private Target createTarget(Account ac, String startDateStr, String endDateStr) { Target tgt = new Target(); tgt.setAccount(ac); DateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy"); try { Date startDate = df.parse(startDateStr); Date endDate = df.parse(endDateStr); tgt.setStartDate(startDate); tgt.setEndDate(endDate); tgt.setCompletedDate(null); tgt.setTotalTargetCost(new BigDecimal("4500")); } catch (ParseException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } return tgt; }