Museums and galleries are not earning the money they could do, according to a new study.

The report, published on Tuesday by the Commons public accounts committee, argued that more income could be generated in areas such as catering, shops, mail order and e-commerce.

In addition, the MPs found that many organisations had little accurate knowledge of which initiatives are profit-making and which are not, due to a lack of understanding of the costs incurred.

In 2002/03, the 17 public body museums and galleries sponsored by the Department for Culture Media and Sport received £270 million in grant-in-aid, and generated £108 million revenue from fundraising, trading activities and admission charges.

However, the committee argued that this could be improved if there was better access to investment funding for income generation schemes, and five-year targets for income growth should be set with milestones against which ministers could monitor progress.

More business leaders should be recruited to museum boards to encourage entrepreneurship, the MPs suggested, while the ministry should encourage greater pooling of resources and staff between museums and galleries.

However, the committee warned that imposing entry prices to special exhibits should not prevent those from lower income groups from attending.

"Income from paying exhibitions has doubled since the introduction of free admission to the main museum or gallery in 2001 but the department cannot say what impact these charges are having on attendance by people from lower income groups," said the report.

"Museums and galleries should collect data on the socioeconomic status of visitors to paying exhibitions as well as to the museum in general.

"If people on low incomes tend not to visit special exhibitions, the department, in conjunction with the museums and galleries, should review pricing policies - in particular the use of concessions - and the targeting of audiences in the way exhibitions are promoted."