diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bd4926d..24cdf0c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ## [Unreleased]
-* no unreleased changes *
+* Adds option to format value to Time *
 
 ## 11.3.1/ 2025-09-02
 ### Enhancement
diff --git a/lib/ndr_import/mapper.rb b/lib/ndr_import/mapper.rb
index 347c499..5c2a289 100644
--- a/lib/ndr_import/mapper.rb
+++ b/lib/ndr_import/mapper.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ module Strings
     RAWTEXT_NAME     = 'rawtext_name'.freeze
     REPLACE          = 'replace'.freeze
     STANDARD_MAPPING = 'standard_mapping'.freeze
+    TIME             = 'time'.freeze
     UNPACK_PATTERN   = 'unpack_pattern'.freeze
     VALIDATES        = 'validates'.freeze
     ZIP_ORDER        = 'zip_order'.freeze
@@ -203,12 +204,15 @@ def field_zippable?(field_mapping, data_field)
 
   def mapped_value(original_value, field_mapping)
     if field_mapping.include?(Strings::FORMAT)
+      return nil if original_value.blank?
+
+      expected_format = field_mapping[Strings::FORMAT]
       begin
-        return original_value.blank? ? nil : original_value.to_date(field_mapping[Strings::FORMAT])
+        return Time.strptime(original_value, expected_format) if field_mapping[Strings::TIME]
+
+        original_value.to_date(expected_format)
       rescue ArgumentError => e
-        e2 = ArgumentError.new("#{e} value #{original_value.inspect}")
-        e2.set_backtrace(e.backtrace)
-        raise e2
+        raise ArgumentError, "#{e.message} value #{original_value.inspect}", e.backtrace
       end
     elsif field_mapping.include?(Strings::CLEAN)
       return nil if original_value.blank?
diff --git a/test/mapper_test.rb b/test/mapper_test.rb
index 9fb1fcf..59316fd 100644
--- a/test/mapper_test.rb
+++ b/test/mapper_test.rb
@@ -345,6 +345,14 @@ def setup
       - field: field_two
   YML
 
+  time_format_mapping = YAML.safe_load <<-YML
+  - column: time_field
+    mappings:
+    - field: time_field
+      format: "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%:z"
+      time: true
+  YML
+
   test 'map should return a number' do
     assert_equal '1', TestMapper.new.mapped_value('A', map_mapping)
   end
@@ -749,4 +757,18 @@ def setup
     }
     assert_equal expected_mapped_line, mapped_line
   end
+
+  test 'should format time' do
+    expected_value = Time.new(2025, 6, 1, 10, 15, 36, '+01:00')
+    actual_value   = TestMapper.new.mapped_line(['2025-06-01T10:15:36+01:00'], time_format_mapping)['time_field']
+    assert_equal expected_value, actual_value
+  end
+
+  test 'should raise an error with invalid time format' do
+    exception = assert_raise(ArgumentError) do
+      TestMapper.new.mapped_line(['2025-06-01T10:15:36'], time_format_mapping)
+    end
+
+    assert exception.message.starts_with? 'invalid date or strptime format'
+  end
 end