diff --git a/.github/workflows/proven-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/proven-tests.yml
index fb802367..2e4eedef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/proven-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/proven-tests.yml
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           bun scripts/atlas/census-atlas.mjs check
           bun test tests/atlas/census-atlas.test.mjs
+          bash tests/census/status_doc_rank_test.sh
       - name: Install verified Nickel 1.18.0 (K9 L2 semantics)
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
index a7a75078..7b28de1e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.adoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -10,6 +10,17 @@ https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html[Semantic Versioning].
 
 ==== Fixed
 
+* Census rows: `scripts/census/build-rows.sh` picked a repository's status
+  document by path order, so `docs/status/PROOF-NEEDS.adoc` won over
+  `docs/status/PROOF-STATUS.adoc` (resource-algebra's row points at its
+  to-do list, not its ledger). It now takes a PROOF-STATUS file first, then a
+  proof-debt file, then PROOF-NEEDS. The committed rows change at the next
+  census run.
+* `build-rows.sh` read the template list with awk's `NR==FNR`, which is also
+  true of every line when that list is empty, so an empty list silently
+  dropped every row. It keys on the file name now.
+  `tests/census/status_doc_rank_test.sh` covers both and runs in
+  `proven-tests.yml`.
 * `repo-init` minting a repository created with GitHub's "Use this
   template" (measured on metadatastician/lintel, 2026-10-14):
 ** provenance recorded the CHILD's own HEAD as the template commit. The
diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index 2aec13fe..e032ac90 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ The first census covered 476 repositories:
 * *Hole, axiom, unsafe and policy counts* are textual candidates, not kernel
   verdicts. The kernel is the authority. `import Mathlib` shows under
   policy.
+* *Status document*: the first of a PROOF-STATUS file, a proof-debt file, a
+  PROOF-NEEDS file. Rows from the 2026-10-26 census were picked by path, so
+  some point at PROOF-NEEDS where a PROOF-STATUS exists; the next census
+  corrects them.
 * *Declaration counts* overcount Agda and Idris2:
   every column-0 type signature counts, helpers included.
 * *Older template copies* survive as "own" files in some repos: for example
diff --git a/docs/architecture/REPOSITORY-MAP.adoc b/docs/architecture/REPOSITORY-MAP.adoc
index d28ba7e4..e2cc583c 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/REPOSITORY-MAP.adoc
+++ b/docs/architecture/REPOSITORY-MAP.adoc
@@ -117,6 +117,10 @@ predecessors did.
 | yes
 | -
 
+| `applied-systems/`
+| yes
+| owner-requested reusable applications area (2026-11-07)
+
 | `benches/`
 | optional
 | Cargo-conventional at package root
@@ -204,6 +208,11 @@ your own repo - but do not read their emptiness as neglect here.
 | `.machine_readable/bot_directives/`
 | `.machine_readable/descriptiles/anchors/`
 | `.machine_readable/scripts/verification/`
+| `applied-systems/decision-science/`
+| `applied-systems/finance/`
+| `applied-systems/finance/cohort-economics/`
+| `applied-systems/finance/liquidity/`
+| `applied-systems/organisational-design/`
 | `docs/governance/audit/`
 | `docs/governance/audit/compliance/`
 | `docs/governance/audit/effects/`
diff --git a/scripts/census/build-rows.sh b/scripts/census/build-rows.sh
index 67b8e15b..4be14343 100644
--- a/scripts/census/build-rows.sh
+++ b/scripts/census/build-rows.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ R=$1 T=$2
 tmp=$(mktemp -d); trap 'rm -rf "$tmp"' EXIT
 
 jq -r '[.repo,.path,.ext]|@tsv' "$R/files.jsonl" \
-| awk -F'\t' 'NR==FNR{t[$1]=1;next} !($2 in t)' "$T" - \
+| awk -F'\t' 'FILENAME==ARGV[1]{t[$1]=1;next} !($2 in t)' "$T" - \
 | awk -F'\t' 'BEGIN{OFS="\t"} {
     e=$3; p="other"
     if (e ~ /agda/) p="agda"; else if (e ~ /idr|ipkg/) p="idris2"
@@ -32,12 +32,20 @@ jq -r '[.repo,.path,.ext]|@tsv' "$R/files.jsonl" \
     print $1, p, fx }' > "$tmp/cls.tsv"
 
