;
 
-   prtDate (buff, dada.tm_mday, dada.tm_mon+1, dada.tm_year+1900);
+   printDate (buff, dada.tm_mday, dada.tm_mon+1, dada.tm_year+1900);
 
    if (cell->cell.value) free (cell->cell.value);
    cell->cell.value = strdup (buff);
@@ -409,7 +353,7 @@ setDateCellValue (BasicCell *_cell, const char *str)
 
    xaccParseDate (&(cell->date), str);
 
-   prtDate (buff, cell->date.tm_mday, 
+   printDate (buff, cell->date.tm_mday, 
                   cell->date.tm_mon+1, 
                   cell->date.tm_year+1900);