diff --git a/src/TimerOutput.jl b/src/TimerOutput.jl
index b0e9bb8..1540266 100644
--- a/src/TimerOutput.jl
+++ b/src/TimerOutput.jl
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ TimeData(ncalls, time, allocs) = TimeData(ncalls, time, allocs, time)
 Base.copy(td::TimeData) = TimeData(td.ncalls, td.time, td.allocs)
 TimeData() = TimeData(0, 0, 0, time_ns())
 
+# convenience function for deserialisation
+function TimeData(dict::Dict{String, Any})
+    return TimeData(dict["n_calls"], dict["time_ns"], dict["allocated_bytes"], dict["start_time_ns"])
+end
+
+function Base.:(==)(self::TimeData, other::TimeData)
+    return (self.ncalls == other.ncalls) && (self.time == other.time) && (self.allocs == other.allocs) && (self.firstexec == other.firstexec)
+end
+
 function Base.:+(self::TimeData, other::TimeData)
     TimeData(self.ncalls + other.ncalls,
              self.time + other.time,
@@ -48,9 +57,42 @@ mutable struct TimerOutput
 
 end
 
+# convenience function for deserialisation
+function TimerOutput(dict::Dict{String, Any})
+    return TimerOutput(
+        TimeData(dict["start_data"]),
+        TimeData(dict["n_calls"], dict["time_ns"], dict["allocated_bytes"], dict["start_time_ns"]),
+        Dict{String, TimerOutput}(
+            k => TimerOutput(v) for (k, v) ∈ dict["inner_timers"]
+        ),
+        Vector{TimerOutput}(TimerOutput.(dict["timer_stack"])),
+        dict["name"],
+        dict["flattened"],
+        dict["enabled"],
+        (0, 0), # we don't appear to be using the internal totmeasured field?
+        dict["prev_timer_label"],
+        isnothing(dict["prev_timer"]) ? nothing : TimerOutput(dict["prev_timer"])
+    )
+end
+
 Base.copy(to::TimerOutput) = TimerOutput(copy(to.start_data), copy(to.accumulated_data), copy(to.inner_timers),
                                          copy(to.timer_stack), to.name, to.flattened, to.enabled, to.totmeasured, "", nothing)
 
+function Base.:(==)(self::TimerOutput, other::TimerOutput)
+    return all([
+        self.start_data == other.start_data,
+        self.accumulated_data == other.accumulated_data,
+        self.inner_timers == other.inner_timers,
+        self.timer_stack == other.timer_stack,
+        self.name == other.name,
+        self.flattened == other.flattened,
+        self.enabled == other.enabled,
+        self.totmeasured == other.totmeasured,
+        self.prev_timer_label == other.prev_timer_label,
+        self.prev_timer == other.prev_timer
+    ])
+end
+
 const DEFAULT_TIMER = TimerOutput()
 const _timers = Dict{String, TimerOutput}("Default" => DEFAULT_TIMER)
 const _timers_lock = ReentrantLock() # needed for adding new timers on different threads
@@ -158,6 +200,7 @@ end
 ncalls(to::TimerOutput)    = to.accumulated_data.ncalls
 allocated(to::TimerOutput) = to.accumulated_data.allocs
 time(to::TimerOutput) = to.accumulated_data.time
+firstexec(to::TimerOutput) = to.accumulated_data.firstexec
 totallocated(to::TimerOutput) = totmeasured(to)[2]
 tottime(to::TimerOutput) = totmeasured(to)[1]
 
@@ -167,6 +210,11 @@ allocated() = allocated(DEFAULT_TIMER)
 totallocated() = totmeasured(DEFAULT_TIMER)[2]
 tottime() = totmeasured(DEFAULT_TIMER)[1]
 
+ncalls(td::TimeData) = td.ncalls
+time(td::TimeData) = td.time
+allocated(td::TimeData) = td.allocs
+firstexec(td::TimeData) = td.firstexec
+
 get_defaulttimer() = DEFAULT_TIMER
 Base.@deprecate get_defaultimer get_defaulttimer
 
diff --git a/src/show.jl b/src/show.jl
index 585e01e..c3a061d 100644
--- a/src/show.jl
+++ b/src/show.jl
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@ function Base.show(io::IO, to::TimerOutput; allocations::Bool = true, sortby::Sy
     sortby  in (:time, :ncalls, :allocations, :name, :firstexec) || throw(ArgumentError("sortby should be :time, :allocations, :ncalls, :name, or :firstexec, got $sortby"))
     linechars in (:unicode, :ascii)                  || throw(ArgumentError("linechars should be :unicode or :ascii, got $linechars"))
 
-    t₀, b₀ = to.start_data.time, to.start_data.allocs
-    t₁, b₁ = time_ns(), gc_bytes()
-    Δt, Δb = t₁ - t₀, b₁ - b₀
+    # make sure the deltas we report actually match the time elapsed - can cause problems if we go back to look at results at a later time
+    Δt, Δb = totmeasured(to)
     ∑t, ∑b = to.flattened ? to.totmeasured : totmeasured(to)
 
     max_name = longest_name(to)
diff --git a/src/utilities.jl b/src/utilities.jl
index 9c7a703..561fa1f 100644
--- a/src/utilities.jl
+++ b/src/utilities.jl
@@ -120,12 +120,29 @@ Converts a `TimerOutput` into a nested set of dictionaries, with keys and value
 """
 function todict(to::TimerOutput)
     return Dict{String,Any}(
+        "name" => to.name,
         "n_calls" => ncalls(to),
         "time_ns" => time(to),
         "allocated_bytes" => allocated(to),
         "total_allocated_bytes" => totallocated(to),
         "total_time_ns" => tottime(to),
-        "inner_timers" => Dict{String, Any}(k => todict(v) for (k,v) in to.inner_timers)
+        "inner_timers" => Dict{String, Any}(k => todict(v) for (k,v) in to.inner_timers),
+        "timer_stack" => todict.(to.timer_stack),
+        "start_time_ns" => firstexec(to),
+        "start_data" => todict(to.start_data),
+        "flattened" => to.flattened,
+        "enabled" => to.enabled,
+        "prev_timer_label" => to.prev_timer_label,
+        "prev_timer" => isnothing(to.prev_timer) ? nothing : todict(to.prev_timer)        
+    )
+end
+
+function todict(td::TimeData)
+    return Dict{String, Any}(
+        "n_calls" => ncalls(td),
+        "time_ns" => time(td),
+        "allocated_bytes" => allocated(td),
+        "start_time_ns" => firstexec(td)
     )
 end
 
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 2d54165..0f021bc 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -682,6 +682,9 @@ end
     end
     
     compare(to, todict(to))
+
+    # make sure we can serialise and deserialise properly
+    @test TimerOutput(todict(to)) == to
 end
 
 @testset "InstrumentedFunctions" begin