diff --git a/easydump/utils.py b/easydump/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d237140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/easydump/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+from dateutil.parser import parse as iso_parse
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+def key_parser(key, prefix):
+    """
+    Given a key, parse out the prefix and parse the iso date into a datetime
+    object (for comparison).
+    """
+    try:
+        key_prefix, iso_date = key.split('|')
+    except:
+        # some weird key that was not put there by easydump
+        log.debug("found weird key: %s" % key)
+        return None
+    
+    if prefix == key_prefix:
+        return iso_parse(iso_date)
+    else:
+        # a dump from another manifest
+        log.debug("wrong prefix: %s" % key)
+        return None
\ No newline at end of file