Thanks. Will do next time. in the past i've been scolded for NOT posting the full DDL. At any rate, the following is what actually got me there. Figured it out just after your solution was posted:UPDATE aSET a.RECEIVETIME = convert(varchar(12), cast(SUBSTRING(GCSORECEIVETIME, 1, 2)+':'+SUBSTRING(GCSORECEIVETIME, 3, 2)+':00' as datetime) , 108)FROM GadsdenCivil.dbo.GCSORECEIPTS mINNER JOIN GCSOCIVILCONVERSION.dbo.GCSORECEIPTS aON a.RECEIVETIME = convert(varchar(12), cast(SUBSTRING(GCSORECEIVETIME, 1, 2)+':'+SUBSTRING(GCSORECEIVETIME, 3, 2)+':00' as datetime) , 108)WHERE a.RECEIPTNUMBER = m.RECEIPTNUMBER
thanks again