 jq -r '[.repo,.file,.class]|@tsv' "$R/holes.jsonl" \
-| awk -F'\t' 'NR==FNR{t[$1]=1;next} !($2 in t){print $1"\t"$3}' "$T" - > "$tmp/holes.tsv"
+| awk -F'\t' 'FILENAME==ARGV[1]{t[$1]=1;next} !($2 in t){print $1"\t"$3}' "$T" - > "$tmp/holes.tsv"
 
 jq -r '[.repo,.file]|@tsv' "$R/decls.jsonl" \
-| awk -F'\t' 'NR==FNR{t[$1]=1;next} !($2 in t){print $1}' "$T" - > "$tmp/decls.tsv"
+| awk -F'\t' 'FILENAME==ARGV[1]{t[$1]=1;next} !($2 in t){print $1}' "$T" - > "$tmp/decls.tsv"
 
-jq -r '.repo+"\t"+.path' "$R/repos-with-status.jsonl" | sort > "$tmp/status.tsv"
+# One status document per repository, by kind before path: a PROOF-STATUS
+# file is the ledger (PROOF-POLICY §8.5), proof-debt the escape-hatch record,
+# PROOF-NEEDS the to-do list. Sorting by path alone picked
+# docs/status/PROOF-NEEDS.adoc over docs/status/PROOF-STATUS.adoc.
+jq -r '.repo+"\t"+.path' "$R/repos-with-status.jsonl" \
+| awk -F'\t' 'BEGIN{OFS="\t"} { b=toupper($2); sub(/.*\//, "", b)
+    k = (b ~ /^PROOF-STATUS/) ? 0 : (b ~ /^PROOF-DEBT/) ? 1 : 2
+    print $1, k, $2 }' \
+| sort -t$'\t' -k1,1 -k2,2n -k3,3 | cut -f1,3 > "$tmp/status.tsv"
 
 awk -F'\t' '
   FILENAME ~ /holes\.tsv$/  { h[$1" "$2]++; next }
diff --git a/tests/census/status_doc_rank_test.sh b/tests/census/status_doc_rank_test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..92c0ce98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/census/status_doc_rank_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+# build-rows.sh picks one status document per repository: PROOF-STATUS
+# before proof-debt before PROOF-NEEDS, whatever their paths sort to.
+set -euo pipefail
+cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.."
+raw=$(mktemp -d); trap 'rm -rf "$raw"' EXIT
+: > "$raw/holes.jsonl"; : > "$raw/decls.jsonl"
+# An empty template list must not drop every row (awk NR==FNR did).
+: > "$raw/template.txt"
+for r in a/needs-first a/debt-only a/needs-only; do
+  printf '{"repo":"%s","path":"src/X.agda","ext":"agda"}\n' "$r" >> "$raw/files.jsonl"
+done
+cat > "$raw/repos-with-status.jsonl" <<'J'
+{"repo":"a/needs-first","path":"docs/status/PROOF-NEEDS.adoc"}
+{"repo":"a/needs-first","path":"docs/status/PROOF-STATUS.adoc"}
+{"repo":"a/needs-first","path":"docs/proof-debt.adoc"}
+{"repo":"a/debt-only","path":"PROOF-NEEDS.adoc"}
+{"repo":"a/debt-only","path":"docs/proof-debt.md"}
+{"repo":"a/needs-only","path":"PROOF-NEEDS.adoc"}
+J
+got=$(bash scripts/census/build-rows.sh "$raw" "$raw/template.txt" \
+      | jq -r '.[] | .repo + " " + .status_doc' | sort)
+want=$'a/debt-only docs/proof-debt.md\na/needs-first docs/status/PROOF-STATUS.adoc\na/needs-only PROOF-NEEDS.adoc'
+if [ "$got" != "$want" ]; then
+  printf 'FAIL: status documents\n--- want\n%s\n--- got\n%s\n' "$want" "$got" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "PASS: build-rows.sh ranks PROOF-STATUS, then proof-debt, then PROOF-NEEDS"
+# A listed template path still counts as boilerplate: with every proof file
+# on the list, no repository has own files, so there are no rows.
+echo "src/X.agda" > "$raw/template.txt"
+if [ "$(bash scripts/census/build-rows.sh "$raw" "$raw/template.txt")" != "[]" ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: template paths were counted as own files" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "PASS: template paths are set aside, and an empty template list drops nothing"