diff --git a/tracetools_analysis/convert.py b/tracetools_analysis/convert.py
index e246b7c..20ef8a2 100644
--- a/tracetools_analysis/convert.py
+++ b/tracetools_analysis/convert.py
@@ -8,13 +8,17 @@ from pickle import Pickler
 from tracetools_analysis.conversion import ctf
 
 
-def main():
+def parse_args():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Convert CTF trace data to a pickle file.')
     parser.add_argument('trace_directory',
                         help='the path to the main CTF trace directory')
     parser.add_argument('pickle_file',
                         help='the target pickle file to generate')
-    args = parser.parse_args()
+    return parser.parse_args()
+
+
+def main():
+    args = parse_args()
 
     trace_directory = args.trace_directory
     pickle_target_file = args.pickle_file
diff --git a/tracetools_analysis/process.py b/tracetools_analysis/process.py
index 5942da4..011488c 100644
--- a/tracetools_analysis/process.py
+++ b/tracetools_analysis/process.py
@@ -7,11 +7,15 @@ import pickle
 from tracetools_analysis.analysis import ros_processor, to_pandas
 
 
-def main():
+def parse_args():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Process a pickle file generated from tracing and analyze the data.')
     parser.add_argument('pickle_file',
                         help='the pickle file to import')
-    args = parser.parse_args()
+    return parser.parse_args()
+
+
+def main():
+    args = parse_args()
 
     pickle_filename = args.pickle_file
     with open(pickle_filename, 'rb') as f: