By JOHN D. STOLL And JOANN S. LUBLIN
General Motors Co. will appoint Microsoft Corp. Chris Liddell as its new chief financial officer and vice chairman on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter.

GM’s widely expected appointment of a new CFO is the latest wrinkle in an executive shake-up that has been taking place over the month of December.

Mr. Liddell joins GM following a four-year stint as Microsoft’s CFO. His appointment is effective in 2010 and he will report to Chief Executive Ed Whitacre, who is beginning his fourth week on the job, these people said. Mr. Liddell’s departure from Microsoft was already made public, but his destination was unknown.

Peter Klein is succeeding Liddell at Microsoft.

Having a new chief financial officer is considered a critical ingredient in GM’s drive to launch an initial public offering in as little as 12 months. Although the company had been one of the most talked-about publicly traded companies for decades, its stock was essentially wiped out this summer when it filed for Chapter 11 protection in a New York bankruptcy court.

Mr. Liddell succeeds Ray Young, who was named CFO in 2008 as the company was entering a historic liquidity crunch. Mr. Young was initially planning to leave the auto maker, but has instead accepted a role in China helping run GM’s international communications

The appointment of a new CFO comes after the company’s new board of directors heavily scrutinized the finance and accounting departments in meetings over the second half of the year. The board was appointed by the Obama administration following GM’s $50 billion bailout by the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, with about half of the unit being replaced by newcomers and half being carried over from the board GM had before it entered bankruptcy protection in June.

Some of the board members were disappointed to find that GM’s financial house appeared to be in disarray, even after its massive bankruptcy filing, according to several people familiar with the matter. Directors also hammered executives for having a lack of accountability when it comes to producing bottom-line results.

GM’s executive ranks are in the midst of a dramatic change, and there has been a focus recently on promoting younger executives and scrambling to recruit outsiders in order to speed the decision-making process, reinforce accountability and introduce new methods and ideas. Following bankruptcy, dozens of top leaders were shown the door, retired, or voluntarily left the company.

On Dec. 1, Frederick “Fritz” Henderson–the company’s CFO from 2005 to 2009–resigned as chief executive officer after holding he job about eight months. Mr. Whitacre, who had been serving as chairman, stepped into the CEO role on an interim basis.

The U.S. owns about 60% of GM as a condition of the bailout. The Canadian government, the United Auto Workers union–which made major concessions on its GM labor terms in bankruptcy court–and bondholders who owned the debt of GM that was wiped out in bankruptcy also hold major stakes. Once the company is public, the auto maker will be under significant pressure from these groups to boost its market

Among the other top goals of the new finance chief will be repaying a $6.7 billion taxpayer loan that it was given as part of its rescue package. Last week, GM paid $1 billion of that principle, and also started paying back a smaller loan from Canada. GM plans to repay these loan by June with money it has left over from its government bailouts, but it could accelerate

In addition, the company needs to start showing momentum in growing its top line. The auto maker’s sales fell dramatically in 2008 and 2009 as the wider U.S. auto industry struggled and the company’s own market share continued to slide.

Before joining Microsoft, Mr. Liddell was CFO at International Paper Co. Prior to that, he was chief executive of Carter Holt Harvey Ltd., then New Zealand’s second-largest listed company. He also has worked as an investment banker as managing director and joint CEO for CS First Boston NZ Ltd.

Write to John D. Stoll at john.stoll@wsj.com and Joann S. Lublin at joann.lublin@wsj.com

If you enjoyed this post then Subscribe to Savvy Investor via RSS