Scenario: We have an item for FREIGHT. Before me, they have this item hard coded in workflows, searches, scripts, etc. So what I want is a single place that we can go to and select that "This is our freight item" without it being associated to a specific script or workflow. I also don't want to put a flag on the item, because then I have to script it to make sure only 1 is selected. Does a place like this exists in Netsuite that allows me to create a parameter without a script/workflow? Basically need a custom system wide preference/parameter

I'd go the mark it on the item route. Its a simple client script to make sure there's only 1 item marked as freight on save. Otherwise, will have to build in some company preference or a custom record you can go check out that has the item as a singleton

True. I wish Netsuite would give us a place to do this. I've ran into so many situations like this.