This is the passage I found:
Poltergeist is an old German word meaning "noisy or mischievous ghost." The term is poor bookkeeping though, because it doesn’t specify or come to grips with the true cause of the disturbance.
English is not my first language. I only found the financial meaning of this word, I don't really understand why the author used this word .
In this sentence, "bookkeeping" is used analogously. It isn't really keeping records financially for an organization, but instead a metaphor of it. What it really means in this context is:
The term is poor documentation.
Another way to write the sentence is:
Poltergeist is an old German word meaning ‘noisy or mischievous ghost.' The term is poor documentation, because it doesn’t specify or come to grips with the true cause of the disturbance.
This word is used metaphorically in this context. In the same way as keeping books establishes a record from which a precise picture of some events can be obtained, a word can suggest more or less vividly the thing it names. For instance the word "seat" as referring to an armchair is far less descriptive than "armchair".
This analogical use of "bookkeeping" is personal, due to an author, or perhaps already used by several; it is not defined in dictionaries; you might find it to your taste and use it yourself or you might not.
Use of the term is both odd and poor. A metaphor should have a meaning that is clear to the reader, and I have no idea what the author meant.
Poltergeist might be an old German word meaning 'noisy or mischievous ghost' to the extent 'noisy' and 'mischievous' were directly comparable. Are they, with or without any suggestion of 'ghosts'?
The term seems to be poor bookkeeping, as it doesn’t specify or come to grips with any cause of disturbance.
