diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3a124211e89..25b21b57419 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 ### Improvements
 
+* [#12995](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/12995) Add `FormatTime` and `ParseTimeString` methods
 * [#12952](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/12952) Replace keyring module to Cosmos fork.
 * [#12352](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/12352) Move the `RegisterSwaggerAPI` logic into a separate helper function in the server package.
 * [#12876](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/12876) Remove proposer-based rewards.
diff --git a/types/utils.go b/types/utils.go
index efd9a9c71a8..f299756fdb0 100644
--- a/types/utils.go
+++ b/types/utils.go
@@ -63,17 +63,42 @@ const SortableTimeFormat = "2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000000"
 
 // Formats a time.Time into a []byte that can be sorted
 func FormatTimeBytes(t time.Time) []byte {
-	return []byte(t.UTC().Round(0).Format(SortableTimeFormat))
+	return []byte(FormatTimeString(t))
+}
+
+// Formats a time.Time into a string
+func FormatTimeString(t time.Time) string {
+	return t.UTC().Round(0).Format(SortableTimeFormat)
 }
 
 // Parses a []byte encoded using FormatTimeKey back into a time.Time
 func ParseTimeBytes(bz []byte) (time.Time, error) {
-	str := string(bz)
-	t, err := time.Parse(SortableTimeFormat, str)
+	return ParseTime(bz)
+}
+
+// Parses an encoded type using FormatTimeKey back into a time.Time
+func ParseTime(T any) (time.Time, error) { //nolint:gocritic
+	var (
+		result time.Time
+		err    error
+	)
+
+	switch t := T.(type) {
+	case time.Time:
+		result, err = t, nil
+	case []byte:
+		result, err = time.Parse(SortableTimeFormat, string(t))
+	case string:
+		result, err = time.Parse(SortableTimeFormat, t)
+	default:
+		return time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("unexpected type %T", t)
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
-		return t, err
+		return result, err
 	}
-	return t.UTC().Round(0), nil
+
+	return result.UTC().Round(0), nil
 }
 
 // NewLevelDB instantiate a new LevelDB instance according to DBBackend.
diff --git a/types/utils_test.go b/types/utils_test.go
index 7a196acafe2..8bdba4082b3 100644
--- a/types/utils_test.go
+++ b/types/utils_test.go
@@ -110,6 +110,12 @@ func (s *utilsTestSuite) TestFormatTimeBytes() {
 	s.Require().Equal("2020-03-03T19:54:00.000000000", string(sdk.FormatTimeBytes(tm)))
 }
 
+func (s *utilsTestSuite) TestFormatTimeString() {
+	tm, err := time.Parse("Jan 2, 2006 at 3:04pm (MST)", "Mar 3, 2020 at 7:54pm (UTC)")
+	s.Require().NoError(err)
+	s.Require().Equal("2020-03-03T19:54:00.000000000", sdk.FormatTimeString(tm))
+}
+
 func (s *utilsTestSuite) TestParseTimeBytes() {
 	tm, err := sdk.ParseTimeBytes([]byte("2020-03-03T19:54:00.000000000"))
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
@@ -119,6 +125,58 @@ func (s *utilsTestSuite) TestParseTimeBytes() {
 	s.Require().Error(err)
 }
 
+func (s *utilsTestSuite) TestParseTime() {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name           string
+		input          any
+		expectErr      bool
+		expectedOutput string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:      "valid time string",
+			input:     "2020-03-03T19:54:00.000000000",
+			expectErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "valid time []byte",
+			input:     []byte("2020-03-03T19:54:00.000000000"),
+			expectErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "valid time",
+			input:     time.Date(2020, 3, 3, 19, 54, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+			expectErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "valid time different timezone",
+			input: func() time.Time {
+				ams, _ := time.LoadLocation("Asia/Seoul") // no daylight saving time
+				return time.Date(2020, 3, 4, 4, 54, 0, 0, ams)
+			}(),
+			expectErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "invalid time",
+			input:     struct{}{},
+			expectErr: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		tc := tc
+
+		s.Run(tc.name, func() {
+			tm, err := sdk.ParseTime(tc.input)
+			if tc.expectErr {
+				s.Require().Error(err)
+			} else {
+				s.Require().NoError(err)
+				s.Require().True(tm.Equal(time.Date(2020, 3, 3, 19, 54, 0, 0, time.UTC)))
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func (s *utilsTestSuite) TestAppendParseBytes() {
 	test1 := "test1"
 	test2 := "testString2